AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks Saki, April Kristina, Kelly_Pure, and gethmane8 for
their reviews! I changed the name of Victor's dad. Jebodiah just doesn't
sound like a Ukranian priest's name, ya know?
After she had escaped the SHIELD base camp, Ororo had stepped into Canadian wilderness. After about an hour, the forest had melted into a city. She roamed the streets aimlessly for another hour and a half before she realized that she was in Odessa, Ukraine, where she had lived with Victor for three years. Though she hated the thought of returning to another reunion, she knew she had to go back to her apartment. The subconscious Victor would no doubt be there, waiting for her.
She grudgingly went to her old home, thinking of a million escape routes that she had once used against her lover, and which self-defense moves she'd use when she inevitably encountered him again. She opened the door, holding her breath in anticipation of a full-scale attack. But none came. She heard herself giggling from her bedroom in the back, and knew that this was a good day. She went outside and around the house, to the bedroom window, which, due to its white drapes, would allow her to look in without being seen snooping.
Inside, she saw herself lying upon Victor's bare chest, hugging him and laughing full-heartedly. She tried to resist the urge to smile, reminding herself of the day he'd left. Victor was kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her chin, and her lips, in a childish but romantic gesture, and Ororo saw herself bite his lip playfully.
Victor pulled away, looking into her eyes with what was almost a smile. "You know," he told her, "there was a time when I couldn't touch a single person without giving into the instinct to kill." While her gaze grew serious, she didn't seem to think any less of her lover. Though this was the first time he'd confessed to it, she had known for quite a while that he was a violent man. "I don't know what it was about you, but the first time you touched me, I knew instantly that I had to have more. And I used to think that I wasn't afraid of anything. But there are days when I wake up in the night, scared shitless because I had dreamt about a future without you in my life." They kissed again, and Ororo wanted to kick herself for falling for his act...it was a act, right ?
She then began to trace every muscle in the man's sculpted torso, understanding that he used his impressive build to harm others, yet somehow not caring. She stopped when she came to the left side of his lower ab. She gazed into his eyes, and Ororo knew what the two weren't saying. Victor had taken a bullet for her years ago, and since then he'd always been ticklish in that one spot (though he adamantly denied it every time it came up). Ororo pulled herself away from the window. She hadn't come here to dream of things that would never be. She needed to find Victor.
Church bells rang from a distance. She decided to visit the cathedral, a safe-haven for her in the old days, as she desperately wanted to be somewhere pure, somewhere devoid of anything Victor-related. She made her way down the cobblestone street to the huge doors of the church.
She opened the doors, flooding the customarily dark room with sunlight, and shut them quietly. She went to a pew in the back and bent upon the ground in prayer. After only a couple of minutes, she heard light footsteps enter the room. She peered over the pew before her to see a little boy looking curiously at the Virgin Mary to the left of the stage in front. The boy, who appeared to about nine years old, had long, blonde hair that fell just past his shoulders in matted clumps of sweat and dirt, and his clothes were little more than a moth-eaten blanket with armholes. She felt sorry for him, and started to get up to greet him, when he turned around.
His irises were just as black as his pupils. It was Victor, at a very young age. Ororo ducked lower in the pew, hoping his keen vision hadn't spotted her already. Her hopes were crushed when he began running toward her at his top speed. She waited for him to find her, wondering if he was as vicious as a child as he was the rest of his life, but he surprised her when he ran past her toward the door.
Just a few feet short of it, however, three monks intercepted him and began dragging him back to the front of the room. Victor howled and fought, and, even so young, the three men could barely contain him. But, slowly he was taken back into a room behind the stage, which Ororo assumed was the living quarters of the priest. She got up from her hiding place and went to the room.
On the door was a sign, reading, in Old English print, "Father Valerius". She knocked and ran behind the statue of Mary, but no one answered, so she assumed the room to be empty. She opened the door. But what she found wasn't an office at all, but a narrow, dark stairway that lead down.
After she had escaped the SHIELD base camp, Ororo had stepped into Canadian wilderness. After about an hour, the forest had melted into a city. She roamed the streets aimlessly for another hour and a half before she realized that she was in Odessa, Ukraine, where she had lived with Victor for three years. Though she hated the thought of returning to another reunion, she knew she had to go back to her apartment. The subconscious Victor would no doubt be there, waiting for her.
She grudgingly went to her old home, thinking of a million escape routes that she had once used against her lover, and which self-defense moves she'd use when she inevitably encountered him again. She opened the door, holding her breath in anticipation of a full-scale attack. But none came. She heard herself giggling from her bedroom in the back, and knew that this was a good day. She went outside and around the house, to the bedroom window, which, due to its white drapes, would allow her to look in without being seen snooping.
Inside, she saw herself lying upon Victor's bare chest, hugging him and laughing full-heartedly. She tried to resist the urge to smile, reminding herself of the day he'd left. Victor was kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her chin, and her lips, in a childish but romantic gesture, and Ororo saw herself bite his lip playfully.
Victor pulled away, looking into her eyes with what was almost a smile. "You know," he told her, "there was a time when I couldn't touch a single person without giving into the instinct to kill." While her gaze grew serious, she didn't seem to think any less of her lover. Though this was the first time he'd confessed to it, she had known for quite a while that he was a violent man. "I don't know what it was about you, but the first time you touched me, I knew instantly that I had to have more. And I used to think that I wasn't afraid of anything. But there are days when I wake up in the night, scared shitless because I had dreamt about a future without you in my life." They kissed again, and Ororo wanted to kick herself for falling for his act...it was a act, right ?
She then began to trace every muscle in the man's sculpted torso, understanding that he used his impressive build to harm others, yet somehow not caring. She stopped when she came to the left side of his lower ab. She gazed into his eyes, and Ororo knew what the two weren't saying. Victor had taken a bullet for her years ago, and since then he'd always been ticklish in that one spot (though he adamantly denied it every time it came up). Ororo pulled herself away from the window. She hadn't come here to dream of things that would never be. She needed to find Victor.
Church bells rang from a distance. She decided to visit the cathedral, a safe-haven for her in the old days, as she desperately wanted to be somewhere pure, somewhere devoid of anything Victor-related. She made her way down the cobblestone street to the huge doors of the church.
She opened the doors, flooding the customarily dark room with sunlight, and shut them quietly. She went to a pew in the back and bent upon the ground in prayer. After only a couple of minutes, she heard light footsteps enter the room. She peered over the pew before her to see a little boy looking curiously at the Virgin Mary to the left of the stage in front. The boy, who appeared to about nine years old, had long, blonde hair that fell just past his shoulders in matted clumps of sweat and dirt, and his clothes were little more than a moth-eaten blanket with armholes. She felt sorry for him, and started to get up to greet him, when he turned around.
His irises were just as black as his pupils. It was Victor, at a very young age. Ororo ducked lower in the pew, hoping his keen vision hadn't spotted her already. Her hopes were crushed when he began running toward her at his top speed. She waited for him to find her, wondering if he was as vicious as a child as he was the rest of his life, but he surprised her when he ran past her toward the door.
Just a few feet short of it, however, three monks intercepted him and began dragging him back to the front of the room. Victor howled and fought, and, even so young, the three men could barely contain him. But, slowly he was taken back into a room behind the stage, which Ororo assumed was the living quarters of the priest. She got up from her hiding place and went to the room.
On the door was a sign, reading, in Old English print, "Father Valerius". She knocked and ran behind the statue of Mary, but no one answered, so she assumed the room to be empty. She opened the door. But what she found wasn't an office at all, but a narrow, dark stairway that lead down.