The Price of Wolverine
Sarah the mutant farm girl
Sarah walked into the uptown restaurant feeling more than a little embarrassed. She'd only been to such a place once before and that was because Angel had demanded that she attend some function in New York City. But she wasn't in New York, and certainly wasn't meeting anyone as warm as Angel. Her eyes skimmed the room for her 'date'. She didn't find him so she walked up to the front desk.
"Sir, is a Mr. Luscious Malfoy here?" She requested. The man flipped through his reservation book then shook his head.
"No miss he isn't. Are you with him?"
Without smart retort she told the man she was meeting him on a business transaction and he smiled politely and led her to a small table for two. It was lit by candles and in a dark corner. Far too romantic a setting for what she was about to bargain for. She ordered a glass of red wine choosing to leave her rougher personality traits behind and act as lady like as possible. Ten minutes late Malfoy arrived. Unescorted he came to their table he kissed her hand before sitting down.
"Lovely to be seeing you this evening, Miss Winters." he greeted. "Still not a wedding band on our finger I see."
"We've married Luscious." she commented excepting a menu from a waiter in a tux.
"We'll congratulations. That makes us family now." he half snarled the second sentence.
"This place is a bit pricey are you sure"
"I'll pay." he cut her off. Whether it was kindness or not she wasn't sure.
"Thank you."
"You'll serve my purposes in the end, dear child." The way he said it chills ran down her spine.
"Then let's get to business." she was eager to get this all over with.
"After we order." he sneered. The moment the waiter left the table she leaned over it.
"Now, we talk business." she whispered harshly.
"Do you talk to Sirius this way?" he asked. She righted herself just for the sake of looking around the room. Her eyes caught sight of two red headed men not far off. She knew them, it was the Prewett brothers. They had been sent to watch out for her. Albus didn't trust her friends to think with their heads if she were in danger.
"Sometimes, when he has something I want." she tried to sound stronger than the rabbit heart pumping in her chest.
"I see. So what do I have that you want?" she reached into her purse and pulled out some small index card sized papers, whispering to them they grew to normal size as if coming unfolded. She slid them over to her counter part.
"Those are a few of our men who went missing at the 'meeting' last week. Their families are worried sick. One of them missed seeing his daughter born." Luscious didn't show any concern for the fatherless infant or the rest of the families as he shuffled through the paged reports.
"What do you want to know about them?" he asked her his eyes never leaving the pages.
"If they are still alive I want them back. If not I want their bodies for proper burial. In exchange, we are willing to over look the charges held against a Mrs. Bellatrix Lestrange. She'll be released back into her husband's custody." Luscious nodded as if thinking.
"No strings attached?" he asked.
"There are always strings, dear Blackheart. The question is do you have the right tool to cut them?"
"Well said. But you lose my dear girl." the food was served and the two had to stop talking while the waiter busied himself sprinkling pepper and refilling glasses. He offered to open a blind so they could see the nearly full moon outside but they declined. Malfoy wasn't quick at discarding the boy, he hovered too close while they ate. So the two engaged in silly talk about their spouses.
"Sirius is worried about his brother." Sarah ventured.
"Yes, well Narcissus is worried about her sister." he shot back.
"Then maybe we can work out a deal. Because even if you agree to my terms you won't be getting Bella for a few days or longer anyway." Sarah haggled.
"Yes, well there is still a lot of official work to be discussed. Our personal affairs will have to wait." there was a touch of something unfamiliar in his voice. When finally the waiter cleared away their plates business was resumed.
"Are you curious about the strings?" he nodded. "For every man returned dead we keep Bella a month longer. For every man unreturned we maim her." the Order would never maim Bella, she hadn't actually killed anyone yet. The damage she'd done so far was so minor they refused to actually harm her. But a few members had removed the ears and nose of one of their captors a few months ago and sent them to the captor's wife in a box. The message was understood but it brought on a huge wave of attacks.
"What else do you have to bargain?"
Again Sarah retrieved papers from her purse. This time she didn't hand them over. These were nearer to her own heart. It was two mutants and a muggle who had been attacked on American soil for rumors of supporting another group Sarah was affiliated with. The muggle was Boris Anderson and a dear friend. The mutants were Wolverine and Rogue. Both friends and both powerful their capture hadn't gone without much fear. Sarah quickly shook her thoughts. It was not the time to worry about personal feelings.
"Yes, you're master sent a large group to the states to attack and overcome The Wolverine, Rogue, and Boris Anderson. Neither of the three have been heard from and it is suspected that you were involved in persuading a kidnapping instead of killing." Luscious listened with his eyes closed. He took several minutes before answering.
"What do you offer for them?"
"So you have them?"
"I didn't say that." sighing Sarah read the payment box at the bottom of the pages.
"We offer, in the case of their lively return, the allegiance of one of our members."
"Which one?" he failed for a moment to hide a giddy expression.
"Miss Eve Gryphon Winters has volunteered herself." Sarah let no emotion show. Though inside she was screaming and withering in pain. Malfoy's face fell.
"To the first we agree, I will contact you in the following days on how to retrieve your lost men. To the second, I can not accept." Sarah's heart stopped and her breathing caught.
"Why?" she asked barely above a whisper.
"Because they're dead." he rose from the table and left. Sarah only managed to gather her things and stumble out into the alley way before breaking down in tears. A black dog was there waiting but she didn't even glance at him instead she disappeared with a pop.
Miles away Luscious Malfoy kicked Wolverine in the ribs and laughed. The man grunted but made no attempt to fight back. He'd been beaten to death and only just returned to the living. He had a long recovery to go. His injuries had overwhelmed his healing factor and it had temporarily been shut off.
"Your pupils are desperate. They even offered themselves up to save you."
"N-nn-no." the beast of a man moaned from the floor.
"Yes." laughed Malfoy leaving the cell. "Yes, they did. To bad I told them you were dead."