Chapter 45: Pizza in Bed
"Only three possibilities . . . that's good," I said into my pillow. After Sabertooth and I left the scene of the crime, we went back to my place, stopping for a few take n' bake pizzas on the way. I left Victor to cook them as I washed the stench of the day off me, then promptly proceeded to fall down onto my bed. My head occasionally came up for air and a bite of pizza.
"That's all we ever had." Victor responded, "Either Nate, Sarah, or Thomas was responsible for Steve's death – "
"Whoa, hold up. You thought Thomas was a potential suspect?"
"Not after we found his corpse."
"But you did originally entertain the idea that the man killed his own son after disappearing for years?"
"Stranger things have happened."
"Such as?"
Victor narrowed his eyes at me, making it clear he would no longer humor my line of questioning. "Okay, so either Steve's mutation killed him, or Nate or Sarah killed him." He grunted an affirmative as he managed to bite off half a slice of pizza in a single bite. "How could someone do that?" I asked sleepily. "How could someone kill someone who was family – or close to it?"
"Ain't that what your family did to you?"
"What? No. They just threw me out because they were afraid."
"They threw a sheltered, attractive, naive teenage mutant girl out on the street without a dollar to her name. They wanted you dead, but just weren't willing to do it themselves. They're like those assholes who set their pit-bull pups free on the highway because they don't want to take the time to train them but don't have the balls to actually kill the dogs themselves."
I clenched my jaw so that my lip would stop quivering as I sat erect. "DON'T you dare think that just because I've seen in your head that you can see mine. Ya don't know the first thing about my parents – or me for that matter."
He rolled his shoulders back as he went from his formally relaxed position to a clearly defensive one. "Don't need no powers to see what they done to ya. You're afraid to get near to anyone, physically or otherwise. I know why that is. And you were as naive as fuck when you were kicked out. Don't forget, little girl, I hunted you down. If it hadn't been for the runt, I'd have snatched you up in ten seconds flat, deadly touch or no." His face got unnervingly close to mine, but I refused to back down. "So don't tell me I don't know you," he continued menacingly, "Because. I. Know. You."
"Really?" I asked sarcastically, "Pray tell, o' omniscient Victor Creed, what do you know about me?"
His answer was low, dangerous yet clear. "I know that you want somewhere you belong, some people that you belong to. A pack. Know that Xavier's little band of do-gooders wasn't it, just like your shit-hole suburb of a hometown wasn't it. I know that you're willing to do what it takes to get what you want, what you need." Then a smirk crossed his fanged lips, "Know that you want me. I can smell it. Not that I blame you –" I groaned in disgust, but he continued, "And I know it wouldn't be just another fuck for me or you."
Okay. That stopped me in my tracks. Victor seemed to realize that he'd divulged too much, as he immediately stopped talking, took his eyes off me and started devouring the last piece of luke-warm pizza. I said nothing as he ate, just slowly lowered myself back into a relaxed position on my bed. He couldn't of meant it, there was just no way that Sabretooth had suggested that he cared about me. No fucking way. He was just playing with me, he must have been.
It was a testament to how tired I was that I didn't stay up and obsess about it all night. I just gently drifted into sleep as I vaguely heard him talking about the recordings made from the bug in the police station before everything went dark.
tx peppa: Victor and Rogue certainly have a bond, a fucked up, ill-defined bond, but a bond nonetheless.
Lexxxi: Word of warning - I'm off for a mini-vaca, and then have Thanksgiving, so I might not have another chapter up for a while. Sorry!
