-Earlier That Day-
"Pull over here," Victor said, suddenly.
Annessa blinked, startled. She'd been getting wrapped up in her driving and with her music blaring from the car stereo she had forgotten Victor sitting right next to her. She raised her eyebrows and pulled off the road onto the dirt shoulder.
"I'll be back in a minute," Victor said and jumped out of the car before she had even finished parking. She watched him disappear into the surrounding woods; she sighed exasperatedly at his planned spontaneity and sudden abrasiveness. She parked the car, turning it off and pulling the key out of the ignition.
Victor returned a little while later, carrying a large metal box which he placed in the trunk of her Ferrari before sliding back into the passenger seat.
"That's adamantium isn't it?" Annessa asked, making no move to start the car again.
"You read the files?" Victor asked, but didn't look surprised.
Annessa turned to scowl at him, "I'm sick of you keeping things from me, Victor." He raised his eyebrows in surprise not answering for a moment, his eyes scanning her face. She crossed her arms, deepening her scowl.
"Were you ever going to ask me how I felt about your little plan?" Annessa questioned, fuming; Victor looked taken aback by her question. The two sat in silence for a while.
"Annessa," Victor said at last, voice softer than usual, "You know I've wanted adamantium since I worked for Team X, you never said anything before so I assumed you didn't have a problem with it."
"I didn't think you were actually going to do it before," Annessa sighed, "I looked at those Weapon X files, Victor, James actually died, it's dangerous, and I'm not a doctor. What if something goes wrong?"
"It'd be worth it," Victor said, shrugging.
"To you, maybe," Annessa muttered. The car was silent again.
Annessa nearly jumped when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her torso. Victor dragged her across the front seat so that her face was only a couple inches away from his.
"Believe me," he said, "I can take anything James can." He paused with a growl. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but it wasn't because I don't trust you."
Annessa moved to close the remaining several inches of space between them to land a peck on his lips; he smiled slightly when she pulled away to look him in the eyes.
"I understand," she sighed, placing the key back in the ignition, "I know you want this; it just worries me." She started the car. "I'll help you though," she continued, "but promise that you'll tell me these things sooner next time, okay?"
He didn't answer, but instead leant forward to drop another playful kiss on her nose. It was answer enough for her.
-Present Time-
"Sabretooth!" Remy shouted, eyes turning a fiery red as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a deck of playing cards.
"You know him?" Logan asked, foot-long blades sliding past his knuckles.
Remy threw a card at Victor and Annessa, who just managed to jump out of the way as it exploded. Remy didn't answer Logan, but rather reached into his coat for his concealed metal bo-staff.
"Remy, wait!" Vera exclaimed, trying and failing to grab for his arm but he was too fast for her, lunging for the stairs to chase after Victor, who was laughing evilly.
Victor dodged Remy's staff easily, managing to knock him off balance while doing so. He stumbled forward and dropped his staff which slid across the floor into the adjacent wall. Victor spun around to see Logan, this time, who had just made it to the top of the stairs.
He jumped aside, but not quickly enough to avoid the single blade that connected with his shoulder. The cut bled for only a second before healing. Victor turned around and took a step back from Remy and Logan, who were both on their feet and were now bearing down on him. Victor's claws extended now darker and more metallic looking than before.
"Those're new!" Logan said, eyes widening in surprise.
"Like 'em, Jimmy?" Victor said, smirking, "Looks like you're not the only one with adamantium anymore."
-Earlier-
Annessa and Victor stood before the tank. They'd already poured the liquid adamantium into the proper dispensers and all the computers were online.
"No matter what happens," Victor said, looking Annessa in the eye, "don't stop the machines before it's done." She nodded as he began to strip off his clothes. He smirked at her as he tugged down his boxers and she rolled her eyes before attaching the heart rate and blood pressure monitors to him.
"How long's this supposed to take?" she asked him. Victor submerged himself into the tank but remained sitting upright; Annessa couldn't help but wince at the adamantium infused drills surrounding him. After a long pause, Victor answered her.
"Not sure," he said, reaching for a gas mask; she sighed as he clamped it over his face and laid down in the water.
Annessa made her way up the stairs to stand by the array of consoles. She took a deep breath then flicked all the necessary switches to start the process. The drills buzzed to life, moving on robotic arms toward Victor's body; Annessa wasn't sure if she could watch.
