Chapter 2

"Is he getting a lot of blood on my seats. This is leather you know."

"Michael, you are pretty new on the force, so I will be frank with you. One day the car will be a piece of crap along with the rest of your life." he was quiet after that.

She tried to keep her impatience down to a minimum, but the blood just kept coming. They would have been quite a sight had someone seen them put that huge mutant male in the back of a small Lincoln. He had passed out after the quiet affirmation made between him and Abigail, so he was completely dead wieght being cautiously shoved into the back of that car.

Abby decided to check on him as he laid face up and bloody in the back. Moving him had only caused more bleeding, and now she was beginning to worry. "Hang in there you stubborn mule." as she whispered the little endearment from the front seat, she couldn't help but feel an unspoken kinship with the bloodied mass of an unconscious man. She heard him moan quietly as she tried to comb a few bits of gravel from his hair. It was definitely matted and hadn't been washed in God knew when, but she found it fit him. She studied his unconscious form a little closer now, without the threat of being ripped apart, and tried to see the face behind all the hair. He looked so calm and peaceful as he slept. She noticed the lines around his eyes probably were from worry and not laughter, she also noticed how when he took deep breaths his nose appeared to twitch. She figured he had the mutation of heightened senses, and his body was still sending messages about the area to his brain. Now she was sounding like a police officer. She suddenly felt the accomplishment of doing something right for once, and she knew he had to survive-if not for himself-for her. "Please tell me we are almost there."

"We are. I'll get him out of the back, you go get Mary."

"Okay be right back." Mary was the one doctor Abby could always count on. She had been Abby's friend ever since the death of her father. And if there was anyone Abby envied, it was Mary. Her mutation allowed her to remain young forever. She did not have the healing factor, she just staid beautiful. She has looked the same way for at least 20 years. She had vibrant blue eyes and long, honey blonde hair. Her lips were full and her teeth were white, straight, and perfect. And on top of everything, she was always there for her.

Abby ran into the St. Vincent's hospital lobby and saw the vibrant blonde in the corner of her eye with a leaving patient. "Mary!" the vibrant blonde whipped around and immediately began to search for the subject of the outburst.

"Abby, what's wrong, girl? You look as if you…who's blood is on you?! Is it yours?!" she began to go into motherly mode and began to drag Abby to the nearest hospital wing for assistance. The panic in those blue eyes was immediately taken over by her professionalism.

"No, Mary, you need to come outside," her voice took on the hushed tone used when talking about injured mutants. "We have someone you need to take a look at," the slight shift of her eyes made it apparent it was urgent.

"Okay, tell me the damage."

They both arrived to find Michael trying, but miserably failing, to calm the injured mutant. "Move!" Mary's instincts suddenly took over, and Michael was shoved, not to kindly, from the area. He didn't seem too upset considering he already had a few bruises from the restraining. "Sir, can you hear me? If so I need you to tell me where it hurts," Mary's voice took on the sternness from years of experience, and she demanded an answer. He gave her no answer just jerking movements and quiet groans of pain as she studied his bleeding stomach. "We need to get him inside and into a room so I can examine him properly. The back of a Lincoln really isn't helping the situation. We could get him on a gurney and cover his body to pass him off as a dead on arrival," she saw the brief flash of pain pass from Abby's eyes as she finished the sentence. "I'm sorry Abby I didn't mean to…"

"No. Mary it is fine. That was a long time ago," she remembered the last time she heard those words was from an inconsiderate, prick of a doctor as he called it on her father 'well this ones just another dead on arrival'. The passed and was replaced with her determination to help the victim, "Let's get him on that gurney."

--

He woke up feeling like he had been through hell and back. The steady "beep" of the heart monitor alerted him of the seriousness of the situation. He sat up in bed and the "beep" of the monitor only got louder as the panic began to overwhelm him. Mary was alerted by the loud beeping and rushed into the room.

