Disclaimer: I do not own X-23, Sabretooth, Honey Badger, Jonathan the Wolverine, and any other X-Men/Marvel character mentioned in this fanfic. This story is purely made by a fan for fans to enjoy. Also, some small amount of coarse language.

Victor didn't know when or how he knew he was awake. All that really got his morning started was an intense buzzing from his nightstand. He tolerated it at first, but after about thirty seconds of a heavy metal cover flooding his ears, he'd had enough. A low growl permeating out of his throat, his clawed hand slipped out of the covers and gripped the phone menacingly. When he looked at the number, he didn't see a recognizable contact but answered anyways to shoo them away.

"Hello?" He mumbled groggily.

"Creed," said a flat voice on the other side of the line. "We need to talk."

Shit.

"Kinney?" He asked, slowly rising a little from the bed and attempting to see straight through his blonde mess of hair. "Whaddya want?"

"I need a favor." Gets to business, don't she?

"I just got up, frail," he barked lowly. "Ain't in the mood at the moment."

Silence followed briefly on the line. Believing that maybe she'd hung up or dropped the phone, Victor yawned and sat up in his bed, slowly massaging his tired face with a claw. Just as he was about to escape the confines of his half-undressed covers, she picked up again. "…As much as I hate to ask this…I need you to babysit Gabby for me."

"Gabby? Gabby who?"

He heard a sigh on the other side, which gave him the impression that he needed to know his shit. "Seriously? Gabby, my clone who helped bring you back to life during the whole 'Orphans of X' incident? Honey Badger?"

"No clue."

"No shit, Sherlock," she replied in her usual cold manner. "Didn't take you for a detective, but that doesn't matter. Point is, I'm going on a mission with the X-Men soon and I need somebody to watch her while I'm gone."

"Then call somebody else. Why not try Logan – old Logan, I mean – or Daken or another runt that was' n' the program?"

"You don't think I thought of that?" Laura made clear in her 'I know what I'm doing' voice. "Logan's gone AWOL, Wade's back to being a mercenary. Daken…I don't even know what phase he's in right now. And all my X-friends are either in school or on teams currently in use. So that leaves me with you."

Wow, she must've really been cutting corners to have to come to him. He'd tried to kill her, what, twenty times already? If that wasn't a bad enough resume, he didn't know what was.

"Sorry, frail, but what's the incentive here? "

Another sigh permeated from her end. "If you do this for me, I'll pay you one thousand dollars."

"Bull. Where'd you get money like that?"

"Logan's will," Laura pointed out. "You'd know if you'd read it, but I guess you were too busy being a murderous idiot for that."

Damn, he thought. All that money… With the low amounts of cash he was getting from his work as part of Weapon X, it definitely snatched his attention. That said, he was still hesitant about accepting it from Logan's offspring.

"I wouldn't be reaching out if I didn't need help, Victor." Silence followed on his end for several moments.

"…When and where?"

Laura took a few seconds to recollect herself before answering. "Meet me tomorrow at my apartment on Roosevelt Island. 3 o'clock sharp."

"Hang on. You live a' Roosevelt Island?"

"I got an apartment after saving the population from a virus coded to my genes. Anyways, what's the issue?"

"Nothin.' Just…nevermind."

"Alright. I guess I'll see you then."

"Yup."

"Bye."

It'd taken Victor at least seven hours to travel from his hotel room in Yonkers to Roosevelt Island, the reasons ranging from traffic to exhausting another couple of his long-lost bank accounts in the process. He'd driven his purple automobile across the bridge before ultimately coming to a stop at a suave apartment complex. Standing in front of a building comprising brick and oak trees at the base, he sniffed and then gargled. It was too nice for him, and to boot, the stench of the clone and some other X-Men was written all over it.

To avoid the long security process, he scaled up the side of the building in record time, gripping onto a coincidently open window and darting into the adequately carpeted hallway. His nose pointed towards a room with a golden door several feet from him. Holding back the urge to kick it in for fun, he pressed the doorbell with a claw.

Five seconds later, the door opened and Victor was greeted by the sight of a young girl around half his height. She had black hair just like Laura, a small scar across her face, and possessed a pair of jumpers and navy-blue jeans. Her defining trait was the suspicious scowl she wore.

"Hello? Do I know you?"

Victor rolled his eyes. "Apparently th' babysitter. You Gabby?"

"…Oh, yeah, that's me!" She said in a weirdly cheerful way. "Hey, aren't you that Sabretooth guy? The one who's like Wolverine, but blonde and a criminal, and has tried to kill him a million times?"

