(: Hi, peoples.

Thanks for reviews and such. :D

Danny, the tears of fury in his eyes overflowing, clenched his fists in anger and rage as he still stared at the woods. Emma began to speak again, but he completely blocked out her hideous words. Only one thought was booming in his ears right now, and it was a thought of pure pleading.

Blair—please escape….

-----

[Blair/Victor]

["O…okay…" Blair stammered. "What d-do you want?"]

Victor grinned again, the amusement clearly visible in his expression. "Well," he hesitated, savoring the tense look on Blair's face, "your sister…she…she's not working out too well. She's, to put it 'nicely', a controlling bitch."

A slight look of confusion flickered across Blair's features. "What—? Wait…you're not going to make me…er…kill my sister, right?"

Victor snorted and stared at Blair as if she were an Asylum patient. "Hell no," he said, grinning wickedly. "I'd like to do that myself, thanks. But…after I get rid of your sister, I'll need another partner. Stryker doesn't want me to work alone, but I don't know why. I'm perfectly capable—" Victor hesitated and replaced his amused look with a look of malice. "Anyway," he continued scornfully, before being interrupted by Blair.

"Wait," Blair said fearfully, "what is so bad about my sister being your partner?"

Victor's eyes narrowed hatefully. "She's controlling, I told you. Didn't you hear her yesterday?" He scoffed and made his voice shrilly, "'Oh, Stryker said you have to control yourself until you've got Jimmy.'"

Blair swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah….yeah…I remember that…."

"Yeah, well," Victor explained, "'Control' isn't a word that's in my vocabulary. And no matter how many times I've explained that to your sister, she just doesn't seem to understand." Victor's scornful look disappeared and was replaced with a look of eagerness. "So she's gotta go. But that means I'll need a new partner. I'm afraid if I don't have some kind of a partner," he paused and eyed Blair up and down, "then Stryker might call off our, er, agreement…."

"A-agreement?" Blair spluttered, terrified that she was going to say the wrong thing and have her head sliced off.

Victor growled viciously and said, "Never mind that. But—since I need a new partner—that's where you come in." His lips slowly formed into an evil smirk as he spoke.

"Wait…" Blair said carefully, finally beginning to understand what Victor wanted from her. "You want me…to be your…your partner?"

"Smart girl," Victor complimented vaguely.

"But…why me?" Blair croaked. "What am I supposed to do? I'm fourteen…and my power is kind of—"

"Useful," Victor interjected. "Well, at times," he added, smirking.

"Useful?" Blair snorted nervously, sarcasm thick in her voice. "Surrree, right. 'Useful'."

"It is," Victor said coldly. "You can copy my power. And Jimmy's, even. Adamantium and all. D'you have any idea what he went through to get indestructible claws? And all you have to do is touch him and it's all yours."

"Only temporarily," Blair said slowly. "I can only keep them…for…for a few days at the most…."

"Still," Victor replied, shrugging. "I figure that you might be useful to me. I have to catch some more mutants."

Blair swallowed hard and her head started to spin. Her heart also responded by doing a back flip as her stomach became queasy. "S-so…you want…me, a fourteen-year-old mutant, to help you…a…uh…another mutant…kidnap and kill my own kind?"

"Yes," Victor said proudly. "And kill any people, humans or mutants, that get in the way—something your sister wouldn't let me do. She said it would raise suspicions." He snorted disgustedly and smiled pleasantly at Blair.

"I don't get it…" Blair murmured. "If you didn't want my sister to be so controlling…why didn't you just kill her right away?"

"I told you," Victor said impatiently. "Stryker…I didn't think he'd like it much if I killed off my partner…but if I get a new one—" he cut himself off and left Blair to finish the sentence.

"Then he won't care," she mumbled. "But…but…don't you think he won't agree with a…er…fourteen-year-old…helping you?"

"As long as I get the job done I don't think he'll give a damn," Victor replied gleefully, his eyes glinting with eagerness.

"Wait…I need to—" Blair began awkwardly.

However, Victor growled with impatience and gripped Blair by the neck. "No more questions," he snarled, "either you'll help me or you die. Now—which will it be?"

Blair hesitated. She wanted to live—but wouldn't it be considered shallow and very selfish to take part in endangering the lives of others to save herself? And what about the guilt that would burden her conscience for the rest of her life? She couldn't do it…. She glanced up at Victor with deceiving confidence and said in a falsely definite voice, "I'd rather die. I'm not going to kill people."

