Okay I had another one hit me. Yes I know I have unfinished ones, and blame the blockage monster - and a few real world blockages - at least the creative juices are flowing in some direction.
Summary: We all know that the most successful hunters, serial killers, and psychopaths hide in plain sight, successfully blending in with normal society. Logically, Sabretooth should follow that trend. I've written him in a normal environment before, but not like this. 25 years after Origins, Origins Sabretooth/Victor CreedXOC. (Yes that puts him 'working' during X1, I am assuming the events of X1 took place over spring break, and that Creed has some control of how to alter his appearance so he is not 'recognized' in his 'day job.')
Disclaimer: I don't own them, no really I don't. I swear I make nothing off of this except the satisfaction to get some sick stuff out of my head safely. Again typed on the Blackberry so forgive any typos
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He wasn't completely happy with his plan. It involved leaving her with people that usually wanted to kill him. The idea of leaving her anywhere near Jimmy didn't sit well with him either. It was the only way he could think of to get her away from her father, away from SHEILD, and away from Mystique. There were too many threats to him, and through him to her.
He'd stayed away from Jimmy for twenty-five years, at first because he was angry at Jimmy's words, then flat because he couldn't find him. After Liberty he tried to contact Jimmy at the school but Xavier kept him away on this errand or that, and finally just told Victor it would be best to let James recover himself without Victor's help. Ten years later, Xavier wasn't going to have a say.
He glanced across the cabin of the plane. She was curled up in her seat, asleep. She was having interesting dreams, from the scent, and a part of him gloated that they were about him. He still wasn't sure about how he felt about the situation. She had guts, and was earning his grudging respect for how she was handling the mutation, something not easy for anyone, but usually harder to adapt to the older the person was who developed it. No matter how the test turned out, she was his to protect. If she was a cub or a cub of a cub, he'd be her mentor, if not...he stopped himself there. They were about to land, and he didn't have time to indulge in erotic fantasies.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
She woke up to him shaking her arm.
"Wake up."
She stretched and looked out the window at the New York City skyline below.
She watched their descent in silence, only her hungry stomach making any noise in the cabin.
"We'll grab something on the way into the city." He said as he walked to the back of the cabin and unstrapped a door. He pulled her small bag out, along with a battered leather pack he slung over his shoulder. He handed her pack to her as the wheels hit the runway. He stumbled a bit back to his seat. They pulled up to a small hangar, and Victor opened the cabin door as soon as they rolled to a stop. She climbed out behind him and saw the limo waiting.
"A limo?"
"Shut up and get in." He growled.
She climbed into the car and he climbed in after her. He glanced at the driver.
"There's been a change of plans. After the bank, take us to Saks." He said. The driver just nodded.
"Saks?"
"Yeah, there is no way in hell you are going to embarrass me with what you packed." He snarled. She shrank into the expensive leather seats. Embarrass him? He was wearing a button down shirt with a growing ink stain that escaped his pocket protector and jeans, and she was going to embarrass HIM.
She glared out the window, not even looking at him when he cleared his throat to get her attention. He grabbed her arm and yanked her around to look at him.
"I'm getting tired of this. If you're pissed at me about something get in my fucking face about it, I can't stand sulking.". He growled at her.
"Fine, I'm gonna embarrass you? How, you look like the geeky professor, I just look like a normal kid." She stopped. When the hell did he change clothes. He was in an expensive grey wool suit with a silk tie and shirt in contrasting greys. "How did...?"
"Better you not know, now I've got to go into the bank. Are you going to be here when I get back, or do I have to cuff you to the car?" He was grinning as he asked it. She stuck her tongue out at him, but nodded.
Xxxxxxx
He opened the box. Inside were several old leather bound books, a couple small bags that gleamed with gold at the partially open mouths, souvenirs of their trip to the black hills looking for gold, and several small boxes. He grabbed the books, then pulled out one of the boxes. Inside was a heavily tarnished thin band ring. He slipped it into his pocket. It was the only thing he had from his mother, and if she did turn out to be what his instincts said she was, he wanted to mark her where the world would see she was his.
He opened the second box and pulled ten bundles of one hundred dollar bills. He knew that would cover expenses for a week and a half. He put them in the metal case the bank provided, along with the books. He hoped their third stop had his order ready, and the account set up. That was his way in the door, with Jimmy. Even without his memories, his woman was the way to get his brother's attention, and the Rogue would be no exception.
He closed the case and shook hands with the bank manager. He walked out to the limo, she was sitting right where he left her.
He nodded to the driver and leaned back.
"So what's in the box?"
"Some papers we're gonna need to make sure our stay is as uneventful as possible." He set it on the floor of the limo.
"Stay?" He was really starting to like that little puzzled look with the crinkled nose and puckered forehead. "Uneventful?"
"Just when we get there let me do the...talking."
"Talking?" This time it was a glare as if she knew that growling, shouting, snarling and bloodshed was far more likely.
"Just do what I say and you should be fine." He snapped. He hated being questioned all the time.
The limo pulled up outside the store. "Let's go." He made a pushing motion with his hands.
They walked in the front doors and she seemed to shrink. He didn't give her the chance to run. He grabbed her elbow and walked straight to the elevators. He punched the floor for women's wear and when the doors opened, he dragged her out and grabbed the first sales clerk with the other hand, dragging them both, with complete confidence to the changing rooms.
