6 years later

I was waiting outside my wood cabin on the Canadian/Maine border that Logan and some of his fellow lumberjacks had helped me build. It was about 7 in the morning. Logan was late again. He always came and picked me up and dropped me off in town on his way to work. I always rode in the bed of the truck however because his girlfriend, Kayla Silverfox, was in the passenger seat. I owned a little store in the town called Rudy's. It was just a small thrift store, but I has happy. Well, mostly happy. There was still a large hole in my heart where Victor had been. No one else could replace him or ever would replace him.

Finally, Logan's truck came flying up my driveway. I jumped into the back and called in, "About time!"

"Yeah, shut up," Logan said. I laughed as he hit the gas pedal overly hard. All the way to town, I just listened to the two of them talk. They were so great for each other.

We pulled into the parking lot of my store, and I jumped out and waved, calling "Thanks!" They waved and took off again. I went into the store and put the sign to open and started getting ready for the usual customers.

It was about noon when someone walked in and my nose flared in a familiar smell I hadn't smelled in years. I looked at the newcomer and my eyes got wide. "Bradley?!"

He looked over. "Oh my god, Elena!"

I ran out from behind the counter and hugged him. "What are you doing here?" I inquired.

"I travel with a carnival. It's in Maine. I just want to come up here and see the sights of Canada before we left. I can't believe I ran into you!"

"Really! This is amazing! So how are you?"

"I'm getting by. Surviving."

"I suppose that's better than a lot of things."

"Yeah, it is. It is. You?"

"About the same. I own this little place. Have a beautiful cabin that Logan helped me build…"

"Logan's up here?"

"Yeah! We came up here together after, um, Africa."

He nodded. "I really hate to have to say this, but I really can't stay. I have to be back before tonight."

"Can I come with you? Just hang out?"

"Sure! If you want to."

"Give me a second." I closed up the shop and called Kayla at the school to tell her that I wouldn't need a ride home and to tell Logan that I would be home in a few days. Then, I jumped in Bradley's car, and we drove to his carnival. We exchanged all our stories of what we did after we had last seen each other and stuff on the way there. We got there just in time for him to set up his booth. "So, what's your game?" I asked.

He said, "If you turn the light bulb off you get a prize. 3 tries for a buck."

"You little snipe!" I laughed. He just smiled.

"You know how it is."

Later, after next to no customers I asked, "Hey, are you hungry?"

"Yeah, actually. I kinda am."

"You want a burger? I'm gonna go get one."

"Yeah. That sounds good."

"Okay." I jumped up and went and got our food. When I came back, a girl and her boyfriend were trying to beat Bradley's game. The girl turned the switch and pulled out the cord. No luck. The boy unscrewed the light bulb. It only got brighter. He dropped it and it shattered.

"Well, that's a stupid trick," the guy said.

"It's not a trick, man," Bradley answered. The couple retreated.

I came up and handed him his burger. "They always fear us, Bradley. Why do they fear us?"

He sighed, "Oh, because they don't understand us."

Later, after the carnival had closed for the night, we went into Bradley's little trailer. Lights hung from every part of his ceiling and he had all kinds of electric toys running about. "Whoa! Nice collection!"

He pushed some out of a chair so I could sit down. "Thanks. I've collected them over the years. You want a drink?" He was pouring himself some whiskey. I shook my head. Alcohol and my feral nature didn't mix very well. He sat down and started turning a few lights and some of the toys on. I marveled at his skill until someone banged on the door. "Show's over!" he called. They banged again. He about said something, but I held up a hand.

"I'll deal with this." I got up and shoved the door open growling, "He said, show's over." I nearly fell right on my ass when I found Victor standing outside the door.

He cocked his head and said, "The show is never over for us, Elena." My heart fluttered when he said my name…but I couldn't get his out.

Bradley, shaken, said, "Victor."

Victor glanced at him, and then back at me. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

I pointed at Bradley. "It's his house."

Bradley said, "Uh, sure! Come on in." I backed out of the way and ushered him in. I shut the door behind him and then went around him to get between him and Bradley. Bradley had always been intimidated by Victor. Bradley stuttered, "I…I've never said anything, to anyone about…about what happened."

