New Arrivals and Rivalries
A/N: Thanks again for the reviews everyone! I'd like to give a special shout out to Desy who has reviewed twice, which makes me squee because I know her work and love it. Keep them coming! They are definitely a great incentive to continue the story. This chapter introduces a few more OCs, has the return of Marie, Bobby and Kitty – Kurt will eventually be back, I swear. I have decided that they are going to have just graduated and have returned to help at the school. This is more a chapter made for introductions and small connections, nothing really plot moving – sorry. Yes, I realize there isn't a barn, but I decided to mess with cannon even more – if they have enough money for a plane then they have enough money for a barn. So there.
Edit: Apparently I was right and my memory served me well - there are stables at the school in the movie. Thanks to Jump the Gun for straightening that for me.
Rivals for everyone, though! Let the mayhem begin.
Rated: M for violence and language
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men I just play with them.
The summer was beginning to wind down, which meant that the school had begun to fill up. The last of the teachers were trickling in and everyone was getting ready for the students as well as the faculty's famed end of the summer party.
Bobby smiled at the girl with large black boots now resting on his lap with her back on the other side of the car – it had been Kitty's graduation present and they were breaking it in while going to the beach. Even while sleeping she was watching out to make sure she didn't actually touch him. His hands tensed on the leather under them as his mind thought of how her legs would feel on his skin…he had to stop those thoughts now so he tuned into Kitty's signing and bouncing about in the front seat, her clothing and bags piled high in the passenger's seat – they had brought Kurt with them as well, but he had opted to teleport home in a few hour rather than risk another car ride with Kitty whose driving tended to be less than wonderful, as she was easily distracted.
He smiled at the memory of the drive up which had consisted of a lot of Kurt, Marie and he yelling simultaneously "Kitty stop!" This often resulted in her going faster to make the light. It would be a wonder if the traffic cameras didn't catch them.
It seemed like a lifetime before the green of the Institute's yards greeted them with their bright color, but finally his blue eyes alighted on them and a familiar sense of being home washed over him. Once again he looked down at Rogue – he gave her leg a little shake and watched as she glared at him while groaning and stretching into the waking world.
It was high noon and the sun was beating down on the grounds of Xavier's Institute letting light stream through the windows creating dappled patterns on the wooden floor. A door clicked open and the sound of footsteps could be heard along with familiar muffled voices that grew louder as they walked into the building.
"'Lo? We're back! Logan? Ororo?" A dulcet voice with a distinctive southern accent called out into the quiet house – it had become a consequence of Sabertooth's arrival, the quietude that was normally calming during the summer seemed heavy and forced like the whole mansion might explode from tension. Anyone that walked in the door felt it.
The three graduates stepped into the recreation room, which broke off into several different hallways made for classrooms, and dropped their bags. All three were grinning and they looked like they had a blast on the beach vacation. It was also clear that they were very excited to be back at the school now that they weren't lowly students, but part of the faculty. Rogue and Kitty had both been assigned to lower school classrooms like Alex while Bobby was going to help with physical education courses and they were all going to be assisting in training newer members of X-Men.
"Hellooooo," another voice yelled the sweet, little, happy tone of Kitty.
"Hold up," they heard a response find its way into their midst. Obviously Logan had been waiting for some of his favorite students, but didn't want to look like he cared that much – Wolverine did not sit about the recreation room and bound about when friends came back. He wasn't, however, opposed to lurking around the kitchen until he heard the door close.
"Hey. Have fun?" He asked with a genuine smile on his face as a brown and white haired mutant with long black sleeves and jeans rushed into already opened arms.
"We had a great time, Logan," Kitty responded brightly while she waited for Rogue to release Wolverine so she too could get her quick hello hug – no one else, except for Rogue, ever got bear hugs from Logan.
"Oh yeah, it was a blast," Rogue agreed when she had finally relinquished hold of Logan who smiled and nodded. It was good for him to see her happy like that. After the cure had failed her she sunk into a deep depression, like a cancer patient with false hope who crashes when they realize that they really did not have a chance. It had been rough for all of them, but it seemed like the girl was getting back on her feet again.
"Where's the furball?" Logan asked good naturedly, looking about for Kurt.
"He'll be around later. He wanted to avoid more of Kitty's driving," Bobby teased the small brunette who rolled her eyes.
"Nuh uh. He just wanted more time with that girl next door," Kitty retorted and Bobby shrugged. The small smirk suggested that Kitty could be more correct than he let on. Logan decided that he didn't really want to know.
"Anything new happen while we were gone?" Bobby joined in the conversation again and walked forward linking hands with Rogue who had her's covered with some black gloves. Logan frowned a bit, he told himself it was because he was going to have to deliver bad news, but he knew that might be a lie.
