Chapter Six

Life had once again fallen into a strange sort of routine for Travis. It really just goes to show the adaptability of human beings in general. Unwilling to go back to the sewers, Mort had stolen a car and driven them to what she assumed was his home away from the more sewer-y home. It was a small four floor apartment building in a location where nobody asked any questions. They had dragged the still unconscious and still healing (honestly, how long did this mutation healing thing take?!) Victor out of the car and up four flights of stairs before Mort more or less shoved open the door to emit them.

It was a strangely tidy place. The small apartment was equipped with a small kitchen unit that barely fit a person, a mattress and what looked like a poorly cobbled together bed frame that could fit perhaps two people, and a dilapidated looking couch facing a small TV that still had rabbit ears. There was another door that led to a small bathroom, a window that opened out to an alleyway and fire escape with a view of… the room in the next building.

They had dumped Victor's body on the bed where Travis once again, did a once over to see if anything else had lodged in his wounds before she had drawn the ratty covers over the massive hulking body. She had sank onto the couch with a tired sigh.

"So what now?" she had asked the green mutant as he looked at her with a strange look of contemplation and caution. He had shrugged, picked up the remote to turn on the tv before tossing it to her.

"Pizza?" he suggested.

And with that, they had fallen into a strange sort of friendship. The two had fallen asleep on the couch after he introduced her to all the popular television shows while they demolished a pepperoni pizza that a shaking freckled delivery boy brought.

The next morning, both woke up when Victor shoved them awake and asked if there was any meat in the apartment… And where the hell was his shirt? And what was he doing here? And why was the stupid frail with them?

After they explained, as best they can under the threat of being eviscerated, Victor had sat down on the bed only to scowl in her direction.

"Don't suppose you did me any favors frail," he spat in her direction. Mort had glanced at her with a quirked eyebrow as if to say 'told-ya-so' and she rolled her eyes in response.

"I don't suppose anything with you Victor," she had replied curtly and it was true, she had no qualms about his murderous appetite. The only person he couldn't kill was Logan… and not because he hadn't tried.

But for whatever reason, it had been a week since the incident and the three of them had remained in that tiny cramped apartment, made all the more cramped by the hulking mass of Victor. When questioned about it, she was told to mind her own business and that he had no intention of leaving her out of his sight again. It annoyed her but it also annoyed Mort to no end that they were in his home and that Victor had taken over his bed. The green mutant was growing more and more snappish the longer they stayed and Travis was beginning to think it was best for her to move on… but it wasn't as if she could show up at the mansion again. What would she say? Hey guys, missed me? I got kidnapped by Xavier's arch-nemesis and Sabretooth won't quit trying to hump me. Thanks for trying to look for me, assholes. That and Xavier would've opened up his own can of "told-ya-so" and "why-didn't-you-listen-to-me,-the-all-knowing-one. " The prospect and high probability of being forbidden to go outside and being under intense surveillance was not an attractive enough incentive to go back to the X-mansion.

The last couple of days however, Victor had gotten more and more… well, strange. To be fair, she did not know what normal was for the giant mutant but it had seemed suspicious enough for her to take notice.

Mort and her had begun a habit of playing video games on the small TV while Victor did what Victor did. Stalk in and out, sometimes covered in blood, eat lots of meat, leer at her, sleep, and repeat. But sometimes, when she looked up, she would catch him looking at her with a contemplative look on his face. He didn't care if she noticed his staring at or not either. Every time she met his eyes, he would sneer a toothy smirk in her way and she would shudder. Shudder not because she was afraid of him. It was hard to be afraid of someone when you're aware of their daily routine. It makes him… almost normal. But she shuddered every time because… well, that's what you do when Sabretooth looked at you.

She was certain that he was planning something and it made her nervous what that something was. Especially with everything that he had hinted at about their supposed past together. Whether or not Mort noticed her discomfort, he made no comment.

Then one day, Victor left.

"Where did you think he went?" Travis asked as they flipped through all the local channels to see if there was anything decent on.

"Who knows. Who cares. What I want to know is when you're leaving," Mort muttered. They were both on the couch again, him reclined on one side and her on the other. The couch was tiny that despite being on different sides, their legs still tangled in each other as they fought to find comfort on the cramped couch. Seeing as how they were forced to share the couch anyways when Victor was crashing on the bed, Mort had gotten quite a deal less snappish and irritable at physical contact.

