~6 Years Earlier~
Keka's eyes fluttered open, her senses slowly sparking back to life.
She smelled strong medicines, mixed with the scents of the people in the room. She smelled Victor- her father- along with the two separate smells of Sweet tabacco smoke, and of rainwater.
"Where am I...where's the rain coming from..."
Wolverine looked from Keka to Hank, and then briefly at Victor before moving quickly back to Hank.
"She's delirious...coming back off-"
"No- that's you." Victor grumbled. Logan held back a snort of laughter.
"Oh. Well...that's useful information, actually." Hank shrugged. "She'll be back to full consciousness come a few hours,"
"Good." Victor Crouched to look at his daughter, dismissing everyone else in the room. "Keka, I'll be back later-sleep tight."
"Where..."
"Don't fret it, little one. I'll be back soon enough." He said softly, stroking her tattered right ear. The chunk missing made it look like it belonged to an alley Tomcat rather then to his 16 year old daughter. It only fueled his anger.
~~
Victor saw everything in a red haze-the sidewalks, the streetlights, the people. The rain that pattered gently on his head was hardly felt, and the feeling of the concrete under his boots didn't register. The only thing that stood out among Sabretooth's rage was the everstrong trail of Keka's smell, intermingled with fear and pain.
~~~
Dr. Kelber sat in his office, flipping through paperwork and files on his custom child; the tiny feralish girl that had gotten away.
"DOCTOR!" Ms Odin screamed, bloodcurdlingly sharp in the silence. There were various crashes in the front Lab, the sound of glass breaking and cages rattling.
"Ms Odin?" He stepped into the front lab. Everything was trashed-broken and spurting electrical shorts. Within seconds, the normally calm lab had become a battle zone scale model. He stepped back into his office, picking up the phone and finding no tone.
Sabretooth looked down at the woman, whose dead body twitched in the aftermath of life so suddenly leaving. Her multiple, deep gashes still pulsed as blood flowed from them. He flicked off a nearby switch, blackening the entire building-he assumed that from the angry, confused yell from the 'good' doctor in the back office. Sabretooth moved to the door, which was quickly closing, through the blackness that was to him merely fog after a momentary adjustment, shoving it open and focusing on the man with Keka's scent so strongly on him.
"Who's there?" The man was panicked, his arms in front of his face.
"Come on, now." Sabretooth stood in the doorway, tapping his claws against the wall. "Afraid of someone you can't Tag?" He asked.
"Who are you?"
Sabretooth charged, his voice thundering across the room in notes that could have never been words. His hands found the doctors throat, forcing him off his feet and against a wall.
"What did you do to her?" He demanded, a low growl remaining in his throat.
"What....Who..."
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY CHILD?!" His claws tapped dangerously on the man's neck. "The Feral."
There was silence for a moment as Sabretooth's hands pressed him against the wall.
"She was my project..."
"SHE IS A CHILD, NOT A TOY. What were you doing."
"She got away, before we could when she was smaller-she was to stay the size of a pup, a wise child...We were her teachers...she never learned what we didn't teach h-"
"Teachers? You have the *nerve* to call yourself a TEACHER? I don't care how many times you've seen "Interview with a Vampire"; an eternal child, a helpless innocent, won't work with a *feral*." Sabretooth said viciously. "At SEVEN she was too smart for you; how did you expect her to stay *Just* stupid enough to believe she was your little PLAYTHING?"
"Who are you?" The doctor asked again, his hands grasping furiously at Sabretooth's hands. "*What* Are yo-"
Sabretooth, disgusted with the sound of the doctor's questions, placed a hand on his chest and malevolently ripped his throat out, spraying himself with blood in the process. He carefully wiped his hands and face on one of the spare lab coats, tucking the rest under his arm.
He plucked the thick file labeled 'Custom' off the desk on his way out.
~Back at the Lab~
Keka smiled, watching Bobby Drake and Beast bicker back and forth.
"Once you get going with all that technical mumbo jumbo, you babble on forev-"
"I've told you before, Bobby, I do NOT babble." Hank scowled.
"Suuuure you don't. Just like you don't blush." Bobby smirked.