"Yeah…well Alex is back for one," he saw Rogue grin and Kitty gave a small bounce of excitement. It would be good to see their former classmate again. While she wasn't one of the original X-Men or a particularly brilliant student she did hold a certain mentor position in their mind if only for her blunt advice – often given when it wasn't wanted to the girls. As far as Logan knew the two girls had kept up with her and now asked for the advice when they wanted a straight answer. Good news was finished, bad news now. "Sabertooth has been assigned as a guard for us. He's staying indefinitely."
"What?"
"Yah can' be serious."
"No way," Kitty finished off the series of unbelieving words, but Logan's solemn – bordering angry – face was enough to let them know that he would never kid about this.
"Indefinitely?" Bobby began.
"Yeah, bub. I stutter?" Logan shot back with a snarl but Bobby didn't look like he took too much offense. He figured that Logan was having a mental breakdown and not for the first time since his brother's appearance.
"That's awful," Marie said with a truly sorrowful look. Logan forced himself to shrug like he didn't care that much – like anyone believed that shit; they had all known him for long enough that they knew when he was lying.
"Well, hopefully you won't have to deal with him as you all are assigned to dorms." Logan said. He avoided mentioning that they had planned it that way, but he figured they were smart enough to figure it out.
"We don't need protecting," Marie griped, bristling a little. She didn't like being sheltered like a child.
"You're not the first to say that, but it's been decided. Go unpack your stuff," he grumbled and thrust out keys into each of their hand. He found himself wishing that they would have saved question time for later so he could have enjoyed a nice reunion. His life would never just fall into what he wanted.
The three of them hauled up their belongings and began to meander off. Rogue paused and shooed Bobby and Kitty forward indicating that she was going to talk with the man for a second.
"Logan?" She questioned stepping towards him. "Are yah alrigh' with this?"
"What do you think darling?" The feral replied with something akin to sarcasm though the tone was no where near as biting – he realized that as she got closer he had reached out his hand like he might touch her face, but instead (after a brief fight with his conscience) he ruffled her hair and gave her a smile.
"It'll be fine though," he reassured watching with a faint smile how Rogue didn't bother to fix her hair, "We got a watch on him and the government has a leash on his activities…for now," he conceded that if Sabertooth didn't like his leash or found it too short he wouldn't have trouble ridding himself of it.
"Okay then. I'm gonna go and set myself up. I think Kitty wants to decorate a bit too. It was always more fun when the TAs gave the dorm a theme," she said trying to switch the subject to a more comfortable topic.
"Right then. See you guys at dinner."
"Sure will!" Rogue said and punctuated the sentence with another bear sized hug which Logan returned freely. It was probably a little too long for even a bear hug, but the two had been through far too much for it to make them feel awkward. When she was released for a second time Marie teased. "You're gonna get tired of me by the end of the year."
Logan laughed a shrugged. "We'll see." As Marie hurried off to find her friends and new room Logan found himself staring after her – just a little bit.
Logan sighed and raked a hand, frustrated, through his dark hair. He sat heavily on the couch and contemplated – not for the first time – how fucked up the situation was. It was just getting worse and worse too, when Sabertooth came in he had thought about what they were going to do to protect everyone else, but now that it was here he realized that watching all the kids all the time….
"Damn near impossible," he muttered.
His hands fisted on his knees as he let out an exasperated sigh that turned into more of a growl near the end and pushed up off the couch. Although he wanted to check and see if the kids were getting settled he felt that a trip to the Danger Room was exactly what he needed to keep sane. It was obvious that he was on edge, but he wasn't about to go around snapping at people all the time. As he stalked off for the second time to take out his anger on non-living objects he decided that he was going to be spending more and more time in here as the year wore on and his nerves were thin. Maybe he should consider building an adjacent bedroom, he thought dryly.
It had been two weeks since Victor had started staying in the house and he had made himself very scarce. It wasn't that he was scared of starting something, but he did need to do his actual job. So, he stalked around outdoors and indoors memorizing the mansion and the grounds. Altogether, there was almost no where that Victor hadn't been – save for the inner sanctuary of the X-Men which he figured he'd have to, every time he thought about it he winced, gain their trust in order to access it. The feral calmed himself with the thought that he'd break that same, God damned, trust soon enough and get to watch all of their faces fall when they realized they'd been played.
Two weeks, however, had not been enough to figure out his neighbor. She was a very strange thing in his mind. He had at first tried to memorize her daily pattern just so he could play a few games most of which involved appearing where he was unwanted and watching her scream.
Unfortunately, even though he was very sure that she had her head on straight, it seemed that her behavior – at least, what she did everyday and when she did it – changed faster than Mystique did. The only thing he did notice was that she kept very late nights and early mornings on the weekends – she also had no consideration for people next door as her door tended to slam shut instead of close like a normal person.
It seemed that Jimmy hadn't picked a good toy for him after all; it was never in the same place long enough for him to play with. Luckily, he thought, the girl had to help with the kiddies once school let in and so he'd be able to play some mind games with her then…until then though, he'd be so fucking bored.
Sabertooth snarled, viciously annoyed with doing nothing. He had laid out a map, sure, but other than that he'd been completely static.