"I want her measured, and bring out the exclusive line. I will select everything my self. She will need everything from the skin out. Mildly conservative.". He instructed the woman. He dropped Kathy on a bench to wait.
Xxxxxxxxx
She glared at him. She could pick her own clothes. She kept glaring as an army of clerks came in, with measuring tapes and pin cushions. She was even more humiliated as they stripped her, right in front of him. She stood there in nothing but her nude cotton Wal-Mart special bra and white cotton panties.
He just glared back. "Burn all of it." He instructed the clerks when they asked what to do with her clothes.
One of the clerks pushed her behind a curtain and started to unfasten her bra.
"No!" She said sharply.
"Kathy, don't make me come in there. Its not like I haven't seen what you have before. Let her fit you for decent under things."
"My clothes are decent."
"They are threadbare and falling apart, where'd you get them a thrift store?"
She blushed. How the hell did he know that? She struggled, but in the end they got the new bra and panties on her and she did admit they felt good on her skin.
"I told you, silk feels good." He said from his seat in the viewing area. She hated it when he did that.
The dress they brought in felt good too, actually everything she tried on felt good. They finally uncovered the mirror and let her see how she looked. The soft grey dress flowed when she moved, the light belt, cinched in her waist and clung across her chest. The drape on the side moved with her. The three inch black sandals gave her a little height and made her legs look longer in the knee length skirt. The dark grey clutch held her phone and wallet with ID and what little cash she had. She almost didn't recognize herself. She stepped out of the curtain.
"Turn around." Was all he said.
She did. " It will do, that and all the rest on my account, and make sure they are in the limo with my suits." She looked at the mirror in the viewing area and realized the grey of the dress matched the grey of his tie. They looked like a high class couple ready to go to dinner. She pulled the pony tail holder from her hair and leaned over to shake her head, fluffing her hair a little bit. Without makeup or a hair brush that was the best she could do. He nodded his approval.
He took her arm in his and lead her through the store. She felt ten feet taller than she did when she walked in. He had a point, it felt good to wear something that wasn't from a thrift store. She'd always resented her dad, with his three piece Armani suits, and she'd had to buy most of her clothes at thrift stores most of her life. She thought back and realized this was the first new dress she'd had since the one she'd worn to her mother's funeral, when she was thirteen.
He handed her into the car and she slid across the leather seats. The driver was putting bags in the trunk and she didn't look back to count.
"Tell me you at least bought me one pair of jeans." She said. She'd tried on one pair, that were a blend of denim and silk that had felt like heaven, but she was afraid of the price tag.
"I bought five, and T-Shirts. You're a college student for God's sake, I don't expect you to look like a runway model." He growled.
She looked at him. "I don't want to know how much you spent. Isn't he through loading those bags yet?"
"Yeah, he's done, and we've got one more stop. As for how much I spent, don't worry about it." He glared out the window. She huddled back into the seat. He resented buying her things.
"I'll pay you back as soon as I can." She said softly.
"Damn it, you don't get it. I'm not pissed at YOU, I'm pissed at your idiot father that let you wear thrift store clothes and look like a charity case." He growled. "YOU look fantastic in that dress, hell almost too fantastic. Do me a favor, do not bend over like that again until after the tests I want to have run." He groaned the last and then ground out a word she honestly didn't think he knew. "Please."
"Why, was it that bad?"
"NO! Damn it was that good." He groaned again. She felt her lips curl into a little smile, maybe he did like her a little bit.
The car moved through traffic but just down the street, and she gasped at the name of the store.
"What the hell do you need at Tiffany?" She asked.
"A late wedding present." He muttered. "You coming?"
"In there?"
"Yes, in there."
She followed him into the door, her eyes wide. She'd never thought she'd ever be in this of all stores in the world.
He walked straight to a counter and asked for a 'Charlie.'
She walked around the store, keeping her hands at her sides, but she couldn't stop an exclamation of awe looking at what was labeled as the "Victoria" collection. She'd never in a million years afford anything like that but the clusters of diamonds in platinum shined in the lights of the store, drawing her eyes.
She wasn't paying any attention to him, just looking at the beautiful pieces on display, and wishing she had enough money to buy just one small thing.
"Are you through ogling." He said as he came up behind her.
"Yeah." She said wistfully.
The clerk walked up then to the counter she was looking at.
"Here is your order Mr. Creed. The account for Mrs. Marie Howlett is set up, and she can add any charms from our collection at any time for life, and it will be charged against your account. Is there anything else you'd like?"
"Yeah...Give me one of everything in here, ring size..." He seemed look at her hands on the counter but his eyes didn't seem to be focused on them. "eight."
"Everything?"
"Did I stutter?"
"No Mr. Creed. One of everything."
"That is a hell of a wedding present." Kathy said softly.
"Not really, its more of a promise. I tried to kill her once, I kinda need to make sure she understands I won't do it again, and a lifetime account at Tiffany is the fastest way I could think of."
"Wow, I guess. Can you afford it?"
He just glared at her and she sat back. He carried the bag from Tiffany into the limo and set it on the floorboard next to the silver metal case from the bank. He reached into the Tiffany bag and pulled out the large box of the "Victoria" collection. He opened it and pulled out a necklace, earrings and a bracelet and threw them in her lap.
"Put those on."
Her hands shook as she put the jewelry in place. She was wearing more money than she'd ever seen in her life.