Chapter 5: Enter the Assassin

Disclaimer: So far I own only Moneda and her original family. All the X-Characters belong to someone else.

Darkness.

Stillness.

Quiet.

Tickling…

It started on the bicep on his right and moved up his arm, across his collarbone in a thin line, then down to his right pec.

"England…France…" thought Victor, slowly coming back to consciousness.

Gradually the gentle sensation traveled up to his other shoulder,

"Russia…"

The feeling moved down again to the left side of his rib cage, then just below his navel-

"Germany…Switzerland…" he smirked to himself (Or so he thought).

He could feel something pulling at the top of his boxers. Italy was next.

Wait a minute…only one of his female partners had ever traced out their mission route on his chest and that was-

"Raven!" Creed sat straight up in bed growling.

"Hello Darling," Mystique grinned, "I can't remember the last time you were sound asleep like this."

"Ya, well, I've been busy…" said Creed lamely.

"So I heard," said Mystique drolly, "and tell me, how has life been with the weather witch?"

"It's been…Wait, how the hell do you know about that!" demanded Creed.

"Rogue called me in a panic three days ago when I was on a job in Germany. Honestly, Victor, what were you thinking!" scolded Mystique, "You barely know her and she's an X-Man on top of that! And I don't believe for one second that they're OK with this little arrangement."

"Haven't heard from them since she came," said Sabertooth smugly.

"No doubt Xavier's work, wanting to give her space to handle her own problems," scoffed Mystique, "or some crap like that."

Creed rolled his eyes and looked at the clock.

1:00 pm

"But seriously, how did you con her into this?"

"I didn't," growled Creed, "She came willingly!"

Mystique snorted, "Fine, I'll give you that-for now. But I intend to get to the bottom of this. Lord knows I have eight months to figure it all out."

"How do you figure eight months she's nearly three now and…Whoa, wait a minute-yer not stayin' here."

"Don't be ridiculous, of course I am." stated Mystique, "Victor, you have no idea what you've gotten her into, trust me on this one. I know, I've been through this twice and it wasn't a walk in the park either time."

Victor started to growl, "How did you get in here anyway? Turn into a fly 'er sumthin'?"

Mystique didn't flinch, "Don't be ridiculous! I mean really, nearly half a century and you still haven't moved the spare key from under the 'welcome' mat!"

"Ahem."

Sabertooth and Mystique's gaze snapped to the doorway where Toad happened to be standing.

"Vic, you might want to come take a look at this," said the amphibian motioning for the cat to follow.

Toad lead Sabertooth and Raven down a few halls and stopped outside, gesturing the other two mutants in. They could all hear the treadmill going full blast.

Creed and Mystique walked in to find Storm running on the treadmill.

"What hell do you think yer doin' woman! Ya tryin' ta miscarry!" yelled Creed.

"What? No," said storm looking away from the weather report from a TV mounted in the corner of the room, "I only have it on level four, I usually train on level eight. I found when I stay in motion I don't get nauseous and so I figured…Mystique!"

"Hello, Storm," Mystique grinned as she walked over to the side of treadmill, "I must say this is the last place I'd ever expect to see you."

"Well, that makes two of us," sighed the weather witch.

The shape shifter exchanged a glance with Vic and he got into position behind the treadmill.

"You know, Dear, now that you have one on the way, you should be taking it easy. Relaxing. Start by taking a load off your feet…" With that having been said Mystique pinched open the emergency stop clip.

As you most likely figured out, the treadmill stopped dead and Storm went flying into Victor's arms. Initially, she started to squirm, but then her stomach caught up with her.

"Down," Storm gasped, "put me down!"

Sabertooth complied, gently setting Ororo on her feet, just to have her make a mad dash for the bathroom to throw up.

"Breakfast is ready," Moneda yelled up the stairs.

"Give us a few minutes, will ya, Mona," shouted Creed.

20 minutes later found Storm sitting at the dining room table with a throbbing. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she tried to stave off the pounding and the nausea as she witnessed Toad wolf down a tall stack of pancakes.