"It's going to drive me fucking crazy," the feral snapped at nothing. He decided that he needed to run or jump – for fuck's sake – just do something that didn't involve the inside of that God damned mansion.
It was almost like being in solitary confinement, he'd decided. Everyone was doing their best to ignore his presence and although he wanted to give them all a good piece of his mind he forced himself not to – it was getting harder to listen to himself though. Victor never was one to deny himself anything and he found that the lesson wasn't at all easy.
Once he was done with this mission he'd make sure never to repeat the mistake, the only thing he'd take part in would be trips where he was allowed to sink his teeth and claws into whatever he wanted dead and fuck whatever looked pretty enough at the time. Personally, after the mission was done, he'd love to be in on the slaughter – if that was the plan – just to give them a good idea of how little he learned and how animalistic he could be.
Creed thought of Logan finding bits and pieces of his dear friends and falling into one of his rages. It made Victor mad with glee. His brother would track him everywhere after that, it would be a great game. Even though the runt didn't remember the Silver bitch from before Victor felt that even the anger he felt after her supposed death wouldn't hold a candle to the fury that would take him if his beloved school and kiddies got injured in any way.
The feral winced as his ears were assaulted by the slamming of the door next to his; it was high time he and his neighbor had a little bit more bonding time. He slipped out of his room and watched the girl as she walked – it was strange to see her in something beside that damn sweatshirt – she wore ridiculously tight pants, a polo shirt and a pair of tall boots. In her hand was a helmet – apparently on her way the barn which was a relatively new addition if his memory served him (it certainly hadn't been here before when he last 'visited,' he thought wryly). Victor was deep into stalking his prey, every part of him focused on making sure the girl in front of him stayed unaware of his presence while still being able to track every move – fuck, it felt good to hunt again.
Still, the large man had to admit that it wasn't so bad watching her. She wasn't very curvy, but the work with the X-Men had done her body good and her muscles were well defined. Her step was slightly turned out and sometimes she walked a little like a dancer – toe to heel instead of the opposite, but it wasn't really a graceful movement; purposeful, he found, was a better way to describe it.
Sabertooth momentarily paused in his hunting game when a strange cocktail of new smells wafted through the air. The only thing he could distinguish was that Logan was with them and they were all mutants. Part of him wanted to satisfy his curiosity and figure out who these people were. But, in the end the hunt was on and he couldn't turn it off. Once again, he pursued his prey, this time through an open door.
Alex had slipped outside and he followed her quietly into the yards behind the mansion – which were speckled with little trees and shrubs and surrounded on nearly all sides by a forested area; at least, he thought he had been quiet.
Suddenly, she stopped and whirled around, her dark eyes glaring through him – apparently his little perusal of her body had caused him to slip up somewhere. His lip twitched downward, the distaste of annoyance and a failed hunt filled his mouth. As an apex predator he wasn't used to this sort of failure.
"Are you following me?" She asked incredulously her brows furrowing together with the ends of her mouth turned down.
"Yeah, what about it?" He asked crossing his arms and smirking just enough to show off his fangs and remind her just who he was. There wasn't any way he'd be taking the bitch's whining. He'd go wherever he damned well pleased; she should just be happy that it hadn't resulted in the death of anyone she liked…yet.
Her mouth opened and closed like a fish and he snorted in amusement. "Keep that closed or we'll have to find something useful for it to do." He fixed her with a lascivious look that made her want a jacket or something – anything – that would make her feel like her modesty was in tact.
The petite brunette's chin jutted outward in defiance and he saw her lip curl in that little sneer that showed just how much she detested him.
"Find someone else to shadow, Sabertooth," she ordered, as if he would listen – it was the final straw too. No one ordered him around.
He found himself lurching forward, his claws already extended, and catching the woman in his outstretched hand. "Listen here, little girl. No one talks to me that way. I don't care if you belong to that freak show or not…you keep up that talk and I will make sure that you'll have to be spoon fed for the rest of your fucking miserable life, understand?"
His grip was bruising and his snarl was definitive – he was going to shred her to bits and leave her corpse for the crows and vultures. He noticed, much to his confusion, that although his grip was clearly hard enough to break the bones and shatter the windpipe of the girl, it seemed that they were doing none of those things.
It took him a moment to notice that his hand wasn't around her neck, well it was, but the neck was protected by a shimmering blue field. She was obviously afraid and he decided that he liked the way it played with her appearance, her dark eyes got wide like a doe and her mouth fell into a pleasing 'o' shape that made her usually sharp features soften. Still, she didn't respond to his threat with actual words.
Victor became distinctly aware that he couldn't smell the fear that was clearly written on her features. It was maddening – all he wanted was her dead underneath him for those querulous remarks of hers. It didn't look like he was going to be able to satisfy that want while she kept up that field.
"Cute trick," he snarled, his fangs remained bared but his grip on her throat relaxed and then completely dropped as it didn't look like that field was going anywhere.