"In the flesh." He eyed the rest of the apartment but saw no sign of his apparent boss. "Mind if I come in?"

"You can enter," answered Laura's disembodied voice. Creed deduced she must've been farther into the apartment and proceed to waltz in, Gabby following him. Making his way into the living room, he saw Laura dressed in her Wolverine costume, packing small items into a backpack. She turned to him and gave the same half-interested look he associated her with.

"Nice threads. Jimmy'd be proud."

"…Thanks." Laura slung the backpack over her shoulders and immediately walked to the kitchen, opening the cupboard to reveal cans and other packages of assorted food. "I'm going to be on an X-Men mission for what looks to be around six hours. Until I get back, I need you to keep an eye on Gabby for me – and here."

"So, yer saying we're stuck n' this dump?" Victor grumbled while glancing around.

"Hey! We get a view of the Roosevelt Bridge from here. Respect the property," Gabby interjected.

"…I don't trust you, Victor, but from what I heard from Logan, you've at least got something for a brain in your head. All you have to do is keep her preoccupied. I left some cash under the television to order a pizza or Chinese takeout."

"What about games? You expectin' me to play charades with yo' sis?"

"I don't know. You're an ex-assassin whose lived more decades than I can count. You can figure it out."

"Y'know, we could just go and have a night on the town…" Victor smiled with a toothy grin, one that made Laura more uncomfortable than she already was. She glared back until he held his hands in defense. "Alright, boss. Ya' got it."

Laura twisted back and finished putting things into her backpack, then kneeled down to a waiting Gabby. "I'm going to come back soon. You think you can handle being here without me?"

"You mean around him?" She jabbed a finger over Laura's shoulder to Victor. "I think I can manage around smelly, old guys with claws. I'm Honey Badger!"

It took so much for Victor to not snort at the codename.

Laura smiled as the two hugged. Once they let go, she got up and walked to the door. Her head spun around one last time to glare into Victor's line of sight, promptly leaving with her mask well over her face. The door slammed and left the two standing in the apartment.

Gabby swung her arms and looked crossly at Victor. "So, what do we do?"

He gazed at her liked she'd demanded something incredibly insane. "We? Kid, first I gotta use the john." He darted for the bathroom and shut the door. Gabby sighed, hitting the couch. This sure was going to be "fun".

When Victor exited the bathroom a few seconds later, he re-entered the living room – to find Gabby not in it. He could still get her smell, but she wasn't visible. The expert assassin started waltzing around and tried to hone in on her, his eyes darting around like a cat looking for prey.

"Kid, where are- uoooommmffff!"

Something big, brown, and fury had landed on his face and didn't seem to want to get off. Fuming from under its body pressure, Victor swung his claws in a haphazard fashion around his now-covered face, careful to not slash himself but also not clear on what he should attack. He heard a growl before the brown mass fell off his face and onto the ground. He would've swiped at it further had Gabby not darted in front of him with urgency.

"Hey! Jonathan was just playing, calm down!"

"…Jonathan?" His eyes focused on the brown mass, becoming clearer as he took in its' appearance. Then it hit him: he was staring at a dog-sized Wolverine…an actual Wolverine, tongue sticking out and claws on its' fluffy hands. And it looked rather cute doing so.

The hell?

"The two o' you…you got a pet Wolverine?"

Gabby instinctively glanced at Jonathan and petted him, earning a coo from the ball of brown fur. "Yeah. Squirrel Girl gave him to us one day, and ever since then he's lived with us." To Victor's distaste, the animal growled at him when he looked up. "He isn't really good with strangers…at first."

"Well, next time you need me to babysit, don't forget t' mention you got a Wolverine hanging around," snarled Victor. Boredom filling up his head, he rotated around and walked back to the couch. Gabby trailed behind him into the living space, Jonathan at her heels.

"What if we play a game?"

"The games I like are way above your paygrade."

Gabby huffed. "Well, you don't need to be rude about it. I could just ask you some questions."

That got Victor smiling. "Askin' me questions? 'Bout what?"

"Hmmm…let me think…" Gabby grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it up to the couch, a short distance from where Victor was sprawled out. "Are you and Wolverine related?"

"What's it to you?"

"I think Laura might've said it once. But I also think she said it was a rumor, so I want to confirm if it's true or not."

The greasy blond-hair snorted, his claws instinctively sharpening a tad as he breathed out. "We ain't. Trust me, I've gone to some geneticists to prove it. And even if we were, wouldn't change a thing between us."

