What The Cat Dragged In Ch. 28

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"Oh come on, even you-"

"Even I what? Strong female like her can do damn near anything, but none of it'll make her happy 'less she's got an alpha male who ain't afraid to show her she ain't in charge all the time. Men have always been good at collecting shit and I'm better than most at that. Didn't realize it was all just shit 'til I had her. I don't see what's so different about that."

Jimmy paused in front of the ape's office door, an eyebrow quirked curiously.

"What?" Creed only stopped long enough to shift the books to his other arm.

The ape stood when the door opened. The frail was resting on her hip with her feet drawn up under her in the chair. She smiled at him.

"Don't you ever knock?" The ape almost growled.

Creed grinned. "Not when my frail is on the other side of the door." He looked at her. "You finished?"

"Yes." She walked over to him, her eyes fixed on the books. "What're those?"

He shrugged. "You're gonna need textbooks for your classes."

She stopped and stared at him. Anger and something akin to pain or betrayal crossed her face. Her scent was a muddle of all of those spiced with confusion. "I said I didn't want to stay."

"You think I'm gonna leave you here you're fucking nuts. You gonna stand there all day or are you gonna come with me so I can explain?"

*~*~*~*~*~*

Kelly balanced on the edge of the bed Victor wasn't currently occupying and wondered if his penchant for napping was part of his feline nature, or if he simply took the opportunity to sleep when he found it. The reason wasn't all that important to her. It was a chance to be close to him.

A snore rumbled through his chest, his fingers twined loosely in her hair. For a time, that and the feeling of his skin against hers was all there was in the world. Then she thought of the stack of books on the nightstand behind her. She'd almost cried when he told her and now tears welled up again. She appreciated the chance to finish, but more than that she was glad to be able to come back here.

She couldn't tell him that, not in those words. For all of his explosions of ego and brash posturing, she knew that Victor feared losing her to this place and the people in it. She couldn't see how that would ever happen, not in the way he thought it would. Living under the weight of rules and the scrutiny of so many others, seemed like an anemic existence at best, a maddening struggle at worst. Cassie wasn't quite the same as the rest, but she had become a stranger in the intervening years. Still, something inside her needed a connection to Cassie and the others, even if she didn't fully trust them. She didn't have the words to explain that to Victor, and reassurances of loyalty would only upset him more.

Victor growled in his sleep, his hand tightened in her hair. Kelly arched against him, rubbing her bare skin against his. The low rumble trailed off into a deep moan. His fingers loosened. She smiled. The rest of the world was confusing. This made sense. Kelly closed her eyes.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Kelly ran through her mental checklist while she pulled the sheets out of the dryer. Everything was packed. The place was cleaner than when she found it. She folded the pillowcases quickly, then spread the fitted sheet out on the bed upside down and started folding the fitted sides in so that it was a flatter rectangle. Kelly tried not to dwell on the uncertainty of the rest of it. She sharpened the folds of the sheet and started to bring the corners together. Of the places she knew of, Chicago was probably the best possibility. The place was like a comfortable fortress, suitable for hiding out for a weekend or surviving a plague of zombies. Probably. She smirked as she folded the sheet into a careful square.

The house in Maine was more luxurious and they both felt more comfortable there, but the land was so expansive and there were so many ways in. She doubted the security system was as simple as it looked, but it still didn't seem like the best place. Of course that didn't count all the other places she didn't know about yet. She probably never would know about all of them.

She spread the flat sheet out and smoothed it. The fact that she had a good idea of where they were going this time didn't cure her nervousness, or the ache that had started in her heart. She brought the corners of the sheet together and tried to focus on the fact that she would be back.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Victor was standing in the doorway. Curiosity had overtaken annoyance for the moment.

She glanced down at the bed. "Finishing up folding the sheets. I couldn't leave them bloody and-"

He walked into the room and pointed at the bed. "That's how you do it?"

She shrugged a little. "Well, yeah. My arms aren't long enough to just fold them the regular way."

He rolled his eyes. "Get over there and pick up that end." He grabbed the foot of the sheet. She picked up the other end. "You could've just left it."

She brought the corners together when he did. "Left them like they were? Whoever saw them would think that-"

"Frail, nothing either one of us ever does is gonna change what they think about me."

"Do we have to reinforce it?" She brought the edges of the sheet toward him and took the edges he was holding.

His eyebrows drew together. For a moment, Kelly thought she'd angered him. Then he smirked, the tips of his fangs poking at his lower lip. "Too fuckin' much. This the last thing you got to do or you got some kinda list of useless shit?"

