Brotherly Love and New Neighbors

A/N: Hey, thanks to all you people that reviewed and put me on their alert list! I know that reviews actually take time, so I appreciate that my story warranted one. Itouch asked about the pairing and I've decided that since this isn't an overly serious story I would do a love triangle with two OCs. Yes, I know that it is corny and overused, but I swear I will make it work. There are two different types of girls that I have seen paired with Victor and I wanted to explore what would happen when they were placed in the same story. There will also be some Wolverine/Rogue shipping, but as I said before romance will be slow. Desy this is set a few years after X3 and Logan is just starting to remember what happened, he remembers Stryker and the Island because they are the most described in the military documents. Here's hoping I haven't lost readers with that info.

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men. Anyone you don't recognize is probably mine.

Rating: M for gore and language.

Victor Creed didn't have to wait long before they let him inside. It seemed almost rushed, like they were afraid paparazzi might catch a glimpse of the wayward, murderous mutant putting a permanent, red smudge on their pristine little school yard. Ororo Munroe – also known as Storm – and James Logan flanked him and they reached a large and comfortable room clearly set up as a lounge area for students to congregate in during break hours. It had a large television with a gaming console and several large couches. It was lined with large windows and on the other side there were foosball tables and a billiards table. Hell, even Victor thought he wouldn't mind a few games of pool during the wee hours of the morning.

His view of the space quickly dropped down a few feet as he unexpectedly was forced to try out one of the comfortable couches. Jimmy had pushed him down and Creed snarled, but tried to look quickly to change his look to show indifference – the file had him as a guard, therefore he couldn't make a scene here. Maybe if he got the runt outside he would be able to get in a real fight. The familiar smell of anger and hatred with a hint of confusion swirled through the air and he knew exactly who it was emanating from.

"Miss me, little brother?" He asked with a toothy grin added for a touch more cruelty. It was a great feeling, watching the realization that they were truly related – that Logan was as much an animal as he – sink into the runt's mind. Apparently Magneto hadn't been lying; Logan was getting his memories back.

Another wave of hatred caused a small laugh to escape Creed who received a punch to the face for it.

Logan was angry, of course. His brother's taunting words resounded through his mind which was still trying to come to terms with his memories. They had just started returning, very slowly. Piece by heart rending piece – they started when he began to read the files about some of his military exploits. It killed him to know that Victor had one time been his protector and it had all twisted on itself. They shouldn't have been like this.

Still, Victor's words weren't the caring ones from childhood they were thrown in his face, "Look at what you made me." He couldn't take it anymore and had just let his emotions loose in that punch. It felt good.

Victor shouldn't have taken the bait considering he was supposed to protect the grounds; well, pretend to. But he was still alpha and no amount of money would get him to take this sitting down. Logan's punch sent him over the edge and soon the only thing he knew was that his claw were sinking into flesh that would give him a good fight back and he wanted to unleash everything he had on it.

He launched himself off the couch and threw Logan to the ground. His sharp claws had extended and he tore into Logan's shoulder causing the man to scream out in pain. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear the bitch yelling, but it didn't register until the two of them were knocked back by what was literally a hurricane force wind. He heard the distinct tinkling of shattering glass which had broken due to Storm's outburst.

"I will not have this happening in my school!" Ororo yelled, her white eyes flashing and a dark look carved onto her pretty features that had Logan cowering in his guilt. Creed watched his brother. Surprisingly, instead of tearing into Victor, she lowered herself to the ground and looked at Logan.

"We discussed this. Just because he is related to you it does not make you like him. Do not resort to this sort of behavior again," The Munroe bitch stated while Victor rolled his eyes and snorted.

He's more like me than you'll ever know, bitch. This ain't over; it's going to happen again and again. I'm going to tear his little world and sense of self to shreds. Creed threatened in his mind. He remained outwardly reticent and watched as Logan stood up from the debris that had just been a well decorated room.

"'m sorry, 'Ro," he said and boy did he look it, with his head hung low, a frown on his face and brows drawn – the picture of apology. The woman nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder offering a heart melting smile that put one on Logan's face too. He knew what he had done had been exactly what Victor had been aiming to prove. Just one word he didn't like and Logan lunged for the jugular. He felt like his humanity was already tearing under his brother's influence.

"We'll get help cleaning this up," she said looking around the ruined room solemnly.