Regardless whether or not she could stomach it, the computer screen displaying all of Victor's vitals, as well as an x-ray of his skeleton was completely hypnotizing. As the drills pierced through his flesh she saw his jaw snap shut on the x-ray and a stream of bubbles floated up from his face to the top of the tank.
There was a display beside the one for Victor's heart rate that told her how much of the liquid adamantium deposit had been depleted. The percentage of adamantium left and his heart rate seemed to be in perfect unison. As the adamantium went down his heart sped up. Annessa bit her lip, watching his heart accelerate past 250 beats per minute. His blood pressure was rising and she had to force herself not to press the "abort" button.
Annessa couldn't help but be reminded of the fact that she wasn't a doctor by the time Victor's heart rate hit 300. She knew he was in trouble and she had no idea what to do. She glanced back at the adamantium screen and saw he only had 8% to go.
"Come on," Annessa muttered, hands clutching the banister, "Come on. You can do this, Victor." The heart rate monitor was beeping frantically and there was more bubbling in the tank. She turned her attention back to the adamantium deposit, watching the percentage go down. 3%, 2%, 1%... It hit 0 and she heard the piercing sound of the heart rate monitor as Victor's heart stopped. "No!" she yelled.
Annessa stopped breathing; her hands turning white around the banister. Her face conveyed no emotion except for her eyes which appeared to be screaming in horror as she stared down at the tank. The drills returned to their ready position, and the monitor continued to make the same high pitch sound as he flat-lined, a constant reminder. She felt like her own heart had stopped.
All of a sudden Annessa heard the tiny blip and turned back to the heart rate monitor's screen. Another blip and a tiny wave appeared across the monitor; followed by another, and another, picking up in pace.
She raced down the stairs, taking large strides up to the tank and peering over the edge. Victor's chest was rising and falling as he breathed in oxygen through the gas mask. His eyes suddenly shot open and she jumped back, own eyes wide in surprise. Victor sat up in the tank, pulling the mask off his face and yanking the monitors from his skin, a huge grin plastering his face.
"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" he said, turning to Annessa and shooting her his wicked grin. She stepped forward landing a hard smack across his face. He blinked at her in response, looking confused. "What the hell was that for?" he asked.
"Asshole!" she exclaimed, and smacked him again. "I knew you'd fucking die but you could at least not be an ass about it."
Victor let out a hearty laugh before wrapping his arms around her and dragging her in close for a kiss. She pulled away smiling before saying, "Now put your pants on." He smirked again before getting out of the tank.
-Present Time-
Vera watched the fight from a distance, feeling completely useless. She was utterly torn between her desire to help Remy and Logan and the overwhelming fact that she didn't stand a chance against Victor. Gazing at the trio, she jumped in surprised, her eyes widening as she suddenly realized she'd lost track of the woman who was with Victor. She frantically scanned the area around her.
"Looking for me?" a sweet voice teased from behind her before something hard connected with the back of her legs. Vera gasped and collapsed to the floor; the woman laughed tauntingly and grabbed Vera by the shoulder. Yanking her back to her feet, she slammed the frailer girl against the wall, knocking the wind out of her.
"You really are pathetic," Annessa said, moving to strangle Vera. Annessa held Vera forcefully against the wall and she flailed uselessly in her attempt to get away. She tried to pry Annessa's vice-like fingers from around her throat, eyes squeezing shut in pain. Annessa laughed, lifting her higher so that her feet no longer touched the ground.
Vera kicked, unable to see where, but still managing to connect with Annessa's shin. It failed to move her.
"You're going to have to do better than that," Annessa said, smirking. She let out a scream when Vera's eyes flew open, boring into hers.
Annessa crumpled to the ground, clutching her head in agony. Vera collapsed barely a foot from her once captor, trying for a while to catch her breath.
"You little bitch," Annessa snarled as she scrambled back to her feet, "What the fuck was that?" Vera didn't answer, standing up quickly even though she was still short of breath. Before Annessa could attack again, she ran for the stairs.
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(A/N: I'd like to seriously thank KShires09 for helping me edit this one. If you haven't already you should seriously check out her stuff. She's recently started writing a prequel story about Annessa.)