Kelly stacked the folded sheets on the bed. "This was the last thing. It's almost six-thirty, isn't it?"

He shrugged. "So? Conlon'll wait."

Her heart started to pound. "He's here?"

"He called me from the gate just before I came in here."

Kelly took a deep breath and looked around the room. She carefully avoided his eyes.

He stood behind her and wrapped one heavy arm around her shoulders. "You gonna bawl?"

She smiled a little and rested her head against his bicep. "Maybe."

He bumped his head against hers. "C'mon."

Kelly followed him out into the kitchen. He handed her her coat from the hook by the door. A sharp knock made her jump.

Victor opened to door. "Can't wait to get rid of me, can you runt?"

"You know what they say about fish and relatives." Logan grabbed her suitcase.

"I dunno, when you remember to take a shower you smell half tolerable most of the time."

Jimmy fixed a flat stare on him, then he looked at Kelly. "You have everything?"

She gave a smile that wavered more than she had hoped for. "Yes, thank you."

He started out the door. Victor grabbed his own bags with one hand and grasped Kelly's arm with the other, leading her out into the cold evening. The walk down the dark path seemed to take even longer than usual, but once they emerged into the bright moonlight in the driveway, Kelly could see Conlon talking with Professor Xavier. Cassie stood close by. Even from a distance, Kelly could tell that her friend was close to tears.

"Conlon, get the back open." Victor headed toward a dark-colored SUV. Conlon said something to the professor and trotted over to the back of the vehicle. Victor and Logan followed. For a minute Kelly couldn't move. She took a deep breath and walked over to the professor.

He smiled at her and offered his hand. Kelly took it. "I can't say that I'm pleased to see you go, but I am very pleased we were able to help you recover."

"I don't know how to thank you." She smiled a little and glanced back at the three men standing by the SUV. Conlon and Logan were making uncomfortable small talk. Victor was watching her. She looked back at the professor. "I know this wasn't exactly on your to-do list."

He chuckled. "No, but opportunities are usually unexpected. Victor told you that you'll be returning here in a few weeks?"

She nodded. "He told me. I appreciate the chance."

"It's my pleasure. I want you to know that my door is always open to you."

Kelly's smile was forced. She took her hand away. "Hank said the same thing."

"Kelly you have every right to decide what you want from your life. Just know that this is a place of respite as well as a place of learning. Sometimes we all need to spend a little time with ourselves."

There was nothing but sincerity in his voice, but to Kelly it was too practiced to be fully believable. She nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

He smiled. "That's all I ask."

Kelly looked at Cassie. The other girl's lip was trembling. That was all it took. The tears that Kelly had been holding back started to stream down her cheeks. She hugged Cassie and held on tight.

"Sophie and Lucy wanted to come," Cassie said. "They weren't allowed."

Kelly nodded. She didn't trust her voice.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Creed leaned back against the side of the vehicle and watched the scene unfold in front of him. The old man was talking about opportunities. Creed knew exactly what opportunity that was too, but the frail didn't need to know she'd been a bargaining chip. From her posture, he could tell that the frail was on her guard too. The wind was blowing the wrong way to tell anything from her scent. The fact that she pulled her hand away spoke volumes though. A slight smile touched the corners of his lips.

The frail moved away from the old man to the blond girl. He knew they were both crying. It might have been touching if the old bastard wasn't using the girl as emotional manipulation. The girl didn't know it and he was pretty sure the frail didn't either. Something else he'd keep from her. Wouldn't work. That kind of shit was most effective when you used a family member, a threat and salted it with some blood and screaming for effect. This whole 'look what you'll be missing' shit wasn't going to do anything except draw this out.

Course the old man might be counting on that too. It'd make him look like an ass if he pulled the frail away. Plant that little seed of doubt in the frail's mind that he might be exactly the kind of bastard they kept saying he was. He took a deep breath and waited.

"Gettin' impatient?" Jimmy asked.

Creed didn't have to look at his brother to hear the smirk in his voice.

"Nope. Just trying to figure out why your boss would let one of his precious students breathe the same air as me."

"You're sure he had an ulterior motive? She's Kelly's best friend."

Creed fixed a flat look on his brother. "He's breathing, ain't he?"

The frail pulled away from the blond and started walking toward him.

Creed smiled a little. He stared at the old man. The old man stared back. Even at a distance he could see the old man's eyes narrow for a flicker of a second. Kelly wiped her eyes and walked faster. She smiled at him, then at Conlon.

"I thought you were dead," she said.

Conlon smiled. "I thought the same thing about you. We're both tougher than we look I guess."

