CHAPTER 20: PROMISES, PROMISES

The trio shared some quiet time while Logan tried to get his thoughts together and rehearse what he was going to say to Vic in his head. He was hoping that the penthouse and the now occupants would not suffer his wrath when he broke the news to him. Sometimes Vic could take the bad news with a stoic face and a calm manner, and sometimes he had seen hurricanes and tornadoes leave less damage in the wake of his brother's fury. So Logan being a betting man bet half he would freak and the other he would take it quite well.

"Victor, I really need to tell you a story, but it must be in private." Logan looked at Bell.

"Oh, I'll just wait in another room....oh; I don't think that'll work." Bell said.

"Not a problem, Babe." Victor said. Victor, James called him Victor. It must be serious. He rarely ever called him Victor. "Come with me, and I'll arrange something that will help." Victor said getting up and beckoning Bell to follow him.

"Oh, okay." Bell stood up and followed Victor. He led her past the master bedroom and down the hall to a door. He took keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He led her inside and she gasped. It was a huge library. There wasn't a space on the walls that were not covered in bookcases filled with books, save one. It had a large entertainment centre on it. TV, stereo and speakers were arranged in the most advantageous way possible. Beside the stereo was a series of racks filled with CD's. The collection was huge, but that wasn't what made her take in a breath of surprise. The various artists and the extensiveness of music, was shocking. Everything from opera to the latest in music was in his collection.

"Here, I'll set up the music for you." Victor said moving towards the stereo. Bell on the other hand went over to the bookshelves and thumbed her fingers along the books. Most of them looked like first editions. She took one off the shelf and looked at the title. It was a Rudyard Kipling. She opened the cover and looked inside. There was a hand written inscription. The inscription read: To Victor my good friend, good hunting, good reading, and good life. Your friend, Rudyard. It was signed and dated.

"You either collect books that just happened to have your name in them, or...."

"I met him when I was in England. We became very good friends. He sent me that book for my birthday. The great thing about him was he talked a great deal like he wrote." Victor smiled at the memory. It was a sad smile though. "I was so angry at myself for letting our friendship get lost. You see.... I let time get away from me. By the time I found out that he was sick, broke and dying...it was already too late. I was away on some crusade or other. Since then though, if I see a potential artist, writer, musician...I do my best not to let them get away like I did with Rudd." The shared a long moment of silence together.

"Um just how old are you?" Bell asked quietly. She wasn't sure she wanted the answer, but she couldn't stop herself. He smiled at her, smelling her confusion.

"I was born a year just after the American Civil war."

"That would make you....." She trailed off.

"Yeah, it would." He smiled kind of sadly. "It's my healing factor you see. I don't really age at all. I stopped aging about around the time I turned thirty-seven or so. It's kind of hard to see time pass you by and your friends and family die of old age when you are still the same. Well, it's not so bad. James is still around and he has the healing factor too. His is even more prevalent then mine. He stopped aging when he reached thirty-two or so. I believe that now you are one of us, too." Bell swallowed.

"We're immortal?" Bell asked voice catching.

"No, just damn near as never mind: As one of my old acquaintances would say."

Bell just stared at him for a long moment. Now she was like him, she would outlive most of her family, friends...see things come and go. It kind of scared her, but excited her too. Not too long ago she hadn't any life to look forward to, now it bloomed before her.

She had a question she was dying to ask him. He waited while she got up the nerve to ask him. He almost knew what she going to ask. It was the logical procession to their conversation. Long life did have its advantages.

"Why did you choose me?" Bell asked. Yes, that's the one he was waiting for. He smiled at her. He remembered the moment he had seen her at the park. It was just an impetuous choice. He barely thought of it. He just grabbed her. Afterwards he had thought about.

"It was your scent, Babe. It grabbed me and told me that you were the one I wanted, needed." Victor said.

"What was it that grabbed you?" Bell asked curious.

"Death, Babe, you reeked of it." Victor said simply. Bell's mouth dropped open. "Yes, when I caught your scent it smelled of death. I knew that if I hadn't grabbed you, you've died anyway. It's the same scent that those who knew that they are dying, whither in battle, or illness or when those who contemplate suicide seriously. Your decision had been made....even though you probably hadn't even known it." Bell's mouth dropped further. Victor chuckled at her. "Everybody has a certain scent they give off during strong emotions, decisions...hell all the time. Surely you've noticed it. Sometimes it can be ignored by us....well; everyone can smell odors that permeate the air. But most choose to ignore, or they haven't learned to recognize smells. Scientists have said for years that scent was the best and most valuable senses that we have. It connects to memory strongly. But many don't realize that scent have driven the human race as much as it has with animals." Victor went on to explain. Bell swallowed. Her father had said much the same thing.

"So what kind of music do you want to listen too? I'll set up the headphones for you too." Victor said turning away.

"Mind if I choose by myself?" Bell asked.

"Not in the least." He plugged the headphones into the stereo and handed them to her. Their hands touched. Bell froze, and she stared at him intently. They were standing toe to toe their breathing matching each other. Bell could hear his heartbeat keep time with hers. It was like they were one. They leaned into each other and their faces were only an inch or two from one another. Bell could make out an enticing a scent coming from Victor it excited her. She reached up with her other hand and stroked his face. Their eyes locked onto each other like they wouldn't let go. Victor edge closer to her and he was only moments from giving her a kiss, when the door burst open.