Travis ignored his comment, "It's been two days. It's just… it's worrying."

"Why? You're not his wife," he sneered.

"Cause he's Sabretooth! Have you seen the way he was looking at me recently?" she asked with a shudder. Mort rolled his eyes.

"He looks at anything fuckable that way," he replied back as he flipped through the channels.

"Not cool."

"What?"

"Ugh… I don't want to be… not by… well… you know!" she replied exasperatedly, throwing her arms into the air as if it would enlighten the green mutant.

"Doesn't stop Victor," he had replied, bored. Travis frowned at him.

"Yeah. Thanks. That makes me feel so much better."

He shrugged, "I'm not here to make you feel comfortable, luv."

"Don't I know it," she muttered and glared at him. He looked at her and an eyebrow raised into his forehead, "Wot?"

"Just… nevermind," she sighed before she looked at the bed thoughtfully, "You think if one of us sleeps on the bed, it'll be ok?"

Mort scoffed as he tossed a handful of chips into his mouth, "It's my bed. I plan to sleep on it."

"Such a gentleman," Travis replied wryly as she focused her attention back on the TV.

"Wot? You wanna join me?" he asked with a leer. Calling his bluff, she glanced at the bed thoughtfully.

"It's a pretty big bed…" she trailed off. When she glanced at the green mutant, he was looking at her as if she had suddenly mutated wings on her forehead. It was all too much. She burst into laughter and laughed so hard she tumbled off the couch and started rolling around on the floor clutching her sides.

Mort scowled at her and gave her a "playful" kick to her side but lapsed into a grumpy sort of silence that he liked so much to stew in.

Eventually, she picked herself off the floor, gasping for air. Travis grinned and nudged him with her foot, "Hey, c'mon. I was just teasing. In all seriousness, it's a pretty big bed. Considering we've been sharing this tiny couch when Victor was here, I don't really see the problem. You're not going to get all weird on me are you?"

He smirked then, "Wot? Me? I don't think I can get more weird then green and slimy."

Travis rolled her eyes, "Oh get over it. Don't know if you've noticed but in this universe, it's like everybody's horrendously good looking. And then… there's me. Short, five-foot nothing weakling. It's like it's not good enough for you guys to all have embarrassingly high cheekbones and strong features. You all gotta be toned as shit too."

"W-w-wot? Yer think I'm good looking?"

She stared at him blankly. He stared back.

"You're…joking right?" she asked hesitantly, unsure of how to proceed. He only stared back at her, dumbfounded by the turn of their conversation.

"You have a freaking six pack! I don't even know how that is possible considering all I've seen you do is eat tons of junk food and do weird nerdy engineering computer stuff," she exclaimed exasperatedly, "And you look like Ray Park!"

"Who?"

Travis stopped herself. She had forgotten her references don't work in this world. Then, she kept going.

"You could do insane acrobatics and are extremely athletic? And er… hello English accent? Girls go crazy for that shit. The only thing that's off is that you're green and bite off someone's hand when they touch you," Travis pointed out then grinned as she nudged him again with her foot, "Though I think I've broken you off that 'biting people's head off when you're touched' habit."

He sneered at her though she imagined there was a slightly reddish glow around the cheek area on his greenish yellow skin. She couldn't help it. She was having too much fun embarrassing him. Who would have this opportunity again?! So, she said what everybody in the fandom was thinking.

"Besides, I mean, long agile tongue? I'm surprised you're not more popular with the ladies," she sniggered.

A pizza flew through the air seconds later and she dodged it laughing but was cut short when the pizza box was followed by a green body. She yelped as she tried to twist away. The two crashed onto the floor.

"Are you… are you tickling me?!" she gasped in laughter and at the sheer ludicrousness of the situation. She twisted beneath him and shifted so that he was unceremoniously kicked off before she tackled him laughing.

"Mort, I didn't think you had this side of you!"

"Ye shut up and yer stupid comments," he exclaimed, still flushed from the unexpected things she had pointed out. Whether or not he felt even more self-conscious about his tongue, Travis never found out.