I shook my head and held up a hand. He fell silent. I said, "We're living totally different lives now, Victor. No need to bring up the past." Then I breathed, "Unless it's our past." I knew he heard me, but he didn't react. And that pissed me off. He reached up and unscrewed one of the light bulbs that Bradley had lit up. He lowered it eye level and extended his nails. I thought, concentrate Bradley. But the light flickered out. Victor softly, yet threateningly smiled at me. I was royally pissed by now, so insulting was the only way I could go. "You know," I said, venom in my voice, "I always thought it would be Wade who would come knocking at doors."

Victor raised and eyebrow and put the bulb down on a shelf. "Yeah, well…Wade's gone." He took slow, even steps towards me. I was in shock. If Wade was gone, where was Nesha? I hadn't noticed I was backing up until the backs of my knees hit a chair and I fell into it. Victor towered above me, staring down at me.

"I'm not afraid of you, Victor," I said coolly. His brows furrowed. "And I'm not afraid of dying."

"How would you know?" he asked smoothly. My head shot up to look at him. "You've never done it before." It was payback for my previous insult, and it worked. He lashed out with his claws. I ducked under them, and with a cry, I extended mine and rammed him into the wall, pinning him there. My whole body was shaking with rage and fear. I retracted my claws, but I kept my fists on his chest. I smelled the fresh blood that had been spilt.

"You…you killed Bradley," I said, barely audible. His slash had been intended for the both of us…but I had ducked. My fists slowly slipped from his chest and to my sides. I turned, not wanting to see. Bradley's body was limply draped over a table, and blood spatters were all over the wall. Tears welled up into and fell out of my eyes. I couldn't bring myself to fight when Victor came up behind me and grabbed my wrists to make sure my claws were pointed away from him. All I could do was think of how close his body was to mine…and how good that felt. He rested his chin on my shoulder and leaned his head into mine. As wrong as it was, I relished it.

He whispered in my ear, "I know where Jimmy is. He's next on the list."

"You can't hurt him, though," I said weakly.

"Can't I? There are more ways to hurt someone than physically," he snarled.

"Victor…"

"No. Not now. Let's see who can get there first, shall we?" He kissed my neck, allowing his teeth to graze me a little bit, and then he was gone. Gasping, I spun around. The door to the trailer was hanging open. The race had begun.

I leapt out the door and ran in a general northerly direction. I waited until I was in mostly uninhabited territory before bursting into my mutant speed. I followed the road that Bradley and I had taken so I wouldn't get lost. My senses weren't as useful when I was going this fast. It took me all of the rest of that night, the next day, and the night after to get close to home. When I knew I was a good 5 miles away from where Logan was working, I started yelling his name. I knew he could hear me, if only faintly. I stopped for half a minute to breathe, and caught Victor's scent. He had followed the road that was to my left. I ran and got on it, then dashed down the path until I came upon Logan's truck. He came running from the east and I from the south. We both came to the truck at the same time. I essentially collided with the hood of the truck and there found claw marks. I single sniff proved they were Victor's. We both caught the scent of Kayla and followed it. We stopped when we saw her jeans and boots sticking out from behind a log. Logan continued on, but I couldn't. I was too late. Kayla was dead, because of me.

Victor. Everything within me roared with rage. I turned and ran back the way I came. I found his trail and started to follow it. Finally, after darkness had fallen, I found him. I was about 50 yards away from a little bar in a small barn in the middle of nowhere when I heard his voice. The bartender said, "You're not from around here, are you?"

Victor snickered darkly and responded, "What gave me away?"

I yelled, "VICTOR!" and started towards the bar. I knew he heard me.

"Do you have insurance on this place," he asked the bartended quietly.

"Insurance? No."

"Too bad."

"VICTOR!" I was almost in the doors. When I reached them, I kicked them open. Everyone turned to stare at me…except Victor. Ever so slowly, he spun around on his stool.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in," he sneered.

The bartender nervously said, "Guys, whatever this is, take it outside."

I slowly let my claws come out. Everyone fled. Victor, thoroughly amused smiled at me. "Why?" I demanded.

"Why?" he said thoughtfully. Then he chuckled. He got up and started to walk towards me. "You don't call. You don't write. How else am I supposed to get your attention?" He stopped and extended his own claws.