"Calm down, calm down," she held sternness in her voice as she rushed over to the panicking mutant ripping cords from the wall. "Look at me!" she grabbed his face between her thumb and forefinger and stared solemnly into his dark brown eyes. "Stop," her voice was so calm but stern. It demanded attention. "Your okay. Abby brought you in here late last night," as she continued explaining the situation, she began to slowly push his calming form down into the hospital bed. "You had two pieces of steel lodged into your body. One in your leg and the other in your side. I took them out and you are now starting to heal much faster. However, they were lodged in you for so long your body has developed a few infections. I know you are a self-healer," she abruptly stopped him from correcting her, "but it will take a little longer for your body to heal this." She finished her doctor speech when she suddenly heard the quiet moan from the other hospital bed in the room.

"Well, how long?!" his angry outburst was cut short by the tight squeeze of his arm from the angry doctor. Her piercing blue eyes tore through him as Doctor Mary disappeared and best friend Mary began to peek through.

"Look, you ungrateful piece of crap," her sharp whisper tore through him just as her eyes had. His eyes began to widen more from utter shock than from fear of her sudden outburst, "Abby has been asleep for only two hours, TWO hours. She is exhausted from dealing with people like you, even if she won't say it out loud, that is what I am here for. On top of saving your sorry ass, she has volunteered to take you home, so you can heal properly." her eyes were beginning to soften as she pulled the curtain back to reveal a heavily sleeping Abby. His eyes followed Mary's to the bed. Abby had her back turned to them, fully clothed, and nothing but a thin hospital blanket covering her sleeping form. Her body shook a little as the air conditioning unit turned on, and Mary went to the closet to search for another blanket to cover her. She took a look back at the ungrateful mutant and saw his eyes lose a bit of their feral nature. Anger seeped into her words, "You don't even deserve to be in the same room as her," she saw the anger spill back into his eyes the second she sent him the insult.

"Of coarse, leave it to a human cockroach to stick up for another human cockroach. How original," she heard the sarcasm dripping from his mouth. "All you humans are the same. You put on your 'noble' jackets and hide behind your badges," he did a slight nod towards Abby's still sleeping form, "and pretend to be heroes for a day. While deep inside, the fact that you are insects compared to us, eats at you day and night," he finished his speech with a smug, relaxed smile which only added to the fire burning inside of Mary.

She walked so quickly to his bed he barely had time to blink before her hands were holding his arms tightly to the side of the bed, and her face was mere inches from his. "You think you know everything, huh?" her eyes felt like the steel they had just pulled from his body was being pushed back into him, and he gave a slight grunt as the pain shot up through his body. "Well let me tell you, I am a mutant as well, and I have the power to heal you or destroy you. Abby doesn't know because she doesn't need to, but you know this…if you EVER hurt her, I will put you in more pain than hell itself. Do...You...Understand...Me?" she whispered the last few words so close to his face he thought she was inside of his head for a minute.

He gave one more grind of his teeth in defeat and allowed his eyes to soften from their original threatening glance to a stubborn loser. He gave her a single "yes" through gritted fangs as she loosened her grip on his arms. He began to rub them much like an angry child would after a scolding.

After seeing the defeat in his eyes she turned herself back into Dr. Mary. "Good, now I am going to wake Abby. I will be taking the two of you back to her apartment, so I can keep an eye on you," she added the last word as an after thought. He watched her walk over to Abby's sleeping form and begin to gently shake the sleeping woman. "Hey," he heard the softness in her voice as she cheerfully woke Abby from her peaceful slumber and was shocked by her gentleness after what he just saw, "you need to get up. It is eight o'clock, girl," she added a slight motherly tone to her voice. With what the girl was fixing to put up with, she knew she needed more comforting than usual.