Logan looked as if he'd been physically attacked as he jerked back.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry....oops!" He backed out and closed the door behind him. He was so embarrassed. He should have smelt them in that mood from the parking garage. He must have been oh so distracted. He ran his fingers thru his hair and expelled a deep breath. He didn't know what to say to Vic when he saw him again.

"Don't worry about it, baby brother. We really don't have the time for that anyway." Said Victor, coming into the living room a few moments later. "Besides, I still have to take care of a little problem."

"Your wife."

"My wife. Not that it's been a problem for the last quarter century or so. It's been awhile since we've actually seen eye to eye on things."

"Then you are certain of Bell then?" Logan asked.

"Made that decision earlier, it's for certain. I just only have to ask her...doesn't look like a problem."

"I need to know, how did you find her, and why is she so like you?" Logan asked.

"I found her in the park and why she's like me...well, that's a story." Victor went and got his mug to get fresh hot coffee. Logan took the hint, he waited to Victor to get his coffee and he refilled his mug as well.

They took chairs at the diner table. Victor began to explain the whole story of how he working for Erick was told to get a subject of experimentation.

"Erick wanted me to get someone to use his machine on. I was reluctant. I am a grunt but I usually draw the line at kidnapping, but I have a metal skeleton and Erick has that way with metal....so." Logan nodded.

"So working for him isn't as voluntarily as thought." Logan said, knowing for sure that his brother wouldn't just work for him for money. His suspicions were confirmed with a nod.

"Not that I would miss the metal, but to have it extracted without medical attention available would leave me dead, or wishing I was." A dark look came over Victor's face. He wasn't afraid of death or pain, he'd faced them often, but to be helpless would be worse then death. "I have chosen not to work for him anymore. I'll accept what he does to me. I don't believe or agree with what he's doing. In fact I have a plan on stopping him." Victor said with an evil grin. Logan smiled along. Vic's plans were formidable, he may act the dumb grunt sometimes, but a cunning and brilliantly trained brain was running the large deadly body. A deadly force to be reckoned with.... caution was the best way in dealing with his big brother.

"What is that plan, I can see the wheels turning. It must be good if you're going to take on Magneto." Logan said leaning forward.

"Did you happen to notice that Bell's eyes glowed red when she was doing Sheila's hair?" Victor asked with a purr.

"Actually I noticed that her eyes glowed red every time she even went near one of your grandkids. I wasn't sure why, but since it didn't hurt them any I didn't worry. What?"

"Did you say, near? Not touching them. Hmmm. I've have thought she would have to touch them. This is interesting." Victor said getting into his thinking mode.

"What are you talking about?" Logan asked getting confused.

"She seems to be, although I can't confirm it yet....a power mimic." Victor said grinning broadly. Logan cocked his head while he rolled the statement around in his head. "I suspected as much when she became me...well, almost. You see the machine that Erick used on her affected her DNA to a point were her body starting rejecting it. Her body was getting eaten up by itself. I took her to the woods to die, but I held her hand and let her rest on me while she died. But she didn't....obviously. Her body being torn apart by itself, and was killing her. But as you and I both know, self preservation is one of the key ingredients to our make-up. So her body did the next best thing it could to save itself." Victor said grinning.

"It became you." Logan said laughing.

"Yes, that's right. If I'm right then she now has the ability to morph, levitate, and shoot blue bolts and a number of other things as well. Her body stayed the way it is because it chose the new body over the old one. She did it unconsciously."

"Erick's machine works for those who'll have her mutation, right? But it's fatal to those who don't."

"He even wants to try it again. He probably realizes by now, that I won't bring him another victim. He said he's going to adjust the machine....but I doubt very much if it will be enough. He doesn't realize that the stronger the power used on the machine the more destructive it is. He'll kill all that get in its way." Victor said. Erick didn't believe that Sabretooth knew anything about science or technology. Victor had been around since it began, so he had kept up with it. "Hell, I could very well fix it so that it'll work, but there's enough mutants being born without any mechanical help."

"You haven't told him that, have you?" Logan snorted.

"Like, Erick would listen to me, little brother. I guess my rep preceded me. Big, dumb, grunt." They sat in silence for sometime.

"I saw Raven yesterday." Logan said.

"Really, how does she look?" Victor asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"Same as always, beautiful." Logan said taking in a deep breath.

"I hear a story coming. It concerns her, doesn't it?" Victor said taking a sip of his quickly cooling coffee.

"Yep...And you too." Logan said building himself up for what will be a taxing time.

Bell had been listening to Bette Midler's latest CD when she heard the most heartbreaking roar that shook the walls. She tore off the headphones and tossed them aside and charged out the door. She entered the living room to have her sensitive ears being assaulted by Victor's anguished roar. Such anger, sadness in that long drawn out roar that sounded like several big cats of the zoo, crying their grief at lost freedom; came from the large man. He was standing his full length and his back was arched and his head thrown back. The penthouse windows were rattling, her ears rang at the loudness. Logan was clutching his ears and he had tears coursing down his face in sympathy with his brother's pain. Bell's eyes were being pricked with tears as well.

Victor dropped to knees and roar became a howl and evolved into sobs. Bell understood that he had lost something precious, only which could have brought a man like Victor to his knees.

Logan dropped down beside him and embraced his brother. He spoke quietly to him; trying to sooth him. Bell could hear the words, but she couldn't understand them. It was in another language. It had a sing-song quality to it that could have put a crying baby to sleep. It only calms Victor. Bell didn't know whither to leave or go. She found herself moving towards the brothers without thinking.