"You sure?" Victor purred, hiding the way he actually felt about Blair's decision. Shocked. She was willing to die? Die for others? Others she didn't even know? And what about her sister? She wanted her dead, didn't she? Victor knew that if he'd been in Blair's shoes, he would've been pleased to watch an animal rip Emma apart. She'd betrayed her—shown her false concern—didn't Blair want to watch her die?

Blair hesitated. Two little voices were arguing in her head—the selfish and the selfless….

"Take his offer. Survive. You've cheated death a few times already, don't you want to keep the streak going?" the selfish voice echoed in her mind.

However, the selfless voice was quick to argue:

"You're a better person than that, Blair. Killing isn't right. Everyone deserves to live…."

Blair smiled slightly. She was a good person…wasn't she?

"If everyone deserves to live, that means you deserve a chance, too," the selfish voice snapped.

Blair shook her head and swallowed hard. She wouldn't do it…she didn't want any part in murder…. "I'm s-sure," she stammered. "I don't want to be like you—a pitiless killer. I'd rather…die…."

Victor clenched his razor-like teeth. He hadn't been expecting this at all. He'd expected her to be a bit uneasy about the idea, but then agree—pleased that she would live. That her fourteen-year-life wouldn't be stolen from her. But no…she would rather die…she'd rather give herself up for the lives of others…selflessness. It sickened him.

"Hold on," Victor said through his teeth. "What if I told you I was going to kill you slowly, eh? Then would you agree?" Now he had her. Who wanted to die a slow and painful death? She would have to agree.

Blair's face lost all the light color it had gained within the past ten minutes, but she still stood her ground and said in a stern voice, "I still don't agree…."

"Fine," Victor snarled, obviously disappointed with Blair's decision. In his outrage, he jumped on top of Blair, using all his weight to make her feel crushed and helpless. Then, smirking with amusement as well as anger, he said, "Mind if I ask you for something?"

Blair didn't respond. Her voice seemed to be lost, while her eyes were absorbed in fear. So Victor went ahead and spoke again, "How about you scream for me? It makes it more fun." He smiled grimly and brought his claws to Blair's neck, only to yank them away a moment later. "Wait…I did say I was going to kill you slowly, didn't I? Well then, I guess I'll have to be careful—too many scratches and you'll bleed to death—"

[Emma/Danny]

Emma tapped her fingers on the steering wheel of the car, huffing impatiently. "Where is that animal?" she hissed malevolently.

Danny stayed seated in the back of the car, tears silently rolling down his pale cheeks. Emma had tied his hands behind his back, so now he had no chance of escape without being violently murdered. But he wasn't all too worried about that at the moment—Blair had to be dead by now. It had been thirty minutes. She had to be gone….

Danny shook his head furiously and focused on Gambit and Logan who Emma had hauled (with much effort) into the backseat of the car. Now they were seated and tied up next to Danny, still unconscious, still unaware of what was going on. Danny felt oddly hollow as he focused on that fact. He was the only one who had any idea that he was tied up. He wished that either Gambit or Logan would stir, most preferably Logan. Then maybe they could escape…Emma couldn't be that hard to murder…at least, not for Logan….

Danny, feeling a twinge of complete hopelessness as he thought of Blair again, nudged Gambit's foot with his foot. Gambit was closer to him than Logan was. However, Gambit didn't flinch like her normally would—he was too deep in unconsciousness.

Another ten minutes passed. Emma's face was red with fury and impatience, and she seemed to realize something. Hoping out of the car, she giggled shrilly and exclaimed, "Wait, why am I even helping anymore? Blair must be dead by now, right?" She shot Danny a look of excitement, "I've done my part, and what Stryker promised has happened. Blair's gone…dead…." She finished her sentence and smiled broadly. However, Danny thought he noticed a twinge of guilt soften her expression just a bit—but he was probably just imagining things—

Emma, with a feeble sigh and weak giggle that varied incredibly from her usually eager and maniacal ones, said, "Well, I'm off. My part's done. Tell Victor I've left." Then she disappeared into the darkness.

Now Danny was alone with the unconscious Gambit and Logan, with all the chance in the world to escape. So he struggled with the ropes that bound his hands, but no such luck. They were bound too tightly. He felt utterly helplessly and trapped within the backseat of the rusty truck…but he had a feeling it had nothing to do with the fact that his hands were bound behind his back….

---

Hope you enjoyed. (:

Review. ;D