Beauty and the Beast
Chapter 6: Floorboard Malfunction
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-Men, X-Villains or Aus. At this point, I only own Moneda and her back story.
"Yes, of course." said Mona looking up from her cleaning, "Did you need something?"
"Oh, um…no. I was just wondering about Saber-I mean, Victor. What does he do in his spare time?"
"Spare time?" asked Moneda.
Storm gave a defeated sigh. There was no use in sugar coating the situation, "What does he do between jobs?"
"Oh," Moneda was taken a back, "well, he has box seats at the theatre…but he hasn't gone in years. Birdy was usually the one who dragged him there."
"Anything else?" Storm asked hopefully.
"Let's see," Mona continued thoughtfully, "Oh, that's right, he also has seasonal hockey tickets…but, come to think of it he doesn't use those either. Toad does, on occasion, although Senior Creed usually watches the playoffs in the living room."
"Alright, what about restaurants? Does Victor go out to eat much when he's at home?"
"No," said Moneda frankly, "he usually just defrosts a few stakes and warms them on the grill or in the microwave."
"Oh," said Ororo paling slightly.
The conversation progressed through the rest of the rooms on the first floor and continued onto the second floor. All the while Storm continued to grill Moneda about Creed, but to no avail.
By the time they reach the master bedroom Storm's frustration had become quite evident in the lighting storm that had miraculously formed and increased in severity over the course of the conversation.
CRACK-BOOM!
A bolt of lightning stuck the lawn on the side of the house, shaking the foundation.
Moneda maintained her composure as the window panes rattled. She just continued to make the bed, unfazed. Then again it hadn't taken much to figure out what Ororo's mutant power, considering Moneda could count on one hand the number of sunny days there had been since Storm had arrived.
"Something troubling you, Chica?" asked Moneda as she fluffed up the pillows.
"Nothing," sighed Storm sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Nothing is bothering you?" asked Mona doubtfully.
"No!" exclaimed Storm, "Nothing-We have absolutely nothing in common. How are we going to raise a child! What was I thinking sleeping with him without protection? What was I thinking sleeping with him in the first place! I mean, they all would have made it anyway, right! They've been through worse and survived…"
Outside the lightning storm subsided, dissolving into hard rain.
"This is a disaster," sobbed the weather witch.
"Oh, Chica," said Moneda softly as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, "it won't be so bad. Rekindling old romances can be difficult, but it will all work out in the end. You'll see."
"'Rekindling old romances?'" asked Storm.
"Si, Senior Creed told me all about it. How the two of you were involved before, you broke his heart and he hired Birdy as a way to get back at…and none of that is true, is it?" asked Moneda when she saw the look of sheer horror on Ororo's face.
"No!" said Storm vehemently, "You remember a few months back when…"
The Weather Witch recounted the entire tale up to the present. She began with the mission she and her teammates were sent on, the injuries the others had sustained, how they were running out of time, wandering aimlessly in the Canadian wilderness for hours, inadvertently crossing paths with Sabertooth, failing to get directions to the nearest hospital, playing upon Victor's "little" obsession with her to save her teammates and the actual act, which was lost somewhat through the sobs. Not that it matter though, Mystique, who had come running from the office when she heard the lightning strike outside had been standing at the door and heard everything. The shape shifter and Moneda exchanged looks. Then Mystique turned tail and headed back down the hall without a word.
Raven walked calmly into the office. Toad had come in since she left, he and Victor were playing with the computer, apparently trying to set up a hotmail account.
"Toad, out!" said Mystique forcefully.
"But we're…" Toad began.
"NOW!" shouted Mystique.
Toad was barely able to dive out of the room before Mystique slammed the door and locked it.
Prepare for the fight scene!
"Victor Creed, you have done some horrendous things in your, many of which I have witnessed and/or participated in, but this is by far the worst! What the hell were you thinking, taking advantage of her like that! You should be shot…not that it would even slow you down."
"I…" Victor began to defend himself.
"I don't want to know!" Mystique held up a hand, "Honestly, Victor, if you wanted a child that badly, I don't see why we couldn't have worked something out…after many heated discussions…death threats and some strenuous negotiation."