"I've NEVER blushed."
"Sure." Bobby rose. "I'm outta here-you're in denial."
"I could see you blushing." Keka nodded after Bobby had left.
"If you could, it would be a serious symptom of delirium, Me Lovely." Hank Chuckled. "Let's take a temp, shall we?" He pulled out a thermometer, replacing the disposable shell.
"Aw, come on! Han-Oomp."
"Quiet please, Keka."
"Ah Don Ned Dis."
"You sound like Gambit."
"Whoh?"
"Nevermind."
"Hank, caan ah-"
"In a minute."
Hank took the reading, tossing the mouthpiece into the trash.
"What happened to me?" She asked, looking up at the door. Three girls; one in pink, one in a yellow coat, and one in black opera gloves gave her curious looks before being shooed off.
"We're not quite sure now, dear, but we're doing our best to find out. Your Dad Is doing his best to find out." Hank reassured her, putting his hand over hers.
"Thanks." She smiled.
She looked up from Hank, her ears perking. She could hear his heartbeat, wild and inconsistent. She could smell him, full of blood; Of the blood of the doctor that had taken her into the lab and away from her father.
Victor tramped into the room, tossing the extra lab coats into Hank's chest and proceeding to sit down in the chair next to Keka, looking at the floor.
"Daddy?" She tested the air between them, scooting close to the edge of her bed as Hank moved away to leave the two of them in the lab, and to inspect the bundle that had been thrown at him.
Victor looked up at Keka with identical cautious eyes. She looked at the blood spattered on his face and clothes, and in his hair. She listened hard to his heartbeat, trying to distinguish a pattern but unable to find one. She moved closer.
"Keka...I, I don't know how to explain this to you." Victor averted his eyes to the floor. "I don't know if I really should tell you all...any of this-"
Keka never said a word, just slipped off the bed and into his arms, burying her face in his chest. The surprised man slid his arms around her, holding his daughter close to him and breathing sighs of relief.
Pressing herself into his dripping shirt, Keka could hear his heartbeat slowing and steadying, returning to the strong pulse that she'd known for as long as she cared to remember.
Keka's eyes fluttered open, her senses slowly sparking back to life.
She smelled strong medicines, mixed with the scents of the people in the room. She smelled Victor- her father- along with the two separate smells of Sweet tabacco smoke, and of rainwater.
"Where am I...where's the rain coming from..."
Wolverine looked from Keka to Hank, and then briefly at Victor before moving quickly back to Hank.
"She's delirious...coming back off-"
"No- that's you." Victor grumbled. Logan held back a snort of laughter.
"Oh. Well...that's useful information, actually." Hank shrugged. "She'll be back to full consciousness come a few hours,"
"Good." Victor Crouched to look at his daughter, dismissing everyone else in the room. "Keka, I'll be back later-sleep tight."
"Where..."
"Don't fret it, little one. I'll be back soon enough." He said softly, stroking her tattered right ear. The chunk missing made it look like it belonged to an alley Tomcat rather then to his 16 year old daughter. It only fueled his anger.
~~
Victor saw everything in a red haze-the sidewalks, the streetlights, the people. The rain that pattered gently on his head was hardly felt, and the feeling of the concrete under his boots didn't register. The only thing that stood out among Sabretooth's rage was the everstrong trail of Keka's smell, intermingled with fear and pain.
~~~
Dr. Kelber sat in his office, flipping through paperwork and files on his custom child; the tiny feralish girl that had gotten away.
"DOCTOR!" Ms Odin screamed, bloodcurdlingly sharp in the silence. There were various crashes in the front Lab, the sound of glass breaking and cages rattling.
"Ms Odin?" He stepped into the front lab. Everything was trashed-broken and spurting electrical shorts. Within seconds, the normally calm lab had become a battle zone scale model. He stepped back into his office, picking up the phone and finding no tone.
Sabretooth looked down at the woman, whose dead body twitched in the aftermath of life so suddenly leaving. Her multiple, deep gashes still pulsed as blood flowed from them. He flicked off a nearby switch, blackening the entire building-he assumed that from the angry, confused yell from the 'good' doctor in the back office. Sabretooth moved to the door, which was quickly closing, through the blackness that was to him merely fog after a momentary adjustment, shoving it open and focusing on the man with Keka's scent so strongly on him.
