Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except Naomi, Irbis and several innocent short-lived bystanders; everything else is Marvel's only.

Chapter 2

Naomi Pearson

Sabretooth's priority was finding the Naomi girl. He slowly made his way through the air vents. Every now and then he would stop and listen to the men moving about in the corridors, chatting over everyday matters. Sometimes though, they'd drop some valuable information. And as he criss-crossed the compound, he marked some key spots with a powerful explosive material.

The whole process was terribly slow, though, and he was only too happy when he finally reached the last floor of the underground building. By now he had picked up two important details that the blueprints hadn't given him. First, his target was in a high security chamber and pinned on this dimension by a restraining collar that stopped her from using her powers. These were good news. Secondly, the human-lab-rats were divided in groups at the other end of the facility. These were annoying news. He had hoped to kill everyone in one sweep, leaving the guards and big shots for last. Oh, well; it could be worse. He'd just leave the low-genes for last.

Screwing up some more patience, Sabretooth got comfortable to wait for the night. Spending half a night and a whole day cooped up in such a small place while being as quiet as possible was making him itch to burst out and put an end to those geeks. But he waited. He smiled to himself while imagining the mayhem that was soon to break loose… And he waited.

It took a few more hours, but the whole place eventually became still. The last level had its own vigilance room and Sabretooth located an air vent grid that led to it. He used his adamantium claws to cut a hole into the corridor, right next to the door of the security room, which didn't have a camera. After all, why did a security room need a camera guarding its door, right? He slid down and stretched his poor sore limbs before putting an ear to the door. Complete silence came from within. Well, it wasn't really complete silence: Sabretooth could hear the guard's breathing. It was the even, relaxed breathing of a sleeping man; accompanied by a few slight snores every now and then. Boy, was this going to be easy!

The door opened slowly, giving him time to take in everything that was inside the room. There weren't any cameras inside. Sabretooth hesitated. This wasn't easy; this was a complete rip off! Were these guys amateurs or what? Oh, well, so much the better for him. He glanced about once more, trying to check for any hidden cameras. But no, the whole place was clean. And the security was still enjoying his quiet slumber. Sabretooth got himself behind the man and slit his throat with a quick movement, making the body roll to the side, where it would remain hidden from the prying eyes of anyone that peeked from the door. Then he paid attention to the security camera's images.

The Naomi girl was at the end of the North wing… which happened to be just down the corridor. The lab-rats were at the end of the South wing, which was further away, past the several labs. They were separated into four rooms. Sabretooth counted 14 guys stuffed in a room; 6 women in a very large, comfortable room which included 7 small beds for children; 4 women in a smaller but equally comfortable room; and 6 more women in a last not so comfortable room. Sabretooth looked at those three rooms more carefully, wondering what was up with the little queens. They were all comfortably asleep, or so it seemed, each in her own bed, while the guys were stuck with mattresses scattered all over the floor. Weird. Definitely weird. But not important.

Sabretooth ran the few meters that separated the security room from the mutant's chamber. Once there, he quickly punched in the code to open the cell door. The young woman was asleep, wrapped in a blanket; but the whisper of the sliding door was enough to awake her. She turned around and her eyes went wide in shock.

"What… Who... Are you… Are you here to rescue me?"

Sabretooth grinned as he entered the room.

"Fer someone who spent I don' know how many years on the street, kid, ya sure are naïve!" The girl went pale and froze. "Le' me guess: ya still believe in the Easter Bunny, right?"

She was shivering, her fear surrounding her like a pleasant perfume, when he ripped her throat. She let out a terrified whizzing sound as she tried to get some air into her lungs; but his claws found their way into her entrails and the pain turned off whatever life she still had.

Having aced their door-into-the-low-gene-world, Sabretooth went back to the corridor and found the elevator, which was the only contact point between the lower level and the upper levels. He hit the button to call the elevator and waited, chuckling to himself at how easy this all was. Probably, the guards upstairs were as much asleep as the one in the security room had been… and they'd soon be as dead, too! He was calmly leaning on the wall when the elevator beeped, signalling its arrival, and opened the door. The scent of armed men assaulted him the moment the doors start sliding apart and he didn't have time for anything but leaping at them, being shot only half a dozen times before landing amidst them, slashing away. They were all down and bleeding, a few torn limbs here and there, in a heartbeat. Well, so much for the surprise element! But anyway, a good fight was always more invigorating… Sabretooth quickly pushed the men out of the elevator and hit the button for the first floor. Oh yeah, this made for a much more interesting night, alright!

He plunged into the mass of soldiers awaiting him, ripping, thrashing, slicing and slashing. He didn't bother to kill them all, as his aim was simply to render them harmless as fast as possible. And they'd soon be dieing from the injuries, anyway.

He made his way to the head-office, where all the big shots should probably be hiding and calling for backups. As he had turned the first three corners, Sabretooth had met with more men in uniform, but when he got to the large double door of the main room in the facility, there wasn't anyone else in sight. His nose, though, warned him that there were plenty of people inside. He looked up at the security camera and grinned.

"Ya can lock all the doors, lil' boys, but I'm gonna get ya anyways!"

He quietly walked away. He kept an open eye for the cameras and tried to guess some dead angles. When he found one, more or less between two of the cameras, he leaped up to the ceiling and used his adamantium claws to rip an entrance into an air vent. Then he crawled the short distance that separated him from his targets. He glanced inside. The scientists were going about nervously, contacting with the outside and begging for expedient backups. About twenty soldiers had their arms aimed at the door. A few others, probably their superiors, were arguing near the security monitors over Sabretooth's whereabouts. He extended a claw and cautiously weakened the screws that kept the air vent grid in its place.

With a powerful push, the grid came crashing down and Sabretooth followed it. It took only four seconds to take out the soldiers. Then he rushed for their superiors, who were shooting him with pistols. They didn't take much longer. The scientists and their assistants, still wearing their pyjamas and night gowns, were crying and praying, only a few managing to stay cool. He came closer and sat himself on a chair close to the communication's centre.

"Now, let's have us a nice, little pow-wow, shall we?" And he grinned maliciously. "You there, baldy; who d'ya call and when d'ya expect 'em ta get here?"

The man faced him, eye-to-eye, and said nothing. A couple of women behind him started whimpering louder.

"Is there anyone here who's willin' ta talk?"

He growled when no one said anything. He got up and caught the bald man by the neck.

"Ya gonna start tellin' me what I wanna know?"

The man spit on Sabretooth's face and immediately he's own face disappeared, leaving only a scratched mass of flesh with long white streaks of bone under it. The yelling broke out in a shrill tone that made Sabretooth's teeth cringe. Growling, he grabbed the guy closest to him by the collar; but even before he had had time to say or do anything else, the young man was already begging to reveal everything, anything… Sabretooth looked at him in disgust as he smelled his victim peeing himself.

"Start talkin'."