Victor was reading the paper with a cup of black coffee and Moneda went back into the kitchen.

Ororo jumped when Mystique put a cup of coffee cup down on the table next to her.

"Where does it hurt?" asked the shape shifter.

"Above the right eye," said Storm.

"Here," Mystique said as she depresses a pressure point on the back of Storm's neck.

"AH, what are you…!" yelped the weather as the pressure increased and then completely dissipated, "How did you…?"

"Assassin." Raven smirked, "We have to know release points and fatal pressure points, they're cleaner for more discrete jobs. If used correctly, they can make a murder look like a heart attack."

"Oh," said Storm paling slightly from T.M.I (Too Much Information).

Later that night, Storm was once again getting ready for bed in Birdy's old room, mentally kicking herself for procrastinating when it came to Victor. She knew she should speak with him soon, but she just didn't feel like it and it probably wasn't a good idea in the long run.

As it was, she was generally in a foul mood due to her clothes becoming tighter with what seemed every passing day. At the rate she was going, she would probably wind up in Sabertooth's old shirts by the end of the 5th month.

Then there were also the mood swings that could sneak up on her at any point. One minute she'd be fine, the next she would be seething for no real reason at all and the following she would be "excited" and in bad need of a cold shower. It was the fianl one she did not want Sabertooth picking up on.

And that was just it! Sabertooth, for the most part, knew everything about her. He could pick up on her every reaction to him and, in the meantime, she couldn't read him at all. Storm also knew barely anything about him other than he killed people for a living and the X-Men fought him whenever he crossed their path.

That's when it hit her. She had never looked at him as a person and that was where she had to start if she wanted to get anywhere in their negations, as Jubilation would say, "Oh, crap!" Maybe she could pump Mystique for information. It was risky and would most likely require the secession of information on her part as well. There was also Toad, but he and Sabertooth seemed to pretty much give each other their space. Her best bet was probably Moneda. It had the possibility of being a long shot, but it was the best lead she could pursue at the moment.

If only she had a cheat sheet or something.

Storm sighed as she got off the bed to go brush her teeth. The floor board at the foot of the bed creaked as she walked over it.

Across the hall Mystique and Victor settled into the master bedroom. Don't get me wrong, Raven definitely raised an eyebrow in Victor's direction when Storm headed off to Birdy's room for the night, but she knew better than ask Victor directly about it, just then. She waited until the next day when she and Victor were sorting through paperwork.

"No wonder you're in such a bad mood. Storm must have threatened you within inches of your life to make you take time off," Mystique began casually, "And who organized this file cabinet, a chimp! Why is a job done for a Mrs. Lilandra Ceballos filed under 'P'?"

Victor looked up from the papers on his desk, "If memory serves, Mrs. Ceballos was originally from Paris and Storm didn't threaten me into anything. I chose to take a vacation."

"Honesty, Victor, it's one thing if you're going to screw a bimbo like Birdy, it's entirely another if you're going to let her near the secretarial end of the business. My God, it could take weeks to sort this mess out, not to mention the revenue you're going to loose by taking time off."

"Since when do you care so much about my finances?" asked Creed, "Where are ya goin' with this?"

"Well, now that I'm here you could go off on jobs and know that Storm is in good hands," said Raven. She figured with Victor out of the house Storm would be more inclined to talk about the circumstances that led to her current condition.

Victor snorted, "If yer so interested in jobs why don't you go out on a few and I'll stay here with Storm."

"Then who would put these files in order? And why a job in Rochester, NY filed under 'R' instead of 'H' for Mr. Hosenfoffer who ordered the hit! There is no consistency here at all!"

"I'll higher someone," said Victor turning back to the paperwork on his desk.

Now it was Mystique's turn to snort, "Who, a temp? Ha, you straights can't handle this business."

"It's summer, right?" said Creed.

"Yes, so?" asked Raven.

"I'll higher one of Xavier's brats."

Downstairs Toad was tuning up the cars in the garage and Moneda had begun her cleaning routine for the day, starting in the kitchen.

It was now or never.

Storm decided to make her move.

"Excuse me, Moneda…do you have a minute?"