"In the morning? Wow, how long have I been out?" the shock in her eyes was almost humorous when Mary told her it was eight that night. "I've only been out for a few hours?" her eyes softened a bit when she realized her injured "victim" was awake. She rose from the bed as Mary pulled the blanket off of her. As she began to stretch, she sent a gentle smile Sabortooth's way. He couldn't help but have a moment of weakness as he watched her stretch her slender body from the tense position she was just in. Then he felt the piercing blue eyes from the bed Abby was just on and averted his eyes. "How are you feeling?" her eyes were full of genuine concern which baffled him into oblivion. She took the silence as his lack of trust, so figured he was fine. "Did Mary tell you that you will be staying with me for awhile?" he continued the blank confused stare, but this time she figured it was shock at the fact she had even considered he would stay in the same room as her. "I hope that's okay. I figured since I found you in an alley, you didn't really have a stable place to go and heal," he couldn't help but notice her green eyes got a little glassy when she became concerned. The sudden, casual pinch from Mary pulling the IV from his arm and leaving them alone jarred him back to the situation at hand.

"Yeah, she told me," he said it gruffly and casually. As if he didn't really have a choice in the matter.

"Well, it is alright with you? Isn't it?"

Her sincerity once again shocked him to the core. This weak human woman was really concerned with what he thought. She had begged to help him, and here she was asking if it was okay for him to stay at her house while he healed. Why was she being so nice to him? Did she not know he was going to kill her before he collapsed from blood loss? Well, he figured, might as well ride this gravy-train for all it's worth. "Yeah that's fine with me, sugar," he meant for the last part to sound condescending and sexist, but she baffled him once again as she wiped it off.

"It's Abby," she even said it like he should care. "I will be right back. I have to go talk with Mary for a sec., but while you were out I washed your clothes for you," she walked over to the chair in the corner of the room where she had laid them out for him. "I tried to get all the blood stains out, but they were almost as stubborn as you," she scratched at the stain and let out a small chuckle at her comparison. She watched as he studied her from his position on the bed. She remembered how her father used to watch her constantly, always worrying about her. But this was a different stare. This one saw her inner struggle, and if she gave him even an inch those dark eyes would swallow her whole. She knew he was dangerous and some of the stains were probably not his, but she had this deep nudging feeling to just stick with him. He never took his eyes off of her as she began to exit the room. She could feel them through her back. It almost felt like he was testing her, seeing how long it would take before she finally lost her nerve with him. But she was a fighter deep down, and as she left the room she made a silent vow to herself, 'he would never break her'.

She walked the long hallway until she finally saw Mary at the nurse's station. Mary noticed her first though, "Hey, you ready to get out of here?" Abby noticed the shakiness in Mary's voice.

"What's the matter, Mary?"

"Nothing…um you know you don't have to keep him in your home, Abby," she noticed Abby's eyes were beginning to look even more haggard as she mentioned her future roommate. "Look, he will heal after a while, and you will never have to see him again. All we need to do is just kick him out," she knew Abby would never go for it, but she needed to give her the options anyway.

"You know I wouldn't do that," she let a large sigh escape her lips. "Let's just get out of here. I hate hospitals."

They both began the walk back to the room to gather the extra "baggage". As they got closer they began to hear the soft groaning of someone in pain. Mary put her hand up for Abby to wait outside while she went in to investigate. Abby listened outside for what was happening, but all she heard were whispers and one annoyed growl. She assumed it was directed towards Mary. "Okay, Abby, you can come in," as Mary gave her the okay, she took a deep breath and exhaled before entering the room.

The first thing she noticed upon entering was the tall figure in front of her. She had only ever seen him hunched over in pain or packed into the back of a Lincoln, but never at full height. He towered over her average 5'9 figure and from the look on his face, he knew he did. She also noticed how much better he looked after a putting on some clean clothes. "Wow, you look better all ready," she figured she might as well try to break the awkwardness between them. He gave her a small, nearly smug smile before limping past her and heading for the car. "Well, let's get going. I am absolutely exhausted."

--

He couldn't believe her. Why was she trying to be nice to him? She was just a weak pathetic human girl. But she did save my life. No, why did he even allow that to cross his mind. She could have left me there to just be miserable forever. She was a human woman. She did have a really nice body. As images of her lithe stretches began to plague his mind, he suddenly felt extremely nauseas. His barriers were breaking, and he was allowing her to get to him. "No. I'm not going to allow that girl to get to me," he suddenly realized he was now speaking to himself. Now she really was driving him insane.