The girl raised a hand to her neck and rubbed it though in reality it was just a calming gesture – she couldn't exactly feel her hand just the rubbing together of her fields which felt a little like a tingle on her skin. Her hand dropped and she felt rage bubbling inside her, he would have killed her! She wanted to lash out and throw everything at didn't because she knew it is what he wanted; an excuse to fight.
Her mouth twisted into a contemplative frown and then she released a sigh that surprised Creed – like she was giving into something. Although he didn't understand what she was letting herself give up to he took it as a small win for himself and grinned.
"Follow me," she muttered stalking off back towards the mansion. Victor, bemused, stood still for a moment before jogging after her – more than anything he'd like to feign indifference, but since he couldn't satisfy his want for blood the beast inside him begged for him to indulge his curiosity. Luckily for him he didn't have to pick up his stride much to catch up with the smaller woman.
"Where the hell we goin'?" He questioned while attempting to inject an edge to his voice. He could tell that it worked only because she gave a small start, but that could just have been a reaction to the surprising voice at her side. The shield still clung to her body and he could catch glimpses of blue shiver around her legs and arms as she walked. It still was messing with his sense of smell though, which made her calm facial expression hard to decipher - Victor had always been one to rely on his animalistic nature to figure out others, he could read posturing and smells, but actual facial expressions were difficult for him especially when the person he was trying to read had been trained how to keep their emotions in check.
"Work out room," she muttered.
"Fuck that. I don't need a work out, Lex-ee," he broke up the nickname to put emphasis on it; to let her know that he had been listening in on her and Jimmy's conversation not too long ago.
Her glance slid over towards him and she frowned, apparently not enjoying the sound of Logan's name for her falling from his mouth.
"No, you do," she rejoined and quickly explained before he thought it a shot at his pride – it was lucky she did because his face was beginning to contort in rage again. "Listen, you need to blow off steam," her hand once again went to her neck as if she could feel the huge clawed hand squeezing around it.
"Tell me about it. I'll break anything in there though," he said with a smirk apparently pleased with the thought.
"Maybe, but rather that than you breaking someone else," she retorted her eyes fixed on the ground her face impassive.
He sniffed trying to pick up on emotions. Fucking shield, he inwardly groused.
"Don't want me taking it out on the kiddies." They were directly behind the mansion now. The lawn had turned into a mosaic of patio stone that surrounded a large swimming pool.
"Yeah, I guess," she muttered. "We have some pretty tough stuff though. You might get more than one use out of it. It's in the pool house," she said pointing straight. "Enjoy." With that she was turning around on her heel and made to leave him again.
"Maybe later," he said clapping a hand on her shoulder in a menacingly false gesture of camaraderie. That and with her ass swinging this way and that while she stalked around so forcefully – he just couldn't help himself, he wanted to touch her. He was disappointed when his hands fell and caused a small wave of shimmering to break out. It was a strange feeling, a tingling - it wasn't hard like he expected and he could still feel the warmth of her skin underneath it. His hand continued to stay on her shoulder the rest of the way. Of course, Alex didn't know the reasoning and tensed herself for one of his scare tactics – it was working, Alex felt immediately less comfortable than before.
"Listen, I just want to ride while the place is empty. Alright?"
"'s fine I'll entertain myself."
"Awesome," she returned throwing up her hands and slipping out of his grip.
The barn was not as empty as Alex had hoped and her displeasure was immediately evident on her face - her brow had puckered unhappily, but other than that she made no comment.
Parked outside the barn was a bright red Nissan Sentra. It belonged to the head of the stables – a girl named Melanie. She was two years older than Alexandra and also a graduate of the Institute. She was, for all intents and purposes, a modern day Dr. Doolittle. Melanie was part of the full time staff because the stables needed looking after all year round – the children normally assisted during the year but during the summer they only had three or four people to look after the horses – they lived in a large condo that was set up adjacent to the stables in case any of the horses needed help during the night.
The barn had been built for the school as a means of expanding their programs and it made the school look more like a prestigious college preparatory school rather than a suspicious place that took in mutants. It was a great place for the students whose abilities were geared towards animals – empaths and shape shifters found the horses a source of enjoyment as did others who just had fun riding and caring for the creatures. Xavier had put in place and was quite pleased when it was finished – thought it gave the students a good way to learn responsibility
Alex's face had become more noticeably displeased as her mouth twisted into an obviously unhappy frown to accompany her creased brow. Creed noticed and smirked; pleased that someone else was pissed off for once.
"Don't wanna see someone, Lexy?" He asked slyly and watched as the girl next to him looked appalled that he so easily guessed the reason for her irritated look.
"Just thought she was gone for the day, and my name is Alex," she responded and fixed him with a reproving stare.
The man next to her shrugged, sniffed the air and was met with a familiar musky, dusty smell compounded with manure that came with horses – basically, it smelled like shit. He made a face.