Victor had a feeling that it was not the first time the room had to be redone due to a mutant fight – came with the territory of sticking angst ridden teens with superhuman capabilities in a high school together.

"Mr. Creed," the tone sounded like ice as the headmistress faced him. "There will be no more outbursts of that sort. If there are, I will request an immediate substitute. You and your brother have things to talk about, certainly. There are better places for it than my school," she ended in a clipped tone.

Creed was mildly surprised he had even gotten a second chance. No doubt if there was another slip up then he'd be pulled from the assignment, it'd look fishy if he weren't. The government couldn't afford to insist on his staying. They'd have to apologize and then let someone – a less skilled someone, who was not dead set on ruining a family member's life – do the job. Creed wouldn't have his pay pulled, so he wouldn't have cared about getting fired from the job, but he wanted to know what was going on. His mind was still working out what possibly could be connecting the government and Magneto. He thought about organized crime members, but dismissed it pretty quickly considering they didn't like dealing with the government much.

"Yeah," was all he said in reply to the order his shoulders slumped a little bit at the pain his brother had inflicted. He had opened up his back something awful and he felt the familiar ache that came with healing himself. It was lucky that they wounds weren't bad, but he knew that he would want a nap soon, healing himself took a lot of energy and that compounded with a long flight and the general chaos in his mind made him think that he damned well deserved a nap, thank you very much. It'd be a good one too, exhausted he'd fall asleep like a log and nothing could wake him no matter what nightmares decided to plague him or what memories decided to try and rouse his conscience.

"How about I see my room? I'm assuming you have a nice cozy one picked out right next to yours so that I can't cause any trouble," Victor said slyly, earning a piercing glare from Ororo and Logan. Logan was still seething, he could feel it, but Ororo managed to regain her calm.

"Yes, you will be staying in the teacher's wing across from Logan and me," she said with a smile that clearly said that she would be watching him.

"Wonderful," Creed voiced sarcastically before shouldering his bags over his ruined shirt.

He followed them through a maze of corridors and into an elevator. "Shit, y'all are walled off. What happens if the kiddies get into trouble?"

"The students stay in the dorms which has at least one member of the faculty there or one of the older students on each floor. But, we don't need our entire staff there. We take turns normally," Ororo explained carefully and the awkwardly cheerful sound of elevator music filled Victor's ears and he chuckled at the situation. Anyone would have laughed to see it, Victor didn't like being laughed at but he didn't have his head so far up his own ass that he couldn't laugh at himself from time to time.

They stepped out of the elevator and took a left into a hallway lined intermittently by doors. Some of them had white boards on the outside and all of them had little mail slots with brass names above them– he assumed the whiteboards were younger teachers, fresh out of college who might leave notes to each other, the older staff members probably thought it cute. The mailboxes were obviously for the sorting of the mail received at the front, maybe assigned to students to sort through for detention. Victor sneered; it was all far too civilized and quaint.

Creed's room didn't have a white board or a cutesy name plate he was settled at the very end of the wood floored hallway and as he looked across the hall where sure enough there was a little mailbox with "Logan" and the one next to it said "Ororo Munroe." Some of the doors had nicknames on the outside too in letters made from colored paper. From the sticky tack still stuck to Jimmy's he assumed that someone had tried to decorate his and had their work torn down – it'd be too cutesy for the manly Wolverine. Ororo's did have "Storm" in yellow letters and a large raincloud next to it garnishing her door.

What surprised Creed most was that he had a next door neighbor; he figured that Logan would have insisted on a buffer room; that no one should be directly next to him. Apparently he had lost that argument as the mailbox read "Alex Deggins."

Can't wait to meet the sorry sap; I'm going to scare the fuck out him, Creed thought darkly. Surely his neighbor would request a room movement by the end of the week.

"Here are the keys," Ororo stated (Logan couldn't trust himself to talk so he stood, looking menacing) holding out a small keychain with the X-Men symbol that held two silver keys while the other was a brassy color. "The gold one is for the front door. The other two are for your room and the mailbox. Laundry room is down the hall. We have group dinners at seven if you want; most of the teachers are here considering school is right around the corner, it'd be a chance to meet everyone. If not, your fridge has a few basic items that should hold you off until you can run to the store." Storm said casually, she was forcing herself not to project an air that might start a fight or make Creed feel powerful. It was talking to an employee – she was on autopilot and was doing a fabulous job keeping him thrown off. He had expected a 'here's the room,' with a curt farewell, but not an actual briefing plus a dinner invite.

