Title: The Dagger
Rating: M slash, violence, language, suspense, KurtxTodd
Notes: Years after his life as a member of the Brotherhood, Todd is living a new life working at a pawn shop when he comes to possess a powerful and mysterious object making him the target of a new powerful enemy. Things only get worse when an old love from his past resurfaces with surprising news.
…..
It was a slow night like usual, not that Todd was expecting much else, he stood outside the gated pawn shop that was his current means of an income. As small as the paychecks were they were his means of living and what got him through the days. He put his cigarette out and headed back inside when the prostitute across the street started to give him the stink eye. Probably worried he was scaring away her potential cliental. Not that he could blame her, his mutation hadn't helped him much in the looks department.
His long stringy and greasy hair dull brown in color framed his oddly shaped face. He hated his cheeks feeling that they puffed out and his long thin mouth gave his face its toad like features. Todd's skin that odd green tint gave a sickly appearance to his pale complexion. Asides from his webbed fingers and toes his odd appearance was topped off by his hunched over form which prevented him from ever standing straight. In the past few years his body had developed slight green splotches which he hid from the public eye in oversized clothes. With his arms always covered he was surprised no one mistook him for a junkie, especially in this part of the town.
Todd wasn't offended by the look the prostitute gave him yep he knew he looked like the freak he was and it grossed out a lot of people. He knew the prostitute all too well, not because he ever purchased her services, but because she tended to work the corner outside the pawn store every night. She would occasionally come in to pawn watches and other artifacts her desperate clients paid her with when the cash wasn't enough. Her name was Sugar or at least that's what the people in the area would always call her. She was one of his regulars at the pawn store.
Once back inside the store Todd took his position behind the counter and continued to thumb through some of the comics that no one seemed to want, they just sat on the store shelf collecting dust. He had read this one over twenty times but it was something to kill the time. Todd was interrupted when the bell rang and a scrawny, dirty, wigged out man came in. A junkie no doubt about it, he was probably in need of some money for his next hit. Must likely he was going to try and pawn stuff he found in nearby trash cans if not stuff he looted off of unsuspecting people.
Sure enough the man opened a small paper bag onto the counter and dumped out a handful of jewelry that was hidden inside. Todd eyed the women's size six gold ring that was undeniably stolen, as was the rest, and offered the man its weight in gold for the ring and the rest of the trinkets that were brought to him. The junkie eagerly accepted before retreating back into the streets his hands clenching his newly obtained cash so hard his knuckles were turning white. Alone again Todd stashed the items in the store owners special box where purchased stolen goods were hidden just in case the fuzz came in to check inventory. Todd really hated his job and he eyed the pistol taped to the underside of the counter which he had used multiple times in the few years he had worked there to keep from being robbed.
It would be hard to say that the 24 year old did not envision this kind of future for him eight years ago when he was still a part of Magneto's Brotherhood. Of course he believed he would either be in jail or dead at that time but after the whole Apocalypse fiasco his future was finally looking bright. He truly thought he was going to escape his dark and pathetic life and finally move on to bigger and greater things when he became an S.H.I.E.L.D operative. It was short lived and not a particularly pleasant memory of his. Just another notch to add to his list of fuck ups, just thinking about it made him crave another cigarette as he grinded his teeth and pushed the bad memory to the back of his mind.
He hadn't been an agent for at least four years now and lost all contact with the others. He didn't speak to any of the old Brotherhood guys and had no clue what they were doing these days. It had been even longer since he last spoke to an X-Men member. Todd went into hiding after leaving S.H.I.E.L.D, he moved away trying to get away from the bad memories that were engulfing him at that time. He put all that he had in his savings into attending a small art school one that overlooked his lack of a GED or high school diploma. He was tired of fighting and figured to put to use his other trade and passion, drawing. Not even a semester in it was clear that Todd didn't even belong there either. The pieces he contributed into an art show were slashed and destroyed overnight and only his, showing the anti-mutant hate was still at its peak. He withdrew the next day and it was a dark and hard year for Todd.
He worked where he could and when he could just to make money to live off of and was lucky to find this pawn shop. The owner could care less that he was a mutant he just had a hard time finding someone willing to work the grave yard shift of his shop. It was in one of the worse parts of town and dealt usually in only the shadiest customers. Todd was hired on the spot by Mr. Ivanov when he walked in. The rough looking older man hardly trained him told Todd that he didn't need to worry too much if it was looted goods just pay what it was worth, merchandise was merchandise.
