A/N: Sorry again for the long-ness between updates. Hope ya'll enjoy.





Chapter 10- A Slave's Work

"This is ridiculous."

"I don't know, Bobby. You kind of deserved it." Viktoria pulled her car into the grocery store parking lot and cut the engine. "Besides, that dress really brings out your eyes, y'know?"

Bobby rolled his eyes and opened the door, stepping uneasily onto his platform heel. "I just don't think this cut is really my style, though. I mean, miniskirt, that I can pull off.. But peasant? I don't know."

Viktoria chuckled softly, holding up one hand to silence his rant. "Please, don't. You do want to have some of your dignity by the time we get back, right?" Bobby nodded, taking his eyes off the blue dress he was now cloaked in. He straightened the cloth, almost self-conscientiously, checked his matching blue purse for money and started towards the gigantic Food Mart up ahead.

"I can do this. I show Pietro that anything he puts up, I can defend. I'm still the pranking King-"

"You mean Queen, don't you, Bobby?" Viktoria wrapped an arm around his shoulders and smiled. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. Figured I'd come in with you. No point in letting you suffer alone."

Bobby grinned back, his red lipstick clashing horribly with the blue outfit. "Thanks, V. Good to know you're behind me on this."

"And such a nice behind it is-" Laughing loudly, the pair strolled into the Food Mart and searched for the aisle containing the strange request. Bobby looked through the shelves upon shelves of boxes full of the most useless things known to man. "I thought they kept 'em, y'know, with the band-aids and stuff."

"I don't know. I've never had to buy them before." Viktoria picked up a box, checked the label, then replaced it on the overflowing shelf. "Maybe they keep them up in the front?"

Bobby looked stricken. "Seriously? Oh man... This is just like him, too." Viktoria nodded her sympathy. "Yeah- won't exactly look to nice when we step up there and ask Mr. Helpful if he'd sell condoms to some chick and her male friend who happens to be poorly dressed as woman at the moment."

"I think all my good humor just flew out the window," Bobby replied. Viktoria shook her head at him. "Serves you right. I left mine back in the car, just in case."

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Fifteen minutes later, the pair was heading back home in silence, decidedly worse for the wear. Viktoria fiddled idly with the radio dial as they followed the winding roads that passed through Westchester County. Bobby sat in the passenger seat, quietly staring out the window at the landscape that raced by the black Corvette.

Viktoria looked over, finally settling on Incubus' 'Drive' as she noticed the blonde boy's sad expression. In her few days at the mansion, she'd seen almost a full range of emotions from him, but never any form of unhappiness. Especially not this. Bobby looked as if his best friend just died.

"You okay?" Bobby nodded solemnly, his eyes still not leaving the window. "Okay. I'll take that as a no. What's eating away at your sanity?"

"It's nothing. Really."

Viktoria resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Oh, please. I'm the queen of It's Nothing, I'm Fine, Really, It's Okay. You can't fool me. C'mon. Maybe I can help a little."

Bobby shrugged absently. "It's noth- Okay, it's something. I saw this girl from school at the grocery store."

"Oh. The brunette?"

"You saw her? Yeah. Her name's Lindsey. She's in my trig class. And-"

"You like her."

Bobby sighed. "That obvious, huh?"

"No, but boys usually don't care about things, especially what some girl thinks, if they don't like her. At least a little," Viktoria replied. "But you like her a lot."

"Well, there's this dance when school starts up again next Monday, and I was going to ask her- but seems I can't do that now." Bobby sighed again, a very depressing sound. "Who would want to go to a dance with a guy who dresses up in drag?"

"Point taken. But explain the situation to her, yeah? I'm sure she'd understand. Besides, I got the impression she kinda thought you looked cute. In a Rocky Horror Pictureshow type way, of course."

"Thanks," Bobby replied sarcastically. "You really know how to raise a guy's self esteem." Viktoria laughed. "Don't I know it? I should start charging."

"So what about you?" Bobby asked. "Looking forward to school?"

"Yeah right," Viktoria snorted. "Bout as much as I'd look forward to having a limb amputated. I hate school."

"Why? I mean, Bayville's not great or anything, but most of us go there. Y'know, me and Kitty and everyone, and we do alright."

Viktoria shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I'm just nervous. It's been awhile since I've had to interact with a bunch of regular people. To use to just being around mutants I guess. Or something."

She turned onto the mansion's main drag and drove up the surrounding gate. Pressing in a code, she waited as the machine read her license plate number and the indicator underneath her front bumper. The gate clicked and beeped, then finally slid open, allowing them to drive up to the manor. Viktoria pulled the car into her reserved space in the garage, and cut the engine.

"I guess it won't be so bad. At least ya'll be there to suffer with me, right?"

"That's the spirit," Bobby joked. "I always knew you had a positive attitude under all the blonde hair and black leather."