"Hey, Speed Racer, you don't need to be moving that quick," he heard the concern in her voice as he leaned against the car for support. He shut his eyes to try to block the image of those beautiful green eyes filled with concern over him. Damn! She really was getting to him. She came up beside him to lay a supportive hand on his non-injured side and open the back door for him to lay down in. As she touched him, every muscle in his body began to tense. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," she pulled her hand back as if he were a hot iron and opened the door for him.

He still felt the fire from her touch on his body and once again his eyes shut and his fangs began to grind together. He wanted to feel anything at that moment but the warm, comforting feeling of her hand on his side. He slowly climbed into the backseat and tried to avoid every touch she attempted to give him. "You didn't hurt me," the voice came out so soft and gruff she almost didn't catch it.

"Oh…well…good. I'm glad," she could feel the tension rising between them, thicker than before. At least he was talking to her any way.

The ride back was spent in silence. Mary simply drove the car, quietly singing along with the radio. Abby attempted to stay awake, and Sabortooth meditated on his conflicting emotions. An hour later they arrived at Abby's small apartment. And as her and Mary looked up to her second floor room, they both dreaded the imminent goodbye.

"This is the last stop. You need any help with anything before I go," the pain in Mary's soft voice was palpable. Her blue eyes sent the same message her voice did. She didn't want to leave her alone with him, not now or ever. "I could stay…" Abby cut her off before she could say another word with a huge hug.

"Thank you so much, Mary," Mary gave her one last hug before getting back into the car.

"If you need anything, give me a call. Okay?" her voice gave one last quiver before Abby assured her she would be okay. And with that, Mary drove away, leaving her alone.

Abby looked back at Sabortooth, as he leaned against the stair railing for support. "I live on the second floor. Do you need to lean on me for a crutch or anything? Cause I will…"

"No!" he saw her jump at his outburst, "I can make it. I will just follow you," he saw her begin to relax as she nodded her approval and headed up the stairs. As he followed her up the long stair way, he couldn't help but take in her small curves on her hips. God help him he was checking out the human. He pushed himself up the flight of stairs with only a few grunts here and there, but he felt like he held his weaknesses pretty well. Then after what felt like an hour he was inside the small apartment. He looked around and was a little disappointed with the size, but all in all it was a nice place. The kitchen was the entrance to the apartment and straight ahead was a living room equipped with one large couch and a small recliner. There was only one bedroom and bathroom, so he assumed the living room would be his domain. He took the liberty of plopping into the small recliner as Abby bustled into her room to "get some things" she had said.

She came back into the living room and through two large pillows on the couch and began to pile blankets onto the couch, as if he would freeze over night. "I hope this is okay. If you need anything else just come in and get me," she stopped what she was doing to process what she had just said. She looked over at Sabortooth who had one eyebrow lifted in a questioning glance, as he sat watching her wrap up the couch. She stood up after a half a second and tried to calm the redness on her cheeks. "Um…you know what I mean, right?" she gave a nervous laugh as the man gave her a half smile and a soft nod of assurance. She couldn't help but notice this smile did not expose one fang at her, and it would have been sexy during any other time or place. She began to head off to her room to get dressed before stopping mid stride to ask one more thing, "I know this is a silly question, but since we will be living together for awhile, what's your name?"

He thought about just saying Sabortooth menacingly and leaving it at that. But as he glanced at her tired figure, her hair gently framing her face, and the sincerity of her voice, he decided against it. "My name is Victor. Victor Creed," and for the first time since he met her, a delicate smile graced her full lips, and her eyes lit up for a split second. He felt his heart stop in that moment. Suddenly he realized, he was fixing to be putty in her hands and she didn't have a clue.

She walked into her room with the smile gracing her lips. As she began to get undressed and ready for bed, the day's events began to catch up with her. She climbed into bed with a large t-shirt and began to feel her eyes get heavy. The realization that she had the strength to survive this finally seeped into her head. She sent up a silent prayer as she drifted off into the deepest sleep she's had in years.