"Why down the hall?" Was the only thing he could actually think of to say, he had been thrown off, but he was going to have the last word.

"Trying to reduce the carbon footprint; sharing the laundry cuts down on electricity use…and the bill," she added with a chuckle.

"Figures," Creed sneered and fitted the lock with the given key. Ororo turned to leave and gestured for Logan to follow. He was about to enter when he felt a bone crushing grip on his shoulder stopped his entrance.

"I'm watching you, bub," Logan ground out forcibly keeping his emotions in check. "One slip up and I swear that you will pay."

That was the weakest threat I've ever heard. Did he steal it from a western film? Creed scoffed mentally.

"Lookin forward to it, Jimmy," he crooned tauntingly from behind a self assured smile. Logan released him and followed quickly after Ororo who was going downstairs already on her phone discussing with a decorator who was a master at getting things done fast – he was a mutant and had worked with them before.

Creed looked around his room approvingly. If he hadn't been stuck in a building that was about to be filled with a bunch of stupid kids then he would have been pleased. It was well decorated with comforting colors and the same types of dark woods that Magneto had in his study. It reminded him of the hotels that people rented when they were moving or a one room apartment.

There was a small kitchenette with a full sized fridge, stove and even a small pantry. The kitchen connected to small living area with a couch and television the bedroom and bathroom were to the right.

He entered the room and tossed his bags to the floor. The bed was large enough, even for him – he suspected that they were all larger because there were quite a few mutants with larger frames due to their mutation. It would make them feel more at home buying larger beds for everyone and save the embarrassment of having to buy a new one if the smaller one didn't fit. The bathroom wasn't little either and his closet definitely fit all of his clothes – the rooms were clearly made for teachers that planned on living here the entire year.

Creed kicked off his boots and crashed onto the bed letting himself drift into a deep sleep. There'd be no way he would join the X-Men for dinner that night.

It was around eight in the evening when Alexandra Deggins arrived at the mansion that doubled as the school for mutants and headquarters for the X-Men.

Her driving had not improved since the first time she skidded to a halt in front of the big oak doors – she barreled down the entrance path, confident that nothing was going to get in her way. Her black wrangler had the top down, but the doors were still on so her things didn't fall out. Her dark hair flew around her face and she belted out as loudly as she could the song that played on her iPod through her speakers – her own personal anthem, well, one of them; she had one for every occasion (like everyone else).

To most of the mutants at the manor it would be a strange sight. Alex was never the sort of person to let loose and go crazy – it tended only to happen with her sister or when she was alone, but something about a pretty summer day on the way to a place where people she loved were staying and her favorite beat pounding in her veins made her want to sing- so she did.

That crushing, crashing, atom smashing, white hot thing it's…invincible! She yelled and slammed her breaks til she skidded to a stop.

After she stopped she put her dark hair into a bun and rolled up the Jeep's top and stepped out of the car. She began to unload the important things like her laptop and favorite box of clothes, but the rest of the stuff could wait and there was no danger of getting robbed here. She wore a sweatshirt despite the warm weather and a pair of jeans with flip flops. Her eyes were keen and so dark that there was no distinction between the pupil and colored iris. She wasn't very tall maybe 5'3" at the most. What you could see of her skin was a bronzed color that came from working out of doors a lot. She hefted the heavy cardboard box and adjusted the computer bag strap and then waddled over to the main door and fumbled with the keys until she finally got the door open.

"God it's quiet," she said out loud when she entered the foyer, which turned into the recreation room. The room that previously been nothing but glass and shredded couches had been picked up for the most part except the windows were covered with plastic instead of glass – Hector did good work thanks to his ability to fix almost anything just with a touch, the glass had unfortunately been far too gone for even him . That piqued her interest as well as stirred up some concern. She didn't see any blood or forced entry marks, but she still needed to make sure everyone was okay. She attempted to hurry to the dining hall – completely forgetting she could drop her things, her mind was so muddled – in hopes of catching someone before they all finished eating. She didn't reach it in the amount of time she hoped, but Logan, Hank and Ororo were still there.

"Hello," she huffed and Hank– being the well bred gentleman he was – took her box which she relinquished gratefully to the blue furred man. Her hands went to her knees and she let herself take a few breaths.

"Thanks, Hank," she said with a nod.

"You are quite welcome," the man said with a chuckle at the girl's riled state. He set the box on one of the chairs at the table.