"Who's there?" The man was panicked, his arms in front of his face.
"Come on, now." Sabretooth stood in the doorway, tapping his claws against the wall. "Afraid of someone you can't Tag?" He asked.
"Who are you?"
Sabretooth charged, his voice thundering across the room in notes that could have never been words. His hands found the doctors throat, forcing him off his feet and against a wall.
"What did you do to her?" He demanded, a low growl remaining in his throat.
"What....Who..."
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY CHILD?!" His claws tapped dangerously on the man's neck. "The Feral."
There was silence for a moment as Sabretooth's hands pressed him against the wall.
"She was my project..."
"SHE IS A CHILD, NOT A TOY. What were you doing."
"She got away, before we could when she was smaller-she was to stay the size of a pup, a wise child...We were her teachers...she never learned what we didn't teach h-"
"Teachers? You have the *nerve* to call yourself a TEACHER? I don't care how many times you've seen "Interview with a Vampire"; an eternal child, a helpless innocent, won't work with a *feral*." Sabretooth said viciously. "At SEVEN she was too smart for you; how did you expect her to stay *Just* stupid enough to believe she was your little PLAYTHING?"
"Who are you?" The doctor asked again, his hands grasping furiously at Sabretooth's hands. "*What* Are yo-"
Sabretooth, disgusted with the sound of the doctor's questions, placed a hand on his chest and malevolently ripped his throat out, spraying himself with blood in the process. He carefully wiped his hands and face on one of the spare lab coats, tucking the rest under his arm.
He plucked the thick file labeled 'Custom' off the desk on his way out.
~Back at the Lab~
Keka smiled, watching Bobby Drake and Beast bicker back and forth.
"Once you get going with all that technical mumbo jumbo, you babble on forev-"
"I've told you before, Bobby, I do NOT babble." Hank scowled.
"Suuuure you don't. Just like you don't blush." Bobby smirked.
"I've NEVER blushed."
"Sure." Bobby rose. "I'm outta here-you're in denial."
"I could see you blushing." Keka nodded after Bobby had left.
"If you could, it would be a serious symptom of delirium, Me Lovely." Hank Chuckled. "Let's take a temp, shall we?" He pulled out a thermometer, replacing the disposable shell.
"Aw, come on! Han-Oomp."
"Quiet please, Keka."
"Ah Don Ned Dis."
"You sound like Gambit."
"Whoh?"
"Nevermind."
"Hank, caan ah-"
"In a minute."
Hank took the reading, tossing the mouthpiece into the trash.
"What happened to me?" She asked, looking up at the door. Three girls; one in pink, one in a yellow coat, and one in black opera gloves gave her curious looks before being shooed off.
"We're not quite sure now, dear, but we're doing our best to find out. Your Dad Is doing his best to find out." Hank reassured her, putting his hand over hers.
"Thanks." She smiled.
She looked up from Hank, her ears perking. She could hear his heartbeat, wild and inconsistent. She could smell him, full of blood; Of the blood of the doctor that had taken her into the lab and away from her father.
Victor tramped into the room, tossing the extra lab coats into Hank's chest and proceeding to sit down in the chair next to Keka, looking at the floor.
"Daddy?" She tested the air between them, scooting close to the edge of her bed as Hank moved away to leave the two of them in the lab, and to inspect the bundle that had been thrown at him.
Victor looked up at Keka with identical cautious eyes. She looked at the blood spattered on his face and clothes, and in his hair. She listened hard to his heartbeat, trying to distinguish a pattern but unable to find one. She moved closer.
"Keka...I, I don't know how to explain this to you." Victor averted his eyes to the floor. "I don't know if I really should tell you all...any of this-"
Keka never said a word, just slipped off the bed and into his arms, burying her face in his chest. The surprised man slid his arms around her, holding his daughter close to him and breathing sighs of relief.
Pressing herself into his dripping shirt, Keka could hear his heartbeat slowing and steadying, returning to the strong pulse that she'd known for as long as she cared to remember.