"No, we couldn't have," Creed interrupted.
Mystique raised a slim red eyebrow.
"The last one was the head of a fuckin' anti-mutant organization and more importantly human! I couldn't risk that again."
"Oh, I see," said Mystique in an airy tone, "you can't 'risk that again,' so you bedded a complete stranger."
"She's not a 'stranger.' Hell, we've both known her for years."
"You mean we've fought her for years! For God's sake Victor, she's an X-Men, you know, a goody two shoes. Any kids she has will probably be honor role students, eat their vegetables, brush their teeth before bed and positive be influences on non-mutant society!"
"Ya, well, maybe I want good kids this time!" Victor countered.
"And just what is that supposed to mean!" shouted Raven.
"Mutants or not, Storm wouldn't abandon her kid or any kid for that matter!" Creed growled.
"So that's it!" declared Mystique, "You blame me for the whole Graydon thing, don't you!"
"Well, ya," said Sabertooth as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
And that's when the objects in the room took to flight!
"You SON OF A-"
CRASH!
"HOW DARE YOU-"
BAM!
"-BLAME ME!"
SMASH!
"YOU COULD HAVE TAKEN GRAYDON WITH YOU!"
"HOW!" Victor cut in, "HE WAS A MONTH OLD WHEN I HAD TO LEAVE
AND YOU WERE THE ONE WITH THE TITS!"
Mystique froze and put her hands on her hips.
It was then Sabertooth realized he had just made a grave tactical error, "…oh shit," he thought to himself.
"IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK! THAT ONLY WOMEN CAN TAKE CARE OF BABIES!"
"I DIDN'T SAY THAT!" argued Victor.
"NO, BUT YOU WERE THINKING IT!" insisted Mystique, "I'LL BE SURE TO WARN STORM THAT SHE'S GOING TO BE DOING ALL THE WORK AFTER THE BABY'S BORN!"
"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" growled Victor, "I'LL HELP!"
"OH SURE!" Mystique rolled her eyes, "WHEN THE GAME GOES TO COMMERCIAL! BE HONEST, VICTOR! YOU DIDN'T HELP WITH GRAYDON AT ALL!"
"THAT WAS DIFFERENT!" argued Victor.
"HOW!" interrogated Mystique.
"WE NEVER PLANNED GRAYDON! YOU STARTED GETTIN' SICK ALL THE TIME AFTER WE CAME BACK FROM THAT JOB IN AUSTRIA!-I ACTUALLY WANT THIS KID!"
Yet another grave tactical error.
If there was ever anything Victor wished he could take back, it was that last sentence. As soon as he finished, he noticed Mystique's eye started twitching.
Another round of objects were smashed as the fight raged on.
---
At the other end of the manor, Moneda had finished with the master bedroom snd managed to coax Storm into Birdy's room.
"Try to get some rest." Moneda advised , "I'll bring up some lunch later."
"Wait," Storm called from the bed.
"Yes?" asked Moneda.
"How did you come to work for Victor?"
"A story for another day." said Moneda with a wave of her hand, "You're upset enough as it is."
Ororo didn't get a chance to respond to before the older woman smiled kindly and closed the door behind her.
As Moneda's footsteps receded down the hall, Storm sighed and got up from the bed. She was too frustrated to sleep. Maybe if looked at the pictures in the mirror frame again, she could see a different side of Victor. Although, mostly doubting this theory, Storm, Nevertheless, headed toward the bureau until…
CREAK
It was the same part of the floor that creaked before. Only this time, with bare feet, Storm felt the entire board dislodge. She carefully knelt down and peeled back the Oriental rug to find one of the floor boards had been poorly bifurcated on purpose.
Storm lifted the fragment of the board to reveal a secret compartment in the floor, containing only a small, leather bound journal. Reaching in, she removed the book and put both floor board and carpet back as they were.
Sitting down on the bed after she locked the door, Storm settled in for what she assumed would be an intriguing read-she had no idea just how intriguing.
The Weather Witch opened to the first page of the book, which opened with:
"Hi,
My name is Birdy Jay. If you're reading this, I'm probably dead…"