The animalistic fury was back again. I felt it in me, I could smell it on him. There was some very unfinished business that was about to be taken care of. A growl built up deep in my throat and suddenly, with a roar, I was headed for him. He let out a cry of his own and started towards me. He leapt from the ground, and propelled himself from all fours. When we were close enough together, he pushed off and flew at me. I had no idea how to handle it. He crashed into my midsection and we flew through a wall to the outside. I landed hard on the ground and he on top of me. He dug his claws into my chest and threw me against a log pile. I flopped to the ground, but jumped back up. He spun around, his coat wildly flapping with him and he came at me again. After a whole bunch of stabs and cuts to my body, he threw me against a bulldozer and watched me crumple on the ground.

He paced in front of me saying, "I hate to say it, Elena, but frankly, I'm a little disappointed." I painfully started getting back up. "Stay down," he growled. There was an element of begging in his tone. I ignored him and got back up.

"Like hell," I answered. I rushed him and managed to embed the claws of my right hand into his right shoulder. He reached out with his right hand and did the same. At that point, it became a battle of wills. We were both in excruciating pain, we just had to see who would back down first. I grabbed a hold of his wrist with my left and again he copied my movements. He would push me backwards and I would return the favor. Then, I yanked my claws out and moved them to his stomach. This caught him off guard. I took advantage of that an slung him into the air. He landed on top of a pile of logs. I prepared to jump up there with him, but he kicked one of the supports holding the logs loose. "Shit," was the last thing I said before I was knock out.

I came too when I heard an excruciating cry that sounded like Logan. But I couldn't see anything. A damn log was still in my face. I groaned and tried to move it, but I was too sore to do much of anything. I heard sirens approaching. I groaned again when someone lifted the log off me. The scent of Victor overpowered my senses as he leaned down and gingerly picked me up. "Logan," I moaned.

"He'll be fine," Victor answered. He carried me into the woods a few miles, then he collapsed to his knees, shuddering.

I had regained some of my strength, so I slowly pushed myself to my knees in front of him. I wiped some dirt off his face and made him look at me. "Hey," I whispered. "Are you ok?"

He snorted. "Am I ok? I just crushed you under a bunch of logs! Are you ok?"

"You didn't crush me," I told him. "You just winded me a bit."

"Oh, I did? Hmm?" I nodded. "Well, we can't have that." He knocked me to the ground and climbed on top of me. The desire in both of us filled my nostrils. It was sweet and seductive. And I wanted more. I arched up and sunk my teeth into his neck. He shuddered and moaned. "I guess this is where we make up?" he gasped.

I removed my teeth from his neck and answered, "We can do that later." I pulled his lips to mine, and finally, for the first time in years, I felt complete. The hole was gone. He wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me back up to my knees. I attempted to run my fingers through his hair and ended up exasperatedly saying, "Damn it all. You're hair is too short."

He burst into laughter and kissed my nose, then said, "Well, if I could grow it out right here and now, I would, but since I can't, you'll just have to make do with what's there." I nodded and put a side of my face against his. His beard tickled, but it was a good tickle. His hands moved to my neck and he made me move my head so he could see my eyes. "You're coming with me, right?"

"Where else would I go?"

"Back to Jimmy. That's the smarter idea."

"Last I checked, I wasn't all that smart."

"Bull." He kissed my forehead. "We have your sister."

"Who's we?" I asked, suddenly urgent.

"Stryker and me. At the island."

"What's that? Stryker and you? Victor, what's going on?"

"I don't have a choice. He said he would give me adamantium if I did what he said. And if I didn't, he said he'd come after you."

"And you have a lasting bloodlust that this helps you fulfill," I added darkly. He didn't respond, because he knew it was true. "What have you done to my sister, Victor?"

"I haven't done anything," he said, temper rising. "After we took out Wade…"

"That's the other thing! Why are you going around killing everybody?"

"It's easier to show than to tell. Come with me."

"And become an assassin for Stryker? No. No way."

"Elena…please…" That was the only time I had ever heard him say please. "For your sister's sake. For your own. For mine."

"Damn it, Victor!" I hugged him, burying my face in his warm neck. I lightly brushed him with my lips and said, "Where you go, I go."

"Then on that note, we have to go. Come on." He pulled me up, took my hand and started off.

I hesitated. "What about Logan?"

"He'll find his own way."

"Well, I meant…"

"Not now, Elena. Come on!" He tugged harder on my hand. Reluctantly, I followed. Logan would just have to forgive me.