A/N: Umm...three months is better than two years, right? Yeah, I don't really know what to say about this chapter. I'm grasping at straws for ideas. So...enjoy? :)
Chapter 4
Lost in the moment, Tabby and Pietro didn't realize someone else was in the room until he spoke up.
"How touching Tabitha, you found someone who doesn't care that you're a little slut." Lou said, stepping out of the shadows and into the moonlight streaming in through the window. "Your mother would be so proud."
Pietro was on his feet the second Lou spoke up, but Tabby was a little slower in her actions, still being slightly intoxicated.
"But you don't care about her, do you? You didn't even bother showing up for her funeral."
"Because she knew you'd be there! Don't you get it? She doesn't want or need you in her life, so get lost before I permanently remove you from it." Pietro spat dangerously, Lou merely smirked.
"Big talk for such a puny thing. What kind of freak power do you have?" He asked, sizing Pietro up.
Pietro used his super-speed to pin Lou to the wall by the neck, eyes narrowed.
"I'll call the police," Tabby broke in, searching around for her cell phone. "You aren't supposed to be within a hundred feet of me."
"Come now precious, there's no need to involve the police. I just want to talk."
"Well I don't wanna listen." Tabby informed him matter-of-factly. "I've heard it all before."
"You heard her, get lost." Pietro shoved him harder into the wall before letting go and throwing the door open. Lou kept his eyes on his daughter, but she was staring at a spot on the bed. So, with a glance to Pietro and then back to Tabby, Lou walked toward the door.
"If you change your mind princess, I'd love to have lunch with you tomorrow. You know where." He said with a smile before leaving the room. And Pietro made sure he left the house before zipping back into the room and shutting the door. Tabby had lit a cigarette and was sitting on the floor under the window with it propped open. She didn't look up when he returned.
"I don't know how he got in here Tabs but it won't happen again."
"I knew staying here was a bad idea." She said, exhaling smoke before taking another drag. "He'll never leave me alone."
"Tabby I won't let him hurt you," Pietro's voice was strangely kind, and he sat next to her on the floor. She glanced at him, and then fixed her eyes back on a random spot on the floor.
They were both quiet as she finished her cigarette and flicked it out the window. Then she stood and made her way back over to her bed, not bothering to change from her dress as she crawled under the blankets. Pietro followed shortly after, lying next to her, wrapping an arm around her. She wasn't crying, and Pietro wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Please don't leave," he murmured into her ear as she drifted off to sleep.
Early morning
Tabby forced herself out of bed with a glance at her alarm clock - 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday? She was never awake this early when she had school. Yawning, Tabby rubbed at her eyes as her feet scuffed across the floor. Leaving the door open as she left the room, Tabby bumped into the wall a few times as she made her way to the stairs and into the kitchen.
Rummaging through cabinets, Tabby quickly set to making coffee. Her head was pounding and she had already popped a few ibuprofen.
Slinking down into a seat at the table, Tabby felt her head hit the table, her eyes sliding closed seconds later. She wasn't sure why she decided to be awake right now. No one would be up for a few hours yet, and it wasn't like she had anywhere to be. However, and despite knowing better, she couldn't help but consider taking her father up on his offer.
He was her one weakness, and anyone could see it. No matter how poorly he treated her, or what he made her do, she just couldn't stay mad at him. He was her father! The only family she had left.
"Good morning," She heard, and she groaned in response. "Rough night? I think the whole block had the pleasure of hearing yours and Pietro's fight."
"Shut up." Tabby muttered into her arms before raising her head to check the coffee. "Sorry, I'm not a morning person on a good day." She said, not bothering to look at Wanda as she got up to pour herself a cup. Wanda didn't respond, simply poured some milk onto her cereal, put it away, and left the room. Tabby followed soon after, but she went back upstairs instead of to the living room.
Closing her door with her foot, it slammed shut a little louder than she'd anticipated and Pietro shot up in bed, looked around in a frazzled manner, before zipping out of bed and throwing the door open, intent to chase after Tabby.
"Pie?" Tabby spoke up before he had the chance to take off. He turned to her, eyes wide, before zipping directly in front of her and taking a hold of her arms, causing her to spill the majority of the contents of both mugs of coffee.
"Where are you going? You can't leave, Tabs, you're safer hear than out on your own. I knew you'd try and take off, why do you have to be so stupid?" Tabby shut him up before his speedy rant could continue by placing a soft kiss on his lips.
"I brought you coffee, but I think most of it's on the floor now." She said, setting the two cups down before crawling back onto her bed. With another yawn, she pulled her pillow close and closed her eyes. Maybe going back to sleep wasn't such a bad idea after all, at least her headache was going away.
It took a minute for Pietro to come out of the daze she left him in, and when he did a small smile graced his features for the briefest moments before being replaced with his signature scowl.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack," He informed her. She merely 'hmm'd' and curled up into a ball. With a sigh of irritation, and maybe a hint of admiration, he crawled onto the bed once again, pulling the blanket up over the two of them. "You're impossible," He murmured, closing his eyes as well.
Meanwhile, downstairs
Wanda entered the living room and stopped dead. Something was off. Turning around she brought her hand out in front of her and used her powers to pull that 'something' out of the shadows.