"What'd yah do, run?" Logan snarked.

"Alex, good to have you back," Ororo greeted warmly and Alex smiled at her in return.

"Yes," she said matter of factly looking up at Logan and adjusted her position to a comfortable lean on the table with her face in her hands.

"Why?"

"Windows are missing? What happened you get robbed?" She asked, concern edging into her voice which had remained at a relatively flat tone until then.

"Nah…"Logan shook his head when he realized the girl might have begun to worry for her friend's safety. "Fight."

"Who? I didn't think the kids who went home for the summer got back for two weeks."

"It wasn't the children, Alex," Ororo stepped in smoothly and smiled at Logan who quickly relinquished the explanation. The woman fought to find words and finally just spit it out; "Logan's brother is staying here. They had an argument."

Alex, pushed herself from her bent position and stood straight, disbelief painted on her features. She had heard about Victor Creed – the Sabertooth – and nothing commended him to her. Hell, she had been lucky that when mutant kids started going missing that her parents had the foresight to hide her and hide her well – not that she used her powers much anyway, so it wasn't well known she was a mutant, but they hadn't taken any chances. The next time she'd heard his name was when the school had been attacked – she had been a senior then, in charge of watching over some of the little kids – she didn't know for sure if he had been there, she hadn't see him. But that had only been four years ago, Victor Creed would not have turned a new leaf that quickly; she was positive.

"Why?" Ice would have been warmer than her tone.

"Government assigned him to us as a guard. Anti-mutant riots are getting bad, they don't want the school in danger or it will stir up some major bad press," Logan had finally trusted himself to talk without growling.

Alex snorted. "We can take care of ourselves," she stated and Logan shrugged.

"Government don't know that part, though. Figured Creed would be a good deterrent."

"For people not to send their kids here!" She retorted, petulantly.

"That's what I said, but we can't fight government protection. They'd get suspicious," Logan paused and then added quickly as if it would make it better, "He's your neighbor, by the way."

"What? Why?"

"Well, we don't have enough room to put you somewhere else, and with your ability you could hold him off well enough if it came to it," He said with more confidence in her powers than she ever felt. But Logan was right, Alex's abilities were great for defense – regenerative abilities, and increased speed, agility combined with the force fields she could create gave her a better chance of surviving Creed's bloodlust if he should go off the handle.

"Touché," the girl said and raised two fingers flicking her wrist inward in order to emphasize that the man had a point – it was an odd habit that had started out as a friend's movement which she copied to tease him, then it became her own habit like a lot of inside jokes do.

Logan grinned and ruffled her hair which she attempted to straighten. With a sigh she decided she might as well go face her doom. She glared at where the box should be but found that Hank had already put it on a cart for easy transport.

"You're a saint," she said with a pleased smile and Hank nodded.

"Well, it was more for the sake of my back," he teased even though he could have carried it quite easily. "I have to go to a meeting with child services. They have a case with an abused mutant child and are looking to place him at the school."

"Right. Ororo is going too?" It wasn't really a question. As the new headmistress Ororo did have to go and discuss these things while measuring how the boy would fit in.

"Yes, we'll catch up later and you can tell me how school went this semester!" The woman said fondly. Alex had just finished her undergraduate work and although her family was not poor they were not rich enough to pay for law school so she had decided to take on the offered job as an assistant with the younger children at the school – not that she was particularly fond of kids, normally they annoyed or scared her a little bit, but she needed the money and she loved the school. Not to mention, she was offered a team spot which she had wanted since she nine. She just couldn't say no; couldn't really let go of the school.

Her mind started to drift off as she thought about her future. Maybe she'd be able to teach a beginner's law class for the high school kids and run her own practice or, better yet, she could just do a lot of the cases that they worked with anyway. Fingers snapped in front of her face dragging her out of big dreams.

"Did yah hear me, darlin?" Logan asked and she noticed that both Storm and Beast disappeared.

"Sorry, I wasn't listening" she said truthfully, her voice level. In anyone else it'd been a rude comment, but Alex, Logan knew lived her life in her own head and that she was an equal opportunity ignorer – it didn't matter who you were, if something else caught her fancy or she thought the topic stupid she'd just tune it out. It was a great defense against getting into drama.

