The protesters really unnerved her. She'd never seen such hate focused on children before. Even the damned dealer didn't hate them, he used them, gave and sold them drugs, but he didn't actually hate them, did he? Victor thought he'd fooled her with the little 'going to the bathroom' trick, but she knew he'd been checking out the protesters, and the gang trying to get into the funeral. She was actually grateful that he was taking their safety seriously.
"So what do you want for lunch?" He asked, his long legs stretched out in the spacious limo.
"I thought you had it planned?" She teased.
"It's your neighborhood, I figured you'd know where the good food was." He grinned back at her.
"There's this little deli near my apartment. Great food, and great service." She knocked on the divider and gave the driver the address.
"Sounds good to me."
It really was her favorite place, and she remembered meeting friends there over the last few years. They had tables and chairs set up outside, in a raised area with an iron fence around it. The limo pulled up outside, and Victor told the driver to return in an hour.
"Karen." Pam, the owner, said with a smile. "The usual?"
"Sounds good." She grinned back.
"And you tall, dark, gorgeous and sinister?" Karen laughed. Pam was the reason this place did so well. She could read people, know when there was a problem, and usually, over the course of a sandwich, help you solve it.
"I'll have a roast beef, rare, with mayo."
"Any toppings?"
"Yeah, another layer of beef." he grinned, Pam jumped and Karen knew he'd flashed his fangs.
"Don't mind him, he's just a carnivore." Pam laughed and was already halfway through Karen's sandwich and soup. Victor handed Karen the carrier with June cooing happily, and he grabbed the tray with their meal.
"Drinks are on the house." Pam said, handing them two bottles of soda. Victor looked at it, and put one back.
"Don't like soda?"
"I prefer water." He said. Pam poured him a glass and they went out the screen door to the outdoor dining area. Karen noticed him constantly scanning the area.
"Do you think there'll be problems here?" She asked, finally.
"You never know, and this anti mutant shit is getting ugly. I'll be glad to get the hell out of New York for a while." He said, taking a bite out of his sandwich.
"I'm getting a little scared about it myself. Why can't they just leave mutants alone? Why all the hate?"
He shrugged and took another bite. "Some do it just to have something to hate because they can't look in a mirror without hating what they see. Some do it because they're scared, and frails fear what they don't understand. Some do it because they've had a bad run in with a mutant, or, in one particular case I know about, because they felt abandoned by their mutant parents because they were born normal."
"Who is that?" She asked, sipping her soup.
"Graydon."
"Who's that?"
"My other cub. Mystique left him in an orphanage when she found out he wasn't a mutant." He took another bite, his eyes scanning the crowds walking by, the air above, even the tops of the buildings.
"What happened, between you and Mystique. She seemed at least friendly when she was at the penthouse?"
"She dumped me as soon as she found out she was carrying. She didn't even tell me she was knocked up until about five years ago. Then she told me everything, right before Graydon was elected to the House of Representatives."
"THAT Graydon Creed? The founder of the Church of Humanity, the idiot that created the Friends of Humanity?" She was shocked. Graydon Creed was as anti mutant as you could get. He advocated mandatory sterilization for all mutants, any mutant convicted of a crime should be subject to the maximum penalties, and be a subject of experimentation. He gave Karen the creeps.
He just nodded. She shuddered, a sudden thought hitting her. She was that idiot's step mother.
"He doesn't come to family reunions does he?"
Victor laughed, and she smiled with him. Suddenly a familiar face walked by, then stopped and turned around.
"Karen?"
"Peggy."
"Where the hell have you been?" She asked as she walked into the deli's door. Karen waited until she got her sandwich and came out into the dining area. "I've been trying to call you all week."
"I've been a little busy," Karen said. "and I moved."
"Yeah I noticed that. I went by your apartment and someone else was living there." She dropped her tray on a nearby table and sat down with them, her sandwich in her hand. Peggy had been a friend for years, they'd met the day Karen came to New York from Oklahoma almost ten years ago. "Helen is pitching a fit, she can't find you either, and if you EVER need a maid-of-honor again, make sure it's not to a guy with a crazy mother, okay."
"She's been that bad?"
"She's called me every day this week, sometimes twice. Something about her attorney can't serve papers if they can't find you and proceeding with the case anyway."
"Shit." Karen said.
"What case?" Victor asked. Peggy jumped, and then glared at Karen.
"Sorry, Victor, this is Peggy Reed, one of my nearest and dearest friends, Peggy, this is Victor Creed, my husband."
"Your WHAT?"
"We were married yesterday." Karen said.
"Married, as in went to the court house and got a license married or stood in front of a judge so no one would know married?"
"Judge, but it's in today's paper." Victor growled.
Karen wanted to laugh. Evidently Peggy was getting to him.
"Wait a minute, Victor Creed, of CI Inc.?" Peggy asked.
"Yeah, what of it?" He snapped back.
"Karen you have GOT to call me. I want dish." Peggy said, grinning.
"Not much to dish. Victor asked me to help with June, and well...one thing led to another, he asked I said yes, so we just went and did it." Karen said, trying to make things seem normal.
"You know what I mean." Peggy glared. Victor glared at Peggy and Karen couldn't stop herself from laughing this time.
"I'll call you later. Today is going to be a bit hectic. We've got to finish lunch, get back to Manhattan, let June nap a bit, then dress for dinner out with friends." Karen said.
"Dinner out with friends? What friends? You've practically deserted yours." Peggy said with a huff.
"I've been out of pocket less than a week, for God's sake. Drop the pout, Peggy, it's putting lines on your face." Karen said.
"Fine...but call me. I get worried when you don't check in. I remember last time..." Karen glared at her. Victor was NOT going to find out about the last time she went out of pocket. He knew too much already.
"I'm listening." Victor said, and Karen groaned. She had a feeling she was going to wish she could disappear, instead of heal.
"Oh it was nothing, really, but it scared the hell out of me." Peggy tried to fudge. Karen decided to just get it out and over with.
"I went on a bender, okay. Broke into a liquor store, drained the place dry, then, went down the street to a bar and drank there until I was completely blacked out...Peggy had to bail me out of jail after I, evidently, decided the bar was a topless one and decided to do a striptease on one of the tables."
Victor just looked at her. "The whole liquor store?"
"Yes. Can we just forget it now?"
"Damn, and I thought almost 200 proof moonshine with Matt last night was bad...how long were you drunk?"
"I was sober by the time the cops pulled me out of the car at the station, so I don't know fifteen minutes or so." She said.
"Well - shit." He grumbled. "If that's it, it's just not worth drinking."
Karen glared at him, but saw the twinkle in his eye. He wasn't upset.
"Kinda stupid to send you to AA though...I mean it was obviously grief induced."
"Karen, I don't know where you found him, but does he have a brother." Peggy said.
"Not that I know of."
"Yeah, a half brother...but he's a dipshit." Victor growled. This was the first time she'd heard about any family but June. He had a brother?