"Ouch. C'mon, I don't wear that much black. And this isn't even leather. This is a cotton-polyester blend, so there." Viktoria stuck her tongue out at him as they closed the garage and headed to the recreation room where Pietro was waiting.

"Here ya go, King Pietro, sir," Bobby said with a small bow as he tossed the box of condoms at Pietro's feet.

Pietro looked up from the video game with mild amusement. "Thanks."

"Thanks? No be gone now slave?"

"Not today," Pietro replied with a smirk. "I'm liberating you from your punishment. I figure letting the lovely Lindsey see you all dragged up was enough embarrassment for a lifetime. "

Bobby's mouth dropped open. "You knew she'd be there?"

Pietro grinned at the video screen. "Of course. Why else would I send you to THAT Food Mart, nearly 15 minutes away, when there's a 7-11 down the way where you could of picked the condoms up? By the way, that dress looks great on you."

Bobby stared incredulously at the silver haired mutant. "Are you serious? Man, you're just evil. And you're about to die."

"It's very doubtful you could get your hands on me long enough to finish the deed, hot stuff." Pietro turned back to the screen and watched as Mario fell into a pit of lava.

"Like I said," Bobby replied with a small laugh. "You're about to die."

Pietro rolled his eyes, and quickly got up, finished with his game. "Whatever. I was going to quit anyway." He wrapped one arm around Viktoria's waist and grinned at Bobby as he led her out to the patio. "Catch ya later, Juliet."

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Viktoria broke away from Pietro and sat up on the patio's railing, looking at him expectantly. "Why condoms?"

"Why not?" Pietro replied with a shrug. "I figure those would embarrass him enough so I wouldn't be the butt of any more pranks for a while." He wandered over to a nearby flowering bush and plucked one of the right pink blossoms.

"Yeah, well, it worked. He was pretty broken up about that gal too. Lindsey whatever her name is. How did you know about her anyway?" Viktoria watched as Pietro arranged the pink flower in her flowing blonde hair. He smiled sheepishly, propping himself against the railing beside her.

"Kitty told me," he said. "This house is just full of dirty little secrets. Must be hell for telepaths, huh? Always hearing what everyone's thinking about everyone else."

"You're telling me. You'd be surprised what some of these people think. Nasty thoughts. The memories are even worse." Viktoria adjusted the flower by her ear. "Especially at night," she added.

"I bet," Pietro agreed. "Can't be much worse than Todd and Freddy though. Or Lance. His nightmares woke me up almost every night. I can't imagine what it must have been like for you."

"That wasn't anything compared to this. They at least knew I was telepathic, tried to shield their thoughts, even a little. Here, it's like they only care when Jean or the Professor's around. Like we can only hear them when they're in eye-range or something."

Viktoria rubbed her hands together in the cold afternoon air, a small ball of fire forming in between them. "I can hear them all the time. Did you know your sister hates me? With every fabric of her being. In fact, I'm pretty sure she'd kill me if she could."

"Come on, Tor, you know it's not like that." Pietro wrapped an arm around her shoulders, instantly feeling the warmth her body constantly created filling him up as well. "Wanda just doesn't know how to handle her anger. So she- she takes it out on you."

"That's comforting."

"You know what I mean. She hates things she can't control, and that's a lot. And she doesn't understand us."

"She doesn't think you love me, either. She wants me to leave." Viktoria blinked a few times until the tears that stung her eyes disappeared. The fire in her hands burned brightly, then tapped out completely.

"I'll talk to her, if you want. That's probably all she really needs, y'know. A simple, hey this is how it is, get over it type thing." Pietro sighed, his usual amount of energy vanishing just like Viktoria's fire. "I don't know how much it'll help, but I'll do it."

"I don't know. Do whatever you think. Let's just go inside, okay? It's getting cold out here. Even for me." Viktoria took his hand as they headed back inside to watch Bobby play Grand Theft Auto, now dressed normally, although traces of the red lipstick could still be seen.

"Hey guys." He looked up from the paused game and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," they replied in unison. The couple stared at each other, then burst into nervous laughter. "I'm going to go talk to her while it's still fresh on my mind," Pietro said as he released Viktoria's hand. "I'll see you two at dinner."

"Later, man." Bobby turned back to the video game as Viktoria took a seat next to him on the floor. "You seem in better spirits."

"Yeah. I guess I just figured, y'know, that things could be worse. Besides, I made for a pretty sexy lady."

"Oh yes," Viktoria replied with a laugh. "Nice flower, by the way," Bobby added. Viktoria put a hand to her hair, then smiled sheepishly. "Uh yeah.. it's all the rave in Europe, y'know."

"Sure it is."

"Shut up, Bobby." They watched as the character on the screen stole a new car and ran it off a nearby bridge. The car exploded while the young man stepped out, completely unscathed.

"Shutting up." Outside, the sun ducked under the hills, bringing way to a very long night ahead.