It was also one of the most annoying things in the world for the feral who, although he didn't like to admit it, was a rather emotional person and let himself go every now and again. Sure he could smell what she wanted to feel a lot of times, but then it would go to shit once her mind had picked it to shreds and he couldn't guess what she was telling herself so that he could help her feel better. The woman thought everything through to the point of being insensitive sometimes. She was far too logical at times, and she knew she was logical so it often ended with her dealing with difficult problems by herself and she didn't often let herself feel what she wanted to.

"Thought not, you got that look on your face." Logan chuckled.

"So?" She prompted.

"Right, I'm going to go to the training room. You should be fine, Lexy" he used his special pet name for her just to butter her up, "all the panic buttons still work." Panic buttons were something installed in every room – like fire alarms almost, they allowed people to call for help in case of emergency. But, Alex couldn't ignore the fact that Logan was basically telling her that she was facing the Sabertooth alone. She knew why he wasn't going up; the training room was always used to blow off steam if it wasn't used for practice.

She had a feeling that whatever happened in the recreation room would happen again if Logan didn't stay away from his estranged brother. Alex hoped that the man had locked himself in his room and wouldn't come out except for at night. It was high hopes she reasoned as she remembered that, from what she heard, Sabertooth loved to feel like he had power over others through intimidation. It wasn't unlikely that he would move around just to watch people squirm.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," she cursed – which showed how annoyed she was, cursing was not something she did often (she prided herself on a vocabulary that allowed her to express frustration without crass language) – when Wolverine was out of earshot. She strode to the cart and pushed it and quickly found herself at her old door complete with white board and several multi-colored markers for maximum note writing fun.

She was at the right place in a few minutes, the wheels of the cart squeaking as she rolled it down the hall. Her black gaze looked at the door just a few feet away from her where Victor Creed – the Sabertooth – was snoozing right now. Almost instinctively a small form fitting barrier, that shimmered blue at her movement, formed around her body, not because she thought he was going to attack her, but so he wouldn't smell her it worked with Logan, but then she realized that all the things she was bringing in smelled like her; the barrier was dropped and she turned red even though no one was around to see her screw up, she pulled up her sweat shirt hood in an attempt to hide the blush.

After she was sure no one witnessed her debacle. Alex went to pick her keys out of the open box and was silently glad that she had downsized her usual Mary Poppins-esqe bag for a small Coach wallet that attached to her keys. She didn't have to dig and make a lot of noise, which meant that the man in the next room wouldn't hear her if her were asleep. The first box wasn't easy as it was definitely the heaviest, laden with everything that was her favorite from books to clothes and knick knacks that reminded her of home.

Once the cart was unloaded she meandered downstairs for the rest of her things which she stacked up far too high, she was sure, but she didn't want another trip so she dealt with it. Unfortunately, her stacking abilities were not up to her expectations and a few of the boxes fell to the floor – to Alex it seemed to happen in slow motion, like one of the corny movie scenes where something important fell to the floor and shattered into a million pieces – with a very audible clatter that resounded about the floor and would have woken the dead.

"Shit, crap, damn, mother fucker," she cursed successively for the second time that day – not counting the interstate – she noted with a curl of her lip.

The beast in the next room rolled over when he heard a crash outside of his door followed by a succession of muffled curses.

"Looks like the neighbor knows how much trouble he's about to be in," Creed said with a dark chuckle, standing with every intent to barrel outside his room and commence scaring the poor fuck out of his mind. His steps brought him to his door and he stopped as a better idea came along as he peered through the peep hole at the baggy sweatshirt and jeans the covered the tiny man, hell he even had his hood up. He must already be scared shitless, trying to hide from the big bad wolf under a sweatshirt hood after waking his very deadly neighbor.

Creed waited and sure enough the man's form began to be less rigid. He had to go back and forth between the cart and the room because it was too big, probably to prevent a student from using it for too long. Creed opened his door slowly and stepped out fluidly into the hall. His steps were remarkably quiet and he waited for the man to go back inside before he picked up a box which smelled surprisingly flowery – bet it's a bunch of his girlfriend's shit, creepy fuck probably brought souvenirs. The box was large enough to hide his face and he called out into the apartment as he stepped in.

"I got a box," he said in his best impersonation of his brother – which was pretty damned good if he said so, himself.

"Thanks Logan," came a voice from the open bedroom that surprised him. It was distinctly female, it wasn't light and airy or remarkably high, but it was not male. Victor had been wrong in his initial assumptions and that knocked him on his ass. He didn't even think about the name on the door being a nickname. The figure out in the hall didn't really look female, all straight lines, but the jeans were baggy and so was the sweatshirt.