After a few more minutes of wrestling, the pair laid on the ground, wheezing. Well, Travis was wheezing. Mort merely looked up at the ceiling with an interested look on his face.

"Thanks for not using your mutation. I know you're way stronger than that," she finally said after catching her breath, "Gotta ask though. You've warmed up to me quite a bit."

"Yer not really human are you."

"What do you mean? I'm as human as you are," she replied with a frown as she propped herself up to stare at the mutant. He sneered at her, "I'm not human. I'm a mutant."

"You're as human as me. Just cause you've got a mutation doesn't make you less human," she replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Ye say that like it's normal. It's not," he snapped impatiently. Travis shrugged, "Sure it is. It's the same as if I was born with a third nipple, or a tail, or different coloured eyes. They're mutations. Just cause yours is more prevalent doesn't make you less human. The way you're acting out makes you all the more human than you think."

"I'm not human," he spat before he looked at her strangely, "I still don't understand why yer so friendly towards us muties."

She sighed as she propped herself down beside him, lying on her side so that she faced him, "Ya know, for someone who's supposed to be older than me, you're kinda dumb sometimes." Then, with a finger, she poked him in the chest, "Have you done anything to me that will cause me to mistrust you?"

"We kidnapped you."

"Mystique and Sabretooth kidnapped me. The only thing you did was to have the misfortune of keeping me company."

"Yer not scared of Sabretooth."

"Are you kidding me?! I'm terrified of the guy."

"Why did you save him then?"

"I... I don't know. Maybe it was the right thing to do."

"Why did you come looking for me?"

She flushed and scrubbed at her right temple, "I dunno… I… I guess I didn't want you to die too. I mean, Victor's got his healing power thing but if you get attacked… well, poof, that's it. Goodbye only person I care about."

"You care about me?" he asked, fixing her with a strange look. She was about to withdraw but he grabbed a hold of the hand that was poking him in the chest tightly. Travis fell silent as she looked at him. Did she? She obviously cared enough to come out to save his ungrateful ass.

"I… Yeah I guess so. I wouldn't come out on that stupid boat if I didn't would I." She scratched the back of her head in thought, not quite realizing the implications of her acquiescence.

He was silent for a while before he sat up as well and turned to face her.

"So… Chinese tonight?"

And that was the last discussion they've ever had about any sort of perceived relationship between them.

Of course, like a bad smell that keeps coming back, the two's weird coexistence with each was broken up by the reappearance of one, Mr. Victor Creed.

They were sitting on the couch and Travis was beating Mort… yet again.

"Finish him," echoed the voice from the small TV.

"Yer joking, luv. Ye've gotta be cheatin'. That's the fifth in a row!" groused Mort as he tossed down the controller. Travis sniggered as she put down the controller and reached over to the bag of chips.

"You're such a sore loser. Admit it, I'm better than video games than you. Amazing hand-eye coordination," she replied with a wink. He shoved her playfully, "I'm not being a sore loser. I know yer cheating."

Travis laughed but that was cut short when there was whumphf! from the fire escape just outside the streaky widow of the small apartment. It didn't take a genius to figure out that hulking shadow of a figure standing outside was Victor. Even a blind man would be able to tell.

He was wearing his business clothes, the deeply stained leathers that he wore when he was on a job. Travis noted that he hasn't gone on a job yet since there were no fresh or new blood splatters on it just yet.

"Hey Victor, how are you?" Travis greeted, more out of politeness than actual interest. The temperature in the room has already dropped by a few degrees merely by his presence.

Slowly, he strode forward, almost calculatingly, "Come here, frail."

Travis immediately became on the alert. This… this was new. "Eh? What's all this about then?" She pushed herself up from the couch and exchanged glances with Mort. He looked back at her, face devoid of emotion. The confusion of the situation rankled her.

"You gotta believe me, frail…" Victor continued as he strode forward, effectively pushing her towards the wall. 'He's cornering me… he wants something…' The alarm bells in her head at on full blast. She glanced over at Mort. Their eyes locked… and he looked away, refusing to keep eye contact.

Her heart sank.

'Traitor, traitor, traitor, traitor, traitor, traitor...'