Shortly after being hired Todd learned that Mr. Ivanov was a Russian immigrant coming over as a small child with his parents. Word on the street was Ivanov spent some time working with the Russian mafia it was highly likely considering he grew up in Little Odessa an area in Brooklyn where lots of Russian immigrants settled.
Mr. Ivanov didn't pay a whole lot but he was willing to hire a mutant so Todd accepted the low pay as long as it was money for his rent he could care less. He brushed his hair back that had slipped forward from his ponytail too lazy to retie it back. Todd tossed the comic back on the shelf tired of it and agitated as memories of his past were breaking through, ones he would prefer not to have. Todd was just about to step outside for another cigarette when the bell chimed once more, another customer.
As the figure stepped in Todd was put on high alert, the person was wearing a hooded cloak the hood was up hiding the persons face from view. Todd was concerned the cloak stood out as the person moved towards him, and Todd placed his hand under the counter next to the gun. It was abnormal for people of this day and age to wear a cloak and he feared the pawn shop was going to have another attempted robbery on his shift.
"Hood down please." He said in his sternest voice. "You know yo, for safety precautions." Todd had pulled the pistol from the underside of the counter and set it on the glass case his hand resting on it in a threating fashion.
The hooded figure hesitated and a pair of small hands peered out from under the cloak and a soft voice apologized as the hood was lowered. It was a girl, a very small frail looking beauty something Todd was not expecting. "I am sorry," she apologized. "I mean no harm." She looked nervous and kept her eyes cast downwards.
Todd was at a loss for words, if he didn't prefer boys at the moment he would have been drooling over this cloaked figure. The girl was the essence of beauty, she appeared to be around his age if not younger and had an unearthly complexion. Her pale wavy blonde hair was almost luminescent and seemed to stretch on it was a shame the cloak hid a majority of it. Her skin was almost white as if the girl hadn't seen the sun in ages and Todd immediately thought of Lady Galadriel from Lord of the Rings series. Yes Todd could read, he just didn't brag about it back in the day. When the stranger finally looked up Todd was lost in her deep teal eyes they seemed almost supernatural and Todd vaguely wondered if she, like him, was a mutant.
"I came to do some business." She said in her soft airy voice as she gently bit her pale pink lips. She was nervous for some reason and Todd began to feel on edge again.
"Okay, are you here to pawn or buy?" he asked as the girl began to approach him again. Todd's survival instinct kicked in and he felt like fleeing but only succeeded in taking a few steps back.
"I have come to pawn a procession of mine that is most precious." She sounded sad as her hands undid the clasp of her cloak and it fell from her shoulders and more of her golden locks spilled out and around her almost touching the back of her knees.
Todd was too busy staring at her odd clothes to respond. She was wearing a light blue dress that was very airy and covered her whole body. It hung off her shoulders and fell to her feet and the bell shaped sleeves hide her arms from view. She wore an odd necklace it was big and covered most of the exposed skin of her neck and went down to her chest like a bib. It was almost like she was wearing a fairy princess Halloween costume but it was only March. She was well out of place in the ghettos of New York standing in this run down pawn shop.
'Maybe she needs gas money to get to the medieval faire' Todd thought it was the only way he could explain her manner of dress. He was interrupted from his thoughts as he was emerged in those teal eyes again much closer than before and he felt a chill run down him.
The girl was in front of the counter not saying anything or even moving she just stared Todd in the eyes as if trying to read him. "I hope you can help me." She said sounding very hopeful.
"Ah of course," Todd said clearing his throat and remembering that he was supposed to be working. "What you got for me yo?"
The girl reached into the pocket that was inside of her cloak and set a black box on the counter. The box was about the size of a box of candies and seemed to have odd runes carved into it. Other than that there was no other details on the box other than the sliver clasp that kept the box shut tight. The clasp was like a silver hook locked into place some more of those weird rune markings circled around it. Her pale hands reached for the clasp and quickly undone it opening the box. "I need to give you this." Her eyes never left Todd's face. "I no longer have the means to possess it."