Her smell hit him in full after he got over the shock of being wrong. She smelled like lavender and the ocean, he decided – it was pleasant, but not dizzying. From the lack of footsteps he guessed his neighbor figured out that he wasn't Jimmy. He set the box down on the bar that partially separated the kitchen and living area and schooled his face into a smug and – what he knew to be terrifying – smirk that revealed his canines. The girl didn't flinch, but he smelled fear beginning to creep into her scent.

Whatever he had been expecting – maybe some fierce looking thing with a snarl and someone that exuded authority – not this. This little thing with her shape hidden by a sweatshirt even in the summer with her hand on her hip looking as confused as he felt, she didn't seem like she could do much of anything. The X-Men, he decided later, had a class tailored to throwing him off his game. Maybe it was because they dealt with lots of mutants with a huge amount of bravado all the time that made them so good at it.

Alex was almost never stunned into silence, but Victor Creed's sudden appearance in her apartment certainly did it. They had a small standoff where Alex had a chance to admire how terrifying the man in front of her really was, he was taller than Logan by a head and her by a foot at least. He had claws that were made to tear into her flesh and teeth to match them. He kept his hair shaved short in an army fashion and mutton chops that somehow enhanced his already animalistic features. However, she didn't expect Victor Creed to be a man to walk around in his socks – she decided not to point out that he had forgotten his footwear for fear of her life.

She had faced several mutants with just as much of a record and she herself was known for acerbic wit, and yet the best she could come up with was as strangled question that was half made to break the tension and half to show that she wasn't scared – which was useless considering he could smell it leaking out of her pores.

"If you put that in my bedroom you'd be my favorite person in the world?" Alex said uncertainly gesturing at the box he had just set down. Creed noted that her voice cracked, but even the attempt at humor and bravado was doing little to calm her. He chuckled and stepped forward; the girl didn't move back but seemed to take on a strange gaze that suggested she may not even be paying attention to him – he began to smell the lavender and ocean again. He grinned, that was dangerous trick and he stepped closer.

Alex began to start through her logic process to calm herself – Creed was assigned to protect them, he'd had a fight and he couldn't let it happen again, he was doing this just to be a dick and scare her. She wouldn't let it work, she promised herself tensely and it did little to calm her. Alex knew that she was letting him win and if she was anything she was stubborn. Your fear is irrational. Control it. Her conscience was tougher than any teacher and she forced herself to listen because – as all humans know – self disappointment was worse than anything. Creed brought her out of it.

"Do you know who the fuck I am?" He cut in through her thoughts like his canines did flesh.

"I had an idea," she responded flippantly, but she didn't dare turn around to go back to the room. He's too close, she thought – Alex was never a fan of being touched or having her personal space invaded, so this was beginning to become a living nightmare.

"Really? Cause it seems like you have a death wish." He was looming over her and she was looking for a way to the door without having to touch or get too close, but he was right in the small opening between the bar and the living room.

Thanks for the toy, Jimmy. She's a blast.

"Logan's brother, right?" Her voice grew higher and she knew he noticed just by that shit eating grin that remained plastered on his face.

"Yeah."

"I'm Alexandra Deggins – Alex is what everyone calls me."

"I guessed. Thought you were a guy." He said with a chuckled and she looked mildly insulted.

"Right, I thought you would be taller."

"That was cliché," he noted dryly and she winced.

"It was not my best, I give you that."

"It was shit."

"Thanks, like I want an editorial on my banter." He was vaguely reminded of Wade Wilson. It made him want to hit her, but the urge was thrown off when she carefully maneuvered between him and the wall to the rest of her boxes.

"Listen," she said with an air of a long suffering martyr addressing a young man – it almost made him feel insignificant. "If you want to stay and loom about, I can't stop you. We both know that, but could you do it in a more convenient spot?"

Creed couldn't tell if she was appealing to his ego, she definitely admitted she wasn't strong enough to take him, or manipulate him. He decided that doorway to her room was better to lean on anyway, and it was almost as inconvenient as before.

"Perfect," the girl muttered and struggled with another box which was heavier and more off balance than she expected.

"Must be fucking hot under that," Creed noted with a flick at her sweatshirt, a claw catching the fabric and he saw her snarl. Someone's a bit nasty, he noted gleefully in his mind.

"Yeah, my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard," she ground out. "If I don't keep it under the wraps of formless baggy, move in clothing they try and tear me up."

