Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel characters... duh.

Interlude 2

Last Night…

At the Phoenix

The tall blonde man settled himself into a booth that was off to the side of the restaurant. He made sure he could see everyone for his viewing pleasure. The hostess was nice, his thoughts trailed back to her a few times. Not quite what he was looking for… too chipper, too sweet. No, he was looking for someone with… what's the word? Spunk? Whatever it was he would know her when he saw her.

This place was like a watering hole for beautiful women. He smiled slightly to himself, prideful for choosing such a good location. He looked down at his watch as the hostess walked by. When he looked up he saw a very beautiful woman. He felt an urge. He had to have her. He somehow got control; surprising himself. He had to have her, he would. Just not tonight.

She was seated at a table near his booth. He knew she wasn't the one but he kept his ears open to learn more about her. All he needed was a name. He glanced over to her once more, making note of how painfully pretty she was. She looked down at her watch. '7:30, babe.' he grinned to himself… He fiddled with napkin stuffed with silverware, glimpsing at her every few seconds, but never turning his head. He made sure she never noticed him.

It's been more than two weeks since he's had this much fun. The stalking process was almost as exciting as the killing. He felt so many urges he couldn't act on… it was almost like another sick pleasure of his. His heart was beating faster now. He knew it would just keep getting faster as the night progressed.

He felt silly drinking ice water out of a petite wine glass, so he ordered a drink from the waiter. After the young man walked away, he peeked back at the woman he felt so strongly for already. A second very beautiful woman was walking towards her. This place is a gold mine, and he smiled and shook his head slightly. He was in disbelief with how long he's gone without ever coming here. If he came here every time he was sure he would always leave happy.

Still no names… the dinner crowd made their conversation just a murmur. He heard few words, scattered here and there. Remy… a name… French. He scoffed at the name and wondered what it was that women saw in them. Another name… Scott. Hmm, they're having a girl talk about their men… great.

He glanced at his watch, not noticing the time, he was losing patients, but not interest. Just one name of their names, that's it. Then the restaurant seemed to drop all their conversations down to a whisper. He heard, as clear as a bell, "I'm worried about Ororo."

That name… he knew that name. He smirked, his interest was at it's peak once again. His hearing was strained and he even found himself closing his eyes to heighten this sense. It worked, he could hear their words as well as if he were sitting at the table with them. They went on talking and he hung on to every word, recording the dialogue in his head.

Remy is running the St. Croix case… he grinned thinking back on his last success. That's enough information for him to find out who these lovely ladies were. Still, he was intrigued by their conversing, and he continued his spying. He found it pleasing that they were in a way talking about him. Talking about his past doings.

A man's voice blurted in. That's Scott. Noted. The man hugged the red head, and the three chatted for a moment about that man Remy… Speak of the Devil. Here's Remy, the fiancé. Noted. Now the man, Remy, was taking hold of the beautiful woman's hand and made sure everyone saw her…

Hmph, he snorted… I bet he's insecure and wants everyone to know that woman who is so beautiful is his. Pathetic. Still, he listened. The name Sam Guthrie came up. He knew his name from the papers, and from the night he took the life of that young model. The night she was his, he had her. What a beauty… too beautiful.

He found himself losing interest in the couple's topics of conversation. After all, he had all he needed, and he had work to do. He ordered a second drink and something off the menu he couldn't even pronounce… the waiter highly recommended it. His eyes followed him as he walked away over to the bar to fetch his drink. He found her. Perfect. She had short blonde hair. Very pretty. And young. He forced himself to stay and eat so it wouldn't seem odd. His meal turned out to be pretty good even though it was a little fancy for his taste.

After his meal, and the bill was paid, he walked towards the door, saying good night to the hostess on his way. At the door he took one last glance at the two lovely ladies from earlier… they seemed happy. He didn't look back at the bartender. No, he will see her again… tonight. All he had to do was wait.

Sorry this took so long... had to wait until I was inspired... turns out it happens around 12:30 am on a Friday night! Now I know! Make sure you review! I really do like hearing your thoughts! Thanks for reading!