Gabby looked down, pondering the answer in a childlike way. "Okay. That solves one great mystery. Now here's another question – how many times have you tried to kill Wolverine?"

Victor licked his lips and looked upwards. "Lemme' see…been a couple hundred years…I gotta say, 'round six to eight hundred? That ain't counting the times I did with others. Mystique could claim a few herself."

"Jeez…" Gabby's eyes were wider than normal as she took in the information. "…Why do you hate each other so much?"

This time, it was Victor's turn to level a question. "Why do ya' think, frail?"

"I…I always thought it was something to do with your powers…right?" She answered nervously.

His response was a strained chuckle, so similar in pitch to that of a Hyena that it set off her nerves. "It ain't that. All the years we been at each others' throats and claws, we always had different points on our nature. Me? I always embraced who I was, no matter if the world painted me a monster. But Logan? No, he was way 'better' than me. Even if he got his claws dirty doing the necessary stuff, he'd puff himself out 'n say he was a role model. As if."

Gabby nervously scooted forwards and cupped her hands. "So that's why you attack him every time it's his birthday? I think he'd like some peace and quiet."

"Since when do you understand me, kid?" Victor suddenly barked at her, his tone immediately darkening as he spoke. "Only thing I know 'bout you s'that you're a clone of Kinney. What makes you think you can hold a candle to what Logan and me got goin' for us?" He pointed a claw at her direction.

Before Victor had said this, Gabby had really been trying. She'd heard so much about the evil he'd committed, the way he was with others, and who he was as a mutant. She'd even had the chance to briefly meet him when they fought the Orphans of X a while back, and he seemed somewhat fine back then.

But now? He was royally ticking her off.

"I sure know a lot, that's what," Gabby exclaimed ferociously, standing up to glare daggers at him. With her babysitter speechless, she took the chance to continue. "I was grown in a lab and treated like nothing but that, mister 'I got reasons for what I do.' My handlers…. they made my life living hell, even if I couldn't feel it! I and Laura came out of pain better heroes than where we started!"

The room was suddenly quiet, made even more by Gabby not saying a word as she tensed her fists and walked away to her own living space.

He'd struck a nerve. He was almost sorry for saying it.

Almost.

Around half an hour later, Victor was still lounging on the couch like he owned it. When Gabby came out to return to the living room, he didn't even move an inch for her. Huffing, the girl sat down and forcibly pushed him to the right, then flicked the television on with a thumb.

"…I called for some pizza," Victor stated, looking at the TV instead of at Gabby. "Should be here in fifteen or less. Something like that, they said."

"Fine," was all that she echoed back.

He looked over her, noticing a thin and serious expression instead of the usual defying gaze that suited her appearance. Apathetic, he moved his eyes back to the television, where some sort of Spanish drama was plastered onto the screen.

"You watchin' those whatchamacallits…. telenovelas?" He asked.

"Yep," Gabby deadpanned. "Pretty enjoyable…compared to people, sometimes."

A low snarl escaped Victor's throat as he turned to his charge. "That supposed to be directed at me?"

"Think so."

"Why's that?" He'd start shifting closer in his spot, but made it look all the more natural.

Gabby paused, pressing the mute button and whirling right into where Victor was situated. Unbeknownst to both, Jonathan had crawled behind her on the floor, acting as her backup. "Because at least the people in these dramas aren't…I don't know, talking about things they realize are stupid and not considerate of others."

He breathed out a large, hollow laugh while staring her dead on. "Welcome to the real world, kid. People ain't nice to each other."

"I know that…Sabretooth." The way she said his name, the last word, has so much malice in it he was genuinely suspired by the action. "But, all I'm trying to say is that maybe being negative isn't the best."

"And being kind and cute is?"

She looked him dead in the eyes. "When we both came from some messed-up government lab? You bet."

Jonathan got up on his hind legs and growled in support, causing Victor's annoyed face to dart in his direction. Before he could snarl back, the doorbell rang. He cursed as he lazily got up and walked up to the door, nearly ripping it off as he opened it. Outside stood a deliveryman in red clothing and dark shorts, looking startled by the lumbering blonde towering over him.

"Er…hi?" He asked weakly. "I…I've got an order f-for a Victor?"

"That'd be me, runt," the ex-assassin answered rudely. "Cough up the pizza."