"And mine's Victor, but I don't see you using it," he retorted; it hadn't escaped his notice that she referred to him as Sabertooth. Maybe it was to remind herself that she was in danger while with him, he shrugged his shoulders and with the action the thoughts of her reasoning; like he really gave a flying fuck.
Alex didn't ever feel comfortable with Melanie. Firstly because she tended to be a bitch to her and secondly because no girl could stand in her presence and not feel self conscious. Still, Alex was all dressed for the occasion and wasn't about to cower about with her tail between her legs because she might have to deal with a few sharp remarks and a complex later. She was gonna get on a horse, damn it! With a deep breath of dusty air that made her double over and cough in a most embarrassing manner instead of giving her a good calming feeling, she walked into the stable aisle.
Creed kicked at some of the dust and followed the girl into the barn. He wasn't too terribly thrilled with following some twat about like a puppy, but it was better than being bored and the small moments of fear he got from her gave him a sharp thrill that fed his addiction to power. Alex had disappeared into a side room, whatever the reason was he didn't care as a powerful smell caught his attention.
He was surprised that the girl didn't notice it too; the smell had hit him so forcefully that he felt everyone would be able to notice. It was rich and smelled of vanilla and honey and was so distinctly female that there was no chance he'd make a mistake like he had the first day on the property. It smelled so fucking delicious that he made an immediate beeline for it.
When he saw the owner of the smell his mouth ran dry. The woman was tall and curvy with golden curls that were pulled back to suit her work. She was slender and moved with a sway in her hips that accentuated just how wonderful it would be to grab her small middle from behind and pound into her. Creed had no doubt in his mind that he wanted her – and nothing in the damned school was going to stop him. Her skin was pale and he imagined that in the winter she must be nearly translucent and would turn such a pretty red when he let a claw rub over it and let it swell up. At that moment she paused in her walk down the stalls – apparently checking food and water and he was met with a pair of pretty grey eyes.
"Hello, there," she said walking forward to greet him with a bright smile.
Melanie knew who was standing in the middle of her stables – she had heard during a dinner with the faculty. However, what she had heard was nothing compared to what she was seeing right now. He was a hulking, brooding figure like she had imagined, but nothing could prepare her for how he exuded animalistic tendencies. He didn't walk, but stalked with his head just a little tilted forward so that every look to the side was more reminiscent of a glare, or a predatory stare. Melanie felt both terrified and electrified as that stare locked onto her, but she effectively squashed both feelings – she was an empath with a tendency towards animals, Logan had described his brother as being more animal than man which boded better for her. She felt the menace coming off of him in waves, and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of scaring her.
Creed leaned on the cement wall of the barn and let his salacious gaze follow the curves of her body. A blush began to creep up and he saw it display itself on her chest underneath the dark green wife beater that covered her torso. He smirked – this was too easy – the corner of his eye caught a brief flash of dark brown leading a large horse out of the crossties and towards a covered arena. Alex apparently had enough faith in the woman to leave her alone with him.
"You are?" Melanie ventured with a smile plastered onto her pretty face.
"Victor Creed."
"Logan's brother, right?" She asked, holding out her hand to shake his – Creed took the offered appendage but rolled his eyes as this conversation had stirred up a sense of déjà vu. He was fairly sure that this conversation was nearly the exact same as the one he had with Alex two weeks back when he had first arrived at the mansion. This version, he found, was quite a bit nicer, though.
"Yeah. Somethin' like that," he muttered his eyes lingered where her shirt dipped and he could see her cleavage. In his mind he had already considered taking one of those breasts into his hands while she begged and squirmed away from him. Her hand slid from his but not before he let a claw trail a little too harshly over her hand.
Melanie chuckled – a rich sound that was fairly infectious, but was cut short when she felt Creed's claw graze over her skin. It wasn't extremely painful, but it was intimidating and caused her breath to hitch. Creed found himself smiling in spite of himself at the small catch.
"My name's Melanie Caldwell," she picked up easily as if the incident had never happened, but Creed smelled the apprehension – bordering on fear – starting to emanate from her pores.
"You work here long?" He asked, gesturing about the barn.
"Yes," she replied her eyes sliding coyly towards his face. "I'm quite good with animals. It's part of my gift," she said. Melanie was raised under Xavier's standards that no one was beyond help – it was something that kept her going on a daily basis, gave her faith in the human race that had shunned mutants ( she always hoped that she'd wake up and they'd find out that they'd been wrong).
Creed grinned. That sly little bitch was flirting with him. He could see her misinterpreted ideas of him flowing across her face. She, like so many other victims, thought that they could see some good – appeal to his humanity. It wouldn't work, but she was a tight little piece of ass and she would provide some small entertainment while he was here. Creed felt his bad day turning around and his spirits lifted. He could smell the fear falling away from her and he stepped forward – the same type of motion as a hawk swooping towards its prey.
She decided that Victor Creed was just one of those people who were lost and she was determined to make him her project and help him move away from the ways that had made him the infamous Sabertooth. Those in the mansion, especially his brother didn't understand, but after all – she was good with animals. Who else would be able to help him if not her?