"Now, now, luv. Is that any way to treat a guest?" Pyro asked with a smirk.
"I thought I sensed crazy." She muttered, using her other hand to rip his flamethrower from him before he got the chance to retaliate. He pouted.
"Aw, come on Sheila, how does that make for a fair fight?"
"Who said you deserved such treatment?"
"Ya know, you're awful cute when you're angry." He grinned; she narrowed her eyes and slammed him into the wall. "Ow!"
"What do you want?"
"Want? Oi don't want anything." He smiled. "Your pops on the other hand, he wants a word with your brother."
"We're not interested."
"Oh, not you, Sheila. Just the hyperactive one."
"I don't care. We're not interested." She then threw him out the door, along with his flamethrower. However, she'd barely slammed the door shut before there was an explosion and it was thrown open again.
"Chère, let's not do dis the hard way, d'accord?"
Early afternoon
Tabby woke up the second time feeling much better. Pietro was nowhere in sight, so she decided to make the best of his absence by taking a nice, long, hot shower. Once cleaned up and changed, Tabby headed downstairs, stopping in the hall at the bottom of the stairs, glancing back and forth between the kitchen and the living room.
It was quiet.
Taking a left into the bigger of the two rooms, Tabby spotted Lance sitting in the recliner, eyes glued to the TV.
"Hey," She greeted shortly, crossing the room and plopping down on the couch. "Where is everyone?"
"Morning sunshine," Lance grinned, tearing his eyes away from the TV to look at Tabby. She rolled her eyes at him. "So…Cannonball, eh?" Tabby groaned.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's wrong to eavesdrop?" Lance laughed.
"I didn't need to, Tabs, you two weren't exactly keeping your voices down."
She groaned again. "Just…shut up."
"Okay, okay." Lance laughed again, turning back to the TV.
"Where is Pietro anyway?"
"I dunno, he took off about an hour ago. Said he had something to do." Lance shrugged as Wanda entered the room.
"Gamibt and Pyro were both lurking around this morning." Wanda spoke up, surprising the other two. "I bet he's off with daddy dearest."
It was hard to say who had the bigger frown at that statement. Lance sat up straight, shooting a glance at Tabby before addressing Wanda.
"Do you know what they wanted?"
"No, Pyro demanded to see Pietro, so I threw him out on his ass. But you know those guys. Gambit blew off the doorknob." Lance rolled his eyes; how many were they up to now?
"Then Pietro showed up, agreed to hear them out, and I haven't seen him since." Wanda shrugged.
Tabby wasn't exactly sure what Pietro's running off to play lackey to his father meant, but she was convinced he'd tell her when he returned. Well, maybe. Stretching her arms above her head Tabby stood up.
"Lancey is your car out front?" He shot her a look and narrowed his eyes.
"Don't even think about it Tabs, I saw the scratches you left on it from your drunken escapade last night." She pouted at him.
"I'm perfectly sober now, though! I promise I'll bring it back in one piece." Tabby gave him the puppy dog look. "I'll even bring you back a present! I'm heading over to Xavier's, how do you feel about a Kitty?" She winked at him and he rolled his eyes.
"Fine. But this is you're last chance."
"You're a sweetheart," Tabby grinned, snatching the keys he held out for her before taking off.
So Tabby actually had ulterior motives. Xavier's was on her list of places to go, but Carl's Diner was first.
Carl's Diner – 20 minutes later
Tabby pulled into the parking lot, turned the engine off, and stepped out. She recognized her father's car immediately and she took a deep breath before entering the building. Making her way slowly to their usual table, a million thoughts ran through her mind all at once; most importantly: what the hell are you doing?
"Hey princess, I knew you'd make the right choice." He smiled at her, while Tabby's face was etched in a frown.
"I'm only here to let you know that I'm done." Tabby spoke, sounding a lot more confident than she felt. "Find someone else to do your dirty work."
"Now listen sweat pea," Lou growled, lowering his voice dangerously as he reached over and took a hold of Tabitha's wrist, squeezing it threateningly. "I think you don't mean that. You wouldn't be here otherwise."
"Let go." Tabby hissed, attempting to yank her arm from his grasp. It didn't loosen a bit.
"You know, I'm finished with my meal. Why don't we discuss this outside?" Lou drug Tabby outside to the alley behind the building before promptly shoving her to the ground.
"Listen to me you little slut, you're going to get me a couple grand or you'll be worse for wear than your mother was before she died."
Tabby bit back tears as she stood up, glaring daggers. "I won't do it. I'll go to the police; you're a wanted man anyway. You have nothing against me anymore. Not since mom – "
Lou backhanded her and Tabby lost her footing, stumbling back a few steps. He pulled a knife out and held it to her neck.
"Get me the money by midnight tonight, or else." He breathed, as the knife left a trickle of blood sliding down her neck. "Understood, cupcake?"
"Understood." She muttered, breathing hard as she watched him disappear around the side of the building and heard his car start up.
Choking back a sob, Tabby quickly cleaned herself up before heading off to Xavier's.