Compliant to the point of immediate obedience, the delivery man handed over the box in a fit of fear. Turning around, Victor tossed a wad of cash at him and shut the door, hearing a slight sound of gripping hands beneath the door's loud shutting. He brought the pizza to the table in the kitchen, finding Gabby on his heels looking hopeful.

"The pizza's here. Ya happy?" He garbled annoyingly.

Gabby darted forwards, rushing into his side as she secured the slice with a claw – scratch that, a singular claw. It popped out of her hand and stabbed the food in a brutal fashion, and by the time Victor could wrap his head around it, she already consumed the slice.

"Yep." She darted back to the couch, Jonathan napping at her heels for the second slice she'd absconded with. "Pizza smoothens you over."

"Whatever you say, runt."

Something stopped Gabby as she was about to consume the pizza slice, causing her to look back to Victor. "It's not 'runt.' It's Gabby, furball!"

"Ya like name callin'?" He declared in a growing antagonistic manner. "Don't try me, one-claw."

"Kitty litter!"

"Clone 2.0!"

"Moronic guy with long fingernails and stupid hair!"

The two stood glared right into each other's' eyes, the food and apartment forgotten in their heated yelling match. When it seemed like there would be another verbal cry from Victor, he instead did the opposite; he broke out laughing. Gabby's face melted into honest confusion as he took a seat back at the couch.

"Ahhh…." He breathed lightly. "Ya got fire in ya kid…yer' not so different from Logan after all."

Still confused but slightly elated by the comment, Gabby took her seat nearby. The pizza on her plate was slowly becoming colder by the minute. "You liked it when I called you names? Why?"

"Because that's what it's like to be one o' us," Victor said. "When you got claws and healin' powers, you're an animal that's got to prove its territory. Why ya' think I'm always bein' aggressive? It's part of who I am."

Gabby laughed gently at his words. "Uh…thanks, I guess."

"'Course, I'm still Sabretooth, so nobody tells me what to do."

And there went the apparent character growth of tonight. She sighed and pulled back into her spot, but right when she was finally about to snack on the pizza in her grip, something hit her.

"Let's make a pact," she said abruptly.

Interrupted from his television, Victor swirled back at her. "What's that?"

"We should make a deal like they do in the movies. I promise something, and you promise something back. And then we both honor it."

"And this deal is?" He questioned with raised brows.

Gabby sat back on the couch, making sure she was turned to his spot. "If you promise to respect Uncle Logan – not a lot, but just a smidge more -, then I'll respect you more."

"You want me to, what, not try to kill him more? That's what we do."

"Just think of something else, then."

"But-"

"Please, Uncle Victor?"

Uncle. He'd never gotten the luxury to hear that word from anyone before. The only words he'd heard were monster, villain, murderer, dog. But uncle…If he really meant that much to her, even if he was an ass… he should take her up on it.

A toothy grin showing, he reached out one of his hands and gently took hers in it. "Ya got a deal, kid. I'll think 'bout it."

Gabby's face lit up like a birthday cake, and before he knew it she'd leaped into giving him a chest-squeezing hug. "Thank you! You're so considerate!" He chuckled and then put her back down.

"Say, we got some time left ta' kill. What'dya want to do?"

The fledgling hero put a finger to her lip. "Hmmm…I know! We could watch a really old movie on the TV!"

"Like Gone with the Wind?"

"Er…I was kind of thinking something slightly recent. Does "Alien" work? Laura loves horror movies."

"Whatever ya' say. Just don't talk when the screen rolls, 'kay?"

"Sure thing!" She scampered off to the cupboard of films in the kitchen, leaving a comfortable and proud Victor reclining on the couch in all his glory.

The door to the apartment creaked slowly open, revealing a bruised but breathing Wolverine. She walked in and plopped the backpack down against the wall. A smell on her nostrils, she looked to the couch and saw a sight she hadn't expected at all: Gabby, Victor, and Jonathan lying down on each other fast asleep. Gabby's unconscious form breathed softly, covered in part by Victor's masculine arms hovering over her protectively. On the floor, Jonathan was positioned like a sleeping canine and cooed adorably in his dreams.

Laura was worried about having Victor take care of Gabby, but by the looks of it, things had gone incredibly smooth. Asking her sister how it went in the morning was probably the better decision. Of course, that didn't stop her from getting her phone and taking a snapshot of the scene for herself. She moved to go snooze in her bedroom, but turned for one last look and smiled at the beauty of it all.

"G'night, guys," she whispered before diving straight into her room. The lights flickered off and the door shut, leaving a calm night for the lot of them.

The End.