"So, what's the other part of your…gift?" Creed asked, though he didn't really care.
"Maybe you'll find out," she replied with a giggle behind her hand.
The feral in front of her reached out to wrap a hand around her shoulder, but she slipped around him and away from the grip – fear had begun to suffuse through her as she began to really think about how sharp those claws were. She wanted to change the man, but it was not something that could be done in a day. The man growled at the evasion, but forced himself to stop from attacking – maybe he could do with a little frustration release.
"I have to get back to work. These guys aren't capable of feeding themselves, you know," her voice was high and nervous – Creed imagined that her scream was pitched the same way. He pictured it again, he'd grab her and let his claws dig in this time. As she was kicking and screaming he'd rip off that tight little shirt of her's and grab hold of the taunting breasts –
He heard a horse nicker and stomp excitedly as Melanie sauntered down the aisle. She paused and whispered something to him which made the large creature nudge her excitedly. He spent the rest of his time – he wasn't waiting, he had simply found a new subject to stalk that happened to be in the same place as his old – letting his eyes follow Melanie around the barn. They didn't talk again, but Melanie could feel the cold, predatory stare that honed in on her.
The woman was beginning to wonder if her idea would work. She pushed aside the doubts because she knew that if Xavier had been here he wouldn't have given up so easily. More than anything she wanted to do right by the man's memory.
Clip. Clop. Click. Swish, click.
Creed's intense observation was shut off by the sound of a horse being tied into the cross ties. Alex was apparently done. He strode from his inactive position in the lane and began to walk towards the sound.
Melanie had beaten him to it. The two girls had never gotten along, and their dislike for one another was well known, but no one – probably not even them – knew why they had so much trouble getting on. Ororo, who had known them longest out of the staff had a feeling that it was linked to when they were both very young and had just intensified as they had grown up like some childhood quarrels did.
"Fall any today, Alexandra?" Melanie asked nastily. The normally sweet tone girl had reverted to nothing more than a Regina George look a like.
"Nope," Alex replied tersely. "Looks like you survived too," she shot back with a meaningful glance towards Victor who had paused in his trek towards the ties and was pretending to look over the schedule written on – whatever happened to laminated paper, he thought – another white board on the door of the tack room.
He was, however, intensely interested at the sudden change in both the girls. Alex was looking at everything but Melanie and he couldn't tell whether it was to throw her off like he had done to Magneto or if it were an actual submissive posture. He guessed the first. Melanie had changed from the open armed person in the hall to this little hellion looking down her nose at the brunette untacking her horse.
"Yes," Creed heard Melanie say and he saw her wearing an unctuous smile to underline her victory. "He doesn't seem so bad," the man's lip curled – he'd show her how bad he was soon enough.
Luckily for Melanie, Alex scoffed for him. "He tried to kill me on the way here."
That's right, Lexy. Tell her what the bad man can do to you.
"Well, he was just fine with me," the blonde taunted and laid a hand on the horse that was in between the two women. He immediately leaned into her and nuzzled her shirt.
"Just because you are such a special snowflake," Alex returned snottily, adding a certain emphasis that suggested it wasn't such a compliment.
"Well, it seems that McGee is enjoying this bonding time," the brunette continued, clearly annoyed, but it seemed that she was throwing in the towel and taking the "higher road." In reality, she was just ready to get out of the barn and away from Melanie.
"Want me to take him? He says you were being a bitch today," Melanie lied easily – Alex wouldn't know what the horse was really thinking and from the way McGee was acting it seemed that he was quite a bit happier to see Melanie than he had been her.
"Go for it," Alex had a sharp feeling that the girl wasn't truthful, but she offered the horse a ginger snap from her pocket in hopes that it would be a suitable apology, anyway. He took it eagerly and she kissed his forehead. "See yah later, buddy," she cooed and picked up the saddle and bridle to return them to the tack room.
She was so thrown off by the encounter with the girl that she didn't even grumble about Creed being in her way and squeezed past him her back and ass pressing against his chest and a more sensitive area as she did so. Creed felt his cock respond appropriately, but his curiosity once again overrode his more base emotions.
"What was that about?" He asked, with a small amused snort and a jab of his thumb towards Melanie's general direction outside the room, as he watched Alex use a stepping stool to assist her as she placed her saddle on the top shelf.
"Nothing," she replied not that he had expected a straight answer. She placed her bridle on the hanger connected to the saddle rack in a neat manner after which she fixed her bun which had become a sweaty mess from the helmet she wore while walking through the open door once more making for the mansion.
"Bye Mel. Have a good day," she called out behind her in a tone that was obviously supposed to be a mimic of the other girl's.
Creed considered lingering in the barn to get more acquainted with the girl who had gotten under Alex's skin like a bot fly. It was, he decided, quite a feat as even he had trouble eliciting that much of a response – he could get fear from her, but unadulterated annoyance was difficult. It made him want to laugh at the realization that, given the option, she might rather a day with him than Melanie.