Todd was taken back from her strange way of talking but was more shocked by what was inside the black box. Sitting neatly in the rich blue velvet lining of the box was a dagger. Not what he was expecting at all and not just any dagger a very oriented one as beautiful as the girl that owned it. The blade of the dagger shined like sliver and was wavy reminding Todd of the girls hair. The hilt looked like it was made of a deep blue quartz and the colors seemed to swirl inside. A gold rope wound up the hilt and looked like it was squeezing it. The cross guard of the blade was incredibly detailed each half spread out like an angel wing the feathers were carved in the silver metal as if the dagger was about to take flight. The cross guards meet in the center of the hilt were a crescent moon laid carved and surrounded by what appeared to be diamonds. The moon itself was an opal pale white in color but still gave off different colors when placed under the light. Above the dagger in the box was a matching sheath the same color as the blue quartz and decorated with silver images of the moon and stars.
It was obviously for décor only and probably never could be used as an efficient weapon. The dagger was almost too girly for him but if the gems were real it could have some value once it was melted down. "May I?" he asked and the girl gave a nod of her head. Todd gently lifted the dagger from the box and his anxiety peaked so much that he nearly dropped the blade. He felt a cold sweat from just holding the thing. 'What the hell is wrong with me.' He thought as he turned around to his tools and began to examine the dagger up close. The blade was odd it was strong as steel but was not made of the substance and it looked like silver but it was too durable to be the precious metal. He had no clue what it was and the quartz of the hilt seemed to be alive as the blues swirled around like the waters in the ocean. As he eyed the end of the hilt was able to see it looked like it was fastened to look like a crown. A brilliant sapphire was encased inside the crown like setting with the gold foil that wrapped around the hilt swirling around the gem like vines holding it in place. It like the rest of the gem stones were real.
"Okay I will make you an offer." Todd said as he turned back around to the girl. He wasn't greeted by eyes of teal though just an empty store. The girl was nowhere to be seen as if she vanished from the room. She couldn't have left through the front door or Todd would have heard the chime, but she wasn't there and couldn't be anywhere else. To get to the back room she would have had to come behind the counter with Todd and walked right past him.
"What the fuck yo!" Todd was beyond freaked at this point even stranger yet was he knew he couldn't have dreamed it because he still held the dagger in his hands proof of the girl's existence. The one the girl left but took nothing for, it made no sense. Even if she did sneak out when Todd's back was turned without managing to trip the door chime why did she leave without the dagger or anything in return. It was a first for Todd. He raced around the counter and swung open the front door stepping out onto the sidewalk. He looked both ways but still the girl was no were to find. No cloak, no blue dress, and no hair of gold. Only the prostitute Sugar stood on the street looking at Todd strangely but saying nothing.
"The girl." Todd called out to Sugar. "The one that just came into the store did you see which way she went?" he asked. Sugar rolled her eyes and walked towards Todd holding her hand out. Todd gave an annoyed grunt but pulled out a ten dollar bill from his pocket and stuck it in her hand. "There now tell me which way she went."
Sugar smiled them. "Sorry it's the way of the street doll, nothing is free." Sugar stuck the money in between the exposed cleavage of her breasts. "Anyway I have no clue who you are talking about no one has been down this street for the past forty-five minutes."
Todd scoffed at this. "Bullshit there was a girl just in my shop not even a minute ago yo and she ran out before I could pay her." Sugar just rolled her eyes again and walked back across the street to her usual spot.
"I thought you gave up smoking dope kid. You are losing your mind there was no girl here trust me I have been standing out here waiting for a John for the past hour and not a single living thing has walked past. No girl, no nothing." Sugar gave him one last look before staring down the street hoping a car would drive past.
Annoyed at Sugar for obviously lying and taking his money he stormed back inside the shop and looked at the clock on the wall. It read 3:45 am meaning he had about two hours of work left. He rubbed his tired eyes but the dagger was still sitting on the counter, he couldn't have imagined the whole thing.
He picked up the dagger and set it back in its box. "Damn thing is probably stolen yo." He began to reason as he closed and secured the lid. "Girl probably panicked and took off, not the first time it's happened. People spook and run out, it happens. I just must not have heard the bell." Todd kept repeating that last part to himself as he opened the drawer he hide the jewelry in earlier and locked the dagger inside to be safe. Just in case it was looted goods after all.
Still for the rest of his shift Todd couldn't get that girl off of his mind or the dagger he felt anxiety race through him whenever he looked at the locked drawer. He couldn't be happier when it hit 6 am and Mr. Ivanov entered signaling the end of his shift. Todd wanted to get home and rest, little did he know that his life was about to take an interesting turn as a figure followed him from the shadows to the run down motel that was currently his home.