Creed couldn't help but laugh at the girl's quick remark and he felt it made up for the lame ass comment from before. "'s not what I meant."

"Yeah, I know. I'm from Louisiana anything under 85 is freezing for me. It's 78 out there. I'm dying from hypothermia." Alex found it easier than expected to fall into the familiar cadence of a war of wards. That and she could easily pretend that it was Logan she was talking to when she didn't turn around and see the impressive and oppressive entity that made up Victor Creed.

"Dramatic bitch, aren't you?" Creed growled, becoming increasingly annoyed with her lack of respect for his alpha status. He slipped from the doorway and was behind her, but she didn't notice

"Less so than most. You'll become acquainted with that as you relearn the lovely inner workings of teenage society," she shot back as she worried over a box trying to figure out what she wanted to set out first. She turned around and decided she figure it out after she returned the cart to downstairs – she hoped Creed would leave then. Her nose literally ran straight into his chest and she felt the blood drain from her face.

"Back up," she ordered nervously, she didn't want to start a fight, but she would if she had too.

"Nah," Victor said leaning closer when he smelled fear beginning to curl around her again. He was in charge and she knew it. His hand crept up to rest on her neck which he was sure he could snap in two. He saw the blood beating faster as her carotid pumped and became noticeable on her neck, another fang revealing grin. The man could tell she was fighting the urge to hit him.

"Move back," Alex said, her voice taking on a surprising edge she could feel round balls of energy forming around her fisted hands, after lots (years) of practice she had become skilled at using her force fields to protect more than just her body. She learned how to use them to enhance punches and use as projectiles. There was still no way that Victor wouldn't win a fight between them, especially in close quarters where he had the drop on her.

She remembered how she had been so proud her junior year of high school when she finally learned to throw them, the key was maintaining focus on two things – she simply used the trick she did when ignoring people, it helped widen her mind and consequently her powers.

As she was considering how embarrassing it was that she was this scared – but she was literally facing the bogey man of many of her nightmares - she heard a familiar stomp in the corridor. When she saw the form in the door – compact, stern and armed with sharp metal – she literally thanked god out loud for his appearance.

"Creed, step away from her," Logan warned, his voice was little more than a growl. He wanted to shred the man but was afraid of Alex getting caught in between. Her healing factor was strong, but still not quite on par with him and Victor's. If something important like her throat got slit in the melee she wouldn't die, but it would take a damn long time for her to fix herself.

Creed heard Logan's voice slash through the tense silence and he stepped away with his hands held up in an innocent fashion.

"I didn't hurt the broad, Jimmy. We were just talking and well…things took a turn and that bed was looking mighty nice," he sneered suggestively – he didn't get too in depth as he wasn't trying to lose his job, but Logan knew better than to believe him, especially since the normally implacable Alex was shaking in her boots.

Creed sulked off and back into his room, but not before a parting shot. "See yah neighbor."

He could already hear Jimmy talking to the girl and he lingered at his door to listen a little.

"Shit, I'm sorry Lexy. I shouldn't have left you with that monster, I don't know what I was thinking," he apologized and Creed pictured him running a shaking hand through his hair looking down. "We can have you switch rooms with someone tomorrow or today when Storm gets back." He said anxiously.

Alex knew exactly what Logan had been thinking and she knew, just as well as he that she wasn't moving. Not after that. She couldn't let anyone else in that corridor to take her place in the line of fire. Creed twisted the knob of his door feeling that he knew the girl's answer.

"No," he heard before his door shut. It was said forcefully, as if the girl knew he was still outside listening. It was a challenge. He laughed and walked into his room dropping into the couch and as he turned on the television he taunted the small woman in his mind.

Game's on Lexy. He found the pet name fun for him. It'd be a blow to James when he heard him use it and sully his pretty nick name for the girl. "Thanks again for the toy, Jimmy." The television channels flickered as he pressed the change button quickly and it illuminated the forbidding grin on his face.

A/N: Okay, so this chapter is a lot longer than I planned, but I hope it is relatively fun to read because I had a lot of fun writing it. Alex is the first OC that will get a good fleshing out in this story, so I hope you find her believable and enjoy her as much as I do. Victor feels a little OOC in this chapter, but I feel it is because he's being forced to control himself. It also felt a little choppy, so I may change it later but I find that I'm pretty pleased overall. Review because I eat them like candy and they make me write faster!