When they reached the mansion Logan was waiting outside his face was contorted with worry; anger was added when he saw a clearly frustrated Alex followed closely by Sabertooth. The other feral ran down the stairs and towards Alex looking over for her any signs of injury caused by the madman he had allowed near her.
"You alright?" He asked worriedly.
"Yeah."
"Then…what's the matter?" Logan questioned and Creed paused to let the two talk so he was at a safer distance from his brother.
"It looked like it was going to be such a good day," Alex whined and shook her head, exhaling hard afterward. Victor chuckled at the dramatic display – Women, he thought spitefully.
"And?" Logan prompted as if still expecting to hear that his brother had gone for the jugular.
Yeah, why hasn't she mentioned that? Victor finally wondered as he remembered that he had done exactly that not two hours ago.
"It rebelled," Alex said as if that explained everything. Victor smirked and Logan chuckled at the phrase. As they were busy looking at each other disdainfully when they realized the similarity in their reaction, Alex removed a ring of keys from her pocket and walked towards her car – still parked in the roundabout that served as the driveway of the Institute.
"Where ya going?" Logan yelled as the black jeep roared to life.
"Grocery shopping!" Alex yelled back.
The Jeep's wheels spun and for a moment the vehicle remained stationary before peeling out of the driveway. Even as it sped down the drive – music blaring, now – towards the main road, Logan could see Alex tugging at her bun. Logan had a feeling that she was just going to clear her head so no one had to watch her in her flustered state. Alex hated showing any type of weakness and if she couldn't hide it then she made sure that she found a place to go so no one would bear witness to it.
"Weird," Creed remarked, not even bothering to hide the confusion written on his features. Women were such odd, emotional beings. He was glad that he only needed them for sex. He had forgotten that they were so difficult – it was another thing his trip was teaching him; he had the right idea about women. Use 'em and lose 'em.
"Melanie?" Logan guessed – he knew he was right though.
"Guess so," Creed responded with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Women," Logan observed unhappily as if the word summed up everything – Victor nodded, apparently in the same mindset. Women were crazy.
"What's their issue, anyway?"
"Dunno, bub."
"There's beer in the main kitchen fridge," the adamantium lined man suggested without looking over. Apparently having to deal with two frustrated women was enough to earn Victor a beer and a civil conversation with his brother.
Creed was about to point out that the women didn't stress him out like they did Logan. But, he could feel the old camaraderie they had shared years ago and the part of him – which was more than he would admit – that craved that feeling of being needed couldn't make him say something cutting.
"Thanks," he muttered and loped up the stairway and into the house.
Logan stayed outside and considered the conversation too. Of course he wrote it off by saying he had bigger things to worry about – what was bigger than his murderous brother alone in the mansion with someone, he couldn't actually say.
So, he sat on the steps and looked out over the lawns for another hour letting his thoughts wander about. He pushed himself up off the steps and decided to take a stroll before returning to the exact same spot on the stairway – he hadn't realized how much time had passed. It was nearly dark now as he mounted the stairs and looked out over the lawns once more.
Logan didn't often feel contemplative and nostalgic, but when he did it hit him like a freight train. It had been three years since Jean, Scott and Charles had died and, even now, the circumstances of their deaths set him on edge. It was all wrong, he thought, and it wasn't for the first time. They should all be here, he and Scott would be fighting over Jean and she'd be blissfully unaware of the rivalry. Charles would try and convince him to stick around whenever he wanted to go on a trip, and he would run but he'd always come back. He'd never leave them.
Before these thoughts slowly metamorphosed into some strange allegory for he and his brother click of the door behind him derailed his inner thought process followed by heavy footfalls.
"Logan?" Rogue's voice was behind him.
"Yeah?"
"Dinner's ready. You gonna eat?" She asked with a concerned edge in her voice.
Wolverine felt a gloved hand fall on his shoulder.
"Oh yeah, darling" he responded and stood up to allay her fears.
"Good. I was worried," she said truthfully.
"Cause I was late for dinner? That's no first. I missed tons of 'em while I was gone," Logan responded lightly.
"No, you look like someone kicked a puppy in front of yah."
Logan shrugged noncommittally; Rogue didn't pressure him for an answer. That's what he liked about her, she was a nice girl with all of the same sensibilities of the others, but without the annoying over zealous feelings that the other girls in the mansion tended to have. She didn't blow up about stupid things; knew how to pick her battles – well, maybe not real battles, but figurative ones.
"Let's get some grub," he said opening the door and letting her walk in fist.
"Oooh. Someone's being a gentleman," she teased. "Thanks."
"Welcome," Logan replied following her in and down the hallway to the dining room.
"Kurt ever tear himself away from that girl?"
"Not that ah know of," Marie replied with a small chuckle behind her hand stepping in to the dining area.
The table was nearly full today - Alex had yet to return from her shopping trip - now that most of the staff had returned. Logan found it nice, over the years he had come to consider them family. Ororo and Hank were deep in conversation no doubt something to do with a school curriculum. Even Melanie and the two stable hands – Josh and Fairly – had decided to have dinner in the main house.