"It ain't anythin' personal," Victor continued as he smiled a crooked smile in her direction, "It's just… a little something that we like to call… business."

He lunged.

But Travis was ready for it. The fact that she was probably made the great Victor Creed just a bit careless. She ran forward just as he lunged and did a slide in between his legs that any major league baseball player would've been proud to call his own. Before Victor could react to the sudden movement, she jumped up and kicked him as hard as she could… right between the legs.

There was a howl of rage but Travis immediately spun around towards the fire exit, snatched up the closest coat (which happened to belong to Mort) and jumped out of the fire escape. Adrenaline coursed through her system as she climbed up the stairs. Her thighs were burning and her lungs were screaming but in her head, all she could think of was Sabretooth and his stupid healing factor. She did not have much time before he fully recovered and now was not the time to dwell on the feeling of complete and utter betrayal in her gut.

She stumbled onto the rooftop and glanced around. Of course, just like a comic book movie, the roofs are conveniently close enough to be jumped to. Heart in her throat, she chose one and with burning thighs and a thudding heart, she made a running jump to tumble onto the next rooftop. This continued for a while until she was completely lost. By this point in time, the rain had started falling. She was incredibly thankful for this because the water will at least wash away her scent and make it harder for Victor to track her down. And concrete's own inorganic properties should make it harder for her to be detected.

Finally stopping, out of breath and adrenaline, Travis slumped against a wall, exhausted. The rain beat down on her and she pulled the coat she stole from Toad tighter around her. Alone and on the run again. She almost expected Gambit to pop up again and whisk her off this rooftop but she knew that was only wishful thinking. This was her own decision and she had to pay for her own consequences now. Though, she didn't doubt that someone would find her. Whether or not that particular someone was good or bad, only time would tell.

Her eyes fluttered. She was suddenly so tired.

The way that Mort had looked at her when she stepped out onto the fire escape was burned into her head. The way he had looked away… it bothered her more than she thought it would. It felt like such an act of betrayal.

As her mind drifted away from Mort, she wondered if it would be better if someone else found her other than Victor. He was as sadistic as they came and it seemed like despite her previous actions, there was no such thing as remorse in any of the actions he took. While she might consider him as a friend in the vaguest definition of the word, she was convinced that he was only interested in her as an object to further his goals. The words of Mystique echoed in her head, "Trust no one. Trust no one. Trust no one…"

Slowly, despite her state of paranoia, she drifted into an uncomfortable sleep with the coat wrapped tightly against her. Though to her, she had only just blinked when suddenly, something landed on the roof that jostled out of her light sleep. She pushed herself back as she saw the boots that were on the rooftop. She swallowed thickly. Well… on the plus side, they didn't belong to Victor. Her eyes travelled up the boots to a pair of defined legs clad in red and black spandex. When her eyes reached the masked face that perched on a pair of strong shoulders, her eyes widened in recognition and surprise.

"Hey babe, why so surprised?" came the quip and she scrambled back only to have her back hit the brick wall that she had leaned against. The masked man took a step forward with a large grin, "What? Don't like what you see? Don't see why… I'm gorgeous!"

At that, he struck a pose. Travis only stared up at him and tried vainly to work out if his arrival was a good thing or not… Though with him, nobody really knew. Ever.

"D-d-d-deadpool," she whispered hesitantly.

"Ah! I see my name precedes me. Must be getting good," he said with a smirk, "Though you already know me already dontcha? That's what the yellow boxes tell me. Hey shush, I know already. I'm talking to the girl. Let me handle this."

Travis chewed on her bottom lip, "Erm… Sure. Why are you here?"

"Why am I here? I'm here for you babe. Just for you. Aren't you a special little thing? Look! I even got you flowers for our first date!"

A bouquet of roses seemed to materialize out of thin air as he handed it to her. She didn't take it. Instead, she crossed her arms across her chest and glowered at him in what she hoped was the bravest way possible.

"What if I don't want to go with you?"

"Baby, you ain't got a choice."

Something whipped out from the side. First she thought she saw stars… and rather belatedly, she realized that the comic book character had just pistol-whipped her into unconsciousness.

A/N: That took a while to update but at least Deadpool is finally in the picture. :D