"You two wanna be alone?" Creed put a little growl into the words. She would know it wasn't as serious as it sounded. Conlon might not, but he didn't give a shit about that.

She smiled at him. "No." She turned to Jimmy. Her smile changed to something less intimate. "I'm glad I got the chance to meet you."

He nodded and started to walk away.

"Runt!"

Jimmy turned. "What?"

Creed shrugged. "You're a fucking self-righteous pain in the ass, but you're less of a pain in the ass than I remember."

A smile twitched the corner of Jimmy's mouth. "You too, brother." He turned his back and walked back toward the old man.

Creed looked at the frail. "C'mon." He looked at Conlon. "You're driving." He opened the back door of the SUV and Kelly got in. He followed.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Kelly wouldn't let herself look back as they started down the long driveway. As the gates swung open before them, the ache that had been building in her heart turned into a sharp pain that took her breath away. She looked out the side window and reminded herself that she would be in touch with Cassie and she would even be coming back here. In her mind, she replayed the lectures about the dangers of being with Victor and the shocked stares. She reminded herself of the way he'd been treated like a dangerous animal and then told herself that there was probably plenty more that she didn't know about because of the length of time she'd been in a coma. Staying would have meant losing Victor, and as much as driving away hurt, losing him would have been unbearable.

She took a deep breath and watched the inky scenery slipping by.

"You traveled with Stan, right?" Victor was the first one to speak. Kelly wasn't sure how long it had been, but she knew that her emotions were finally under control.

She turned toward him. "Sometimes. Mostly just for local stuff."

"So you didn't fly?"

"Fly?" Kelly gave a short laugh. "Even if he wasn't too cheap, Stan thought the government kept files on people who flew."

Victor looked at her. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Kelly shrugged. "I don't know. I never could figure it out either."

Victor shook his head. "Crazy motherfucker. Anyways, we're flying to Chicago."

Kelly's heart started to pound again. "I can't!"

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because you need ID to even get close to a plane. I don't have that, and even if I had the documents to get one, I'm legally dead." She fixed her eyes on the edge of the pocket on the back of Conlon's seat.

"Thought about getting you a fake, but a good fake takes time. 'Sides, all that don't mean shit unless you're going commercial. I fucking hate flying commercial and I just spent too damn long cooped up with other people."

Victor was silent, but Kelly could feel him watching her. She kept her eyes firmly on the pocket. Even in the dim light, she could tell it was poorly designed. Probably something that had been added later for the convenience of passengers. It made her certain that this was a rental. Victor didn't plan for passengers. She tried to put together what he was saying, but nothing made sense. "Then, how-?"

"First thing I learned when I went into business for myself was that you always do a little extra for the customers. Go that extra mile. Means they owe you, and stacked up favors always come in handy." His head was tilted toward the window, but his eyes were turned toward her. "About eight months ago, I took care of a couple little matters for a guy who owns a private jet. Haven't had a good enough reason to call in the favor until now."

Kelly stroked the side of his hand with her little finger. He turned to look at her. She smiled a little, so did he.

They rode in silence the rest of the way to a small airport. As soon as they turned down the access road, the feeling of arriving at that other airport flooded Kelly's mind. The desperate fear pumped through her with every rapid beat of her heart. She squeezed her eyes shut against it.

He gripped her hand tight enough to bring tears to her eyes. It pulled her out of the past and out of her own head. She took a deep breath, then nodded at him. He eased his grip on her hand, but didn't let go.

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12 Comments
tanilctanilcover 12 years ago

i am all caught up now and i just want to say that this story is amazing and i cant wait to read more. thanks so much for all your hard work.

AnonymousAnonymousover 12 years ago
feed up

okay, I've been on this site for three years now ,and this is the first comment I've ever left

... I'm not going to brag about how much I have pinned over your story, taking up space in my phone, bookmarking, and saving places in my computer and missing sleep reading your story. I know it takes time to create a great story. I just prey it will not take an entire year.

sincerely,

Hooked

AnonymousAnonymousover 12 years ago
Caught Up!

I have only recently caught up with your writings. 179,000 + words later - thank you so much for a superb story. Your next chapter asap please but only when it is truly ready>

Thank you again.

Lofty

AnonymousAnonymousover 12 years ago
fantastic story written by the best

your story is so awesome, i cant wait for the new chapter. hope u post sooner, please, please, please.

KatLadyKatLadyover 12 years ago
It's amazing . . .

how u make the good guys appear as self-righteous pricks yet still the same characters we love. I've never looked at the story from Victor's point of view--very thought provoking.

Please don't make us wait another month for another chapter.

Btw--she's pregnant, right????

kat

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