There was a newer teacher to Hank's right with fiery red hair he was – as far as Logan could remember the new History professor went by the name Bill Hope. Although he was personable enough, he seemed a little uncomfortable in the middle of everyone. Rogue took pity on him as they approached. He wasn't a mutant, but he had been an advocate of mutant rights in the school system and was invited to teach here just this year after he had been fired from his previous school.
"Hey there, Billy," she said as she walked down to take her place at the table.
"Hello, Marie. Ready for the year to start?" Billy asked going to the typical question that most teachers used to break the ice when they didn't have anything else to say.
"I don' know, yet. Ask me tomorrow, kay?" She responded with a laugh that sparked the man's own.
Logan took his normal seat near Hank and Ororo and watched with a small amount of annoyance as Rogue hurried to Bobby's side and whispered something in his ear which caused the boy to blush. He had hoped that his favorite ex-student might be sitting near him to let him in on how the trip went. It was a bit inconvenient with her on the opposite side of the table.
Through out the rest of the dinner he had difficulty focusing on what Ororo and Hank were discussing, they had attempted to include him but quickly gave up when they saw he was more engrossed with staring at his food. He also continued shooting furtive glances across the table at Bobby, who was beginning to look uncomfortable with his gaze. Iceman shifted nervously in his seat and leaned towards Rogue.
"Something up with Logan?" He asked. "He looks pissed."
"Don' know. I found him sittin' outside. I think all this mess with Sabertooth is getting to 'em," she replied looking towards Logan. Neither of them got their answer as Logan pushed away from the table.
"Logan?" Ororo ventured.
He grunted, annoyed. "'m gonna go take a ride," the feral responded more civilly and stalked out of the room with the intent to run hid motorcycle until he ran out of gas.
"I am worried about him," Ororo voiced.
"Yes, he seems to be taking all this with Sabertooth very hard," Hank agreed.
"Well, course he is," Rogue said "that's not something you just get used to right away. Yah know?"
A deep voice rumbled from where the dining room connected to the kitchen - Victor had been skillfully lurking in the doorway. "Here's a newsflash for you girly," Creed said. His voice immediately made the rest of the room silent, he sauntered inside and took Logan's seat with a beer in his hand. "I haven't said more than a few words to him all day…and they were pretty civil," he remarked. Rogue's mouth had fallen open, but one hand was already at her glove, ready to remove it at any time.
Sabertooth had taken his brother up on the offer of beer – he had been craving something stronger than water. Even though his healing factor made it impossible for him to actually get drunk he felt calmed by the burning sensation the alcohol caused.
"Civil by whose standards?"
"Any. Told me where the booze was least ways," Creed replied. That seemed to be enough to convince Rogue. That was Logan's personal stash. He wouldn't have let Sabertooth in on the secret if he was being an asshole.
"Something must have happened," she muttered.
"Probably. He'll get his head out of his ass soon enough, though and come crawling back to you…" he took another swig from his beer can. "maybe." A tense silence fell over the company again.
The silence was finally broken by Kitty. "Ororo," she began, to the surprise of everyone else. Creed had been basking in the fact that he'd scared everybody at the table shitless and stunned them into quiet. It was a great feeling.
"Yes?" The weather bitch responded.
"Did Logan take down his sign again?" She questioned with a mischievous grin on her face. Creed realized that he was looking at the reason for sticky tack on Wolverine's door.
"Yes, I believe he did," Storm responded with a knowing smile. It had become a tradition for Rogue and Kitty to make the most ridiculous signs for Logan's door just to have him tear the down. He pretended to be annoyed, but they all knew he enjoyed the joke just like the rest of them. It would probably serve to cheer him up when he came back.
"Then," Rogue had piped up now. "I do believe we have some work tah do. See y'all later."
The dinner finished in silence and after a few minutes everyone was getting up to say their good nights. Creed never moved, but to his surprise he received a few farewells addressed specifically to him.
"Goodnight Mr. Creed," Ororo spoke calmly and nodded. Creed grunted.
"Night Billy. Night Victor," Melanie cooed and sent a smile towards the remaining people. Creed glared at the orange haired man now the only other person at the table.
"I gotta…do stuff," Bill said and struggled to his feet stumbling out the door, the smell of fear falling off of him much to the amusement of Victor.
The feral man sniffed and looked at the now empty beer can which he tossed into a trashcan as he walked into the kitchen. He yanked open the fridge and grabbed two one for the trip there and one for his fridge. As he walked back to his room he found himself actually wishing that the kids were here – at least he wouldn't be so bored with them running around and causing a ruckus.
A/N: I know, I'm one of those people that does the end note things. This chapter was fun to write, especially the interaction between Victor and Logan - I think that guys will always bond over girls when they go crazy with their emotions. Only logical explanation for the two Howlett brothers is booze. Duh. Read and review please!