Xavier's – two hours later
There was a distant look in Tabby's eyes as she entered the mansion. She ignored everyone who tried to talk to her and went directly to Sam and Ray's room. Knocking on the door, she dropped her gaze to the ground as she waited for someone to answer.
"T-Tabs?" Sam stuttered, surprised to find the girl of his affections standing in front of him. "W-what brings ya here?"
"Hey Guthrie, can I come in?" Tabby asked, still not looking at him. "I think we need to talk."
"Uh, sure." Sam held the door open and allowed her to walk passed him into the room before following her.
"Hey Tabby! How're you feeling?" Ray snickered.
"Fine." She replied and Ray frowned. It didn't take much to realize something was up. "Could you give us a few minutes?"
"Sure thing," Ray grinned, patting Sam on the back as he made his way out.
"So, uh…what'd ya wanna talk about?" Sam asked, offering her a seat before sitting down on his bed.
"I wanted to apologize about last night. About Pietro." Tabby said, eying the bruise that had formed around his left eye.
"Oh this? I'll live." Sam chuckled, then coughed. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." She gave him a small smile, and he returned it.
"So…I was thinkin'…w-would you, maybe, wanna have dinner with me sometime?" Sam asked, turning pink. Tabby blinked in surprise. Of course, Sam was fairly gentlemanly, he wouldn't have taken last night as a random make-out session. She suddenly felt bad. And it must have shown on her face, because he quickly spoke up again. "O-or not. It's no big deal or anything I just thought –"
"Sure, Sam, I'd like that." Tabby smiled, standing up and hugging him. "I gotta run though. Call me?" She kissed his cheek before quickly fleeing the room.
Ugh. Pietro's going to flip.
As Tabby made her way toward the stairs she was caught off-guard as a pair of arms wrapped around her and she suddenly disappeared, only to reappear in Kurt's bedroom.
"Woah, you gotta warn a girl before doing that, Blue." Tabby laughed.
"Tabs, have you seen the news?" Kurt frowned, turning his TV on. Tabby glanced at the tube, watching as they showed shots of a recently burgled convenience store.
"…Happened just this afternoon. Believed to have been a mutant affiliated robbery just outside of Bayville, as the security camera was blown up moments before the attack…"
"You think I did it?" Tabby asked, sounding angry. Of course, she had done it, but the fact that he automatically assumed she was behind it kind of stung all the same.
"The Prof. wants to talk to you Tabby. We're worried about you."
"No way. I don't need him digging around in my head." Tabby snapped, storming out of his room. However, she didn't get very far as she was soon intercepted by Wolverine. Groaning, she followed him to Xavier's office.
"Please, sit Tabitha." Charles smiled, nodding to a chair across from his desk. She crossed her arms and did so. "Is everything alright at the Brotherhood?"
"Yes."
"With your family? Your father hasn't been – "
"Look, I appreciate that you care and all that, but I don't need your help." Tabby stood up and headed for the door that Logan was standing in front of. Xavier stared at her for a moment before nodding to Wolverine, who reluctantly let her pass.
Once out of earshot, Logan spoke up.
"Chuck, she's covered in bruises and her father's scent is all over her."
"Yes, and I'm afraid that she is far too susceptible to his control that no one will be able to get through to her until it's too late." Xavier sighed. "Keep an eye on her. I'll have Scott and Kurt watch her as well."
Brotherhood House
Tabby hastily wiped any trace of tears away before climbing out of Lance's jeep and entering the boarding house, money safely tucked away in her socks. She was barely able to open the door before she was greeted by the angry yet relieved face of Pietro.
"Are you okay? Lance said you left over three hours ago to pick up Kitty-kat." He took in her appearance before noting that she was alone. "Where is she?"
Shit. Completely forgot about that.
"Oh, I-"
Pietro's eyes narrowed.
"You saw your father, didn't you? Damnit Tabs, he's only using you."
"Look I know, okay? I've dealt with it. It's over." Tabby snapped, pushing past him and storming up the stairs. Pietro was hot on her heels.
"Yeah? Well how do you explain that gas station getting robbed? I only know two mutants that can cause that sort of an explosion, Tabs, and I was with the other one all afternoon."
"Your point?"
"Tabby you could go to jail! Again! And for what? A man who treats you like shit? That cut on your neck is new, and I'm not stupid or blind, I can see those fingerprint bruises on your arm. Why do you keep doing this to yourself?"
Tabby stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds before burying her head in her hands and sinking down into a sitting position. Pietro immediately sobered and was by her side.
"Shh, shh. I'm sorry Tabs, I'm just worried about you, we all are." She laughed through her sobs before dropping her hands and looking at him.
"Pietro Maximoff actually caring about another human being?" Tabby smiled slightly, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, yeah. Alert the media." He rolled his eyes before grinning at her.
"I don't know why I do it." She whispered a short while later. "Why do you keep going back to your father?" She asked, meeting his eyes; he looked away, frowning.
"It's not the same."
Her face fell as well, but she didn't say anything further. If he wouldn't open up to her, why should she open up to him? They were already treading dangerous waters with being as honest with each other as they had been as it was.
It wasn't like either of them. And yet…
"I told my father no." He said, catching her eye again.