Five
"Are there others?" Charles Xavier asked.
Victor felt the slight pressure that informed him he was no longer alone in his own mind.
Fuck if he cared if the Xavier snooped, it wasn't like he had anything to hide, and telepaths were fun to fuck with any day- just feeling the revulsion of the old man when Victor contemplated a new 'cat-and-mouse' game was enough to bring a smile to Victor's lips. No, it was the presumption that grated more than the actual snooping.
If he'd decided to call the X-Men to begin with he could have just left the girl in the lab and wouldn't even be in this mess. Stupid instincts.
"At least ten kids. Maybe others. This one though... She- Laura is-" Victor let his thoughts tell what his words couldn't describe.
"Are you certain of this?"
"Pretty damned sure." Victor bristled.
"Logan is already out on an errand. I will send him your way."
The line went silent for a moment, as the old man pushed an image into his brain.
"He'll be there, tomorrow."
'There' was at least two-hundred miles due east.
"You can't come get the brat in your fucking jet?" Sure, he'd been half planning on driving and dumping the kid off on them without preamble, but now that he had called the old man, it made sense that Xavier would send a team for her.
That the telepath left her in his care for any extended period of time meant he was scheming.
Victor Creed had avoided his brother since a stint on top of Lady Liberty. And the encounter some time before that had been the reason Sabretooth had been angling for revenge. Not that he'd quite remembered it at the time, but hey, that's what adamantium to the frontal lobe would do for you when you're fucking allergic to the shit in the first place. Two half-immortal amnesiac brothers trying to kill each other was a riot any day, but his mind had healed. James' though...
"Victor, see this for the opportunity that it is. This conversation between you is long overdue."
He ended the call and didn't bother thanking the telepath.
Fuck off, Wheels.
The presence lingered for a moment longer before fading.
All told, he still wasn't sure he'd made the right call with bringing the X-Men into it. Victor doubted they could handle the kid, but with the alternatives being Erik's Brotherhood or Victor himself... With Xavier's lot, she'd at least have Jimmy, not that Jimmy knew jack shit when it came to raising a feral.
Not that he was much better, but Victor knew for certain that what Laura needed wasn't him.
Sabretooth returned to the hotel where he stashed the kid. He'd told her to stay put, clean up, and sleep, when he left, and the lack of a kid shaped lump in the bed coupled with the splashing noises in the bathroom indicated she was still doing the 'clean up' part of the agenda. He didn't know what he would have done if she'd been missing when he came back. Probably something stupid like freaking the fuck out and tracking her down.
Though his foray into the fifth circle of hell that was the department store seemed like an endless torment, Victor had barely been gone half an hour by the clock. So, he didn't begin to question the fact the girl was still in the bath until he realized she was still in there twenty minutes later.
He listened more closely, turning the tv down. He could hear her, but the sound was oddly muffled, and there were far more 'swishes' and 'splashes' than absolutely necessary.
"Everything good in there?" Victor shouted through the closed door.
After a few moments of silence, he heard a very small, "help."
Victor opened the door and was greeted by a wall of bubbles overflowing from the tub. A tiny, round face peaked through the bubbly gloom, visibly relieved. He heard the slither or claws retracting.
He found the empty bubble bottle on the floor, declaring a concentrated, longer lasting formula.
"Really? The whole goddamned bottle, Laura?"
"It smelled good," She declared, matter-of-factly.
Victor rescued the brat, shoving a towel in her general direction and pointing her toward the bag of clothes.
The bathroom would stink of unicorn vomit for the rest of the night. So much for springing for a room with a 'deluxe, king-sized tub.'
A/N: I know several of you wanted it to be Erik, but it's not this time. Sorry. Maybe it will be the next time Victor needs help from an 'old man.' ;)