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Flatscans think you can't smell fear. Victor Creed knew better. As he surveyed the broken pens one final time, his nostrils were overwhelmed by the smell. Logan shot him a glance, and they moved to leave. They had rescued the prisoners. Now they just had to get out of here alive. Even as they were moving, he picked up another scent. Besides blood, sweat, and fear he smelled something else. He crept over, one step ahead of Logan. Whoever he was smelling was behind a heavy metal door. The pens were on fire, so whoever was in there was going to be burned alive. He pounded the door, trying to find a weak point. Logan seized his arm.
"Vic? What're you doing?"
"Let go of me."
Logan tugged again. "This whole base is gonna burn - we've done all we can, let's book!"
Victor set his jaw and shoved again. "I'm picking up a scan. I ain't leaving somebody here to die if I got anything to say about it!"
"Then get outta the way or we'll be here all night!" Logan snapped, slicing the door open with his claws.
Victor threw the door out of the way and peered through the opening. Logan exclaimed, "I'll be dipped, there was somebody in there!"
What Victor saw stopped the heart he claimed not to have.
A tiny mutant girl lay curled up on the floor. Whether she was asleep or dead, he couldn't tell. Her clothing was dirty and tattered. Her hair was matted with dried blood. He stooped and picked her up. Her eyes flickered open and he sighed, relieved to see she was alive.
"A kid, Logan . . . somebody's kid . . ." he muttered.
Logan gagged her mouth with a piece of cloth. "Last thing we need is some kid giving our location to the infinities."
The two of them picked their way cautiously over the rubble. After about a quarter of a mile they reached the spot they'd entered from. After that, they had a whole host of places to slink through, sewers to cross, and roads to backtrack on. It would take the better part of an hour. Victor grunted, shifting the girl to his other shoulder. He and Logan darted through the war-torn streets, keeping to the shadows. When they were about halfway home, he dropped over a particularly steep wall, landing with a jolt. The girl whimpered in pain. Logan turned sharply and gave her a dose of knockout spray. She went limp, falling backwards, and for a moment Victor hesitated. Her head fit in the palm of his hand. She felt so delicate. Fragile. That thought lasted but for a moment. He was not one given to sentimentality. He shook his head and kept walking. They reached the hideout without further incident.
*****
As soon as they passed the security measures Logan made a beeline for the fridge. Victor followed him. He grabbed a rag, ran it under the faucet, and rolled his eyes as his teammate ransacked the fridge. He wrung the rag before heading to the living room. The girl was just where he had left her, sitting quietly on the sofa.
"I'm gonna clean you up a bit," he muttered.
Her eyes darted to the rag and she gave a faint nod, looking confused.
Victor began rubbing of the filth that had accumulated on her skin. He could feel his anger slowly rising. Her skin was a faint purple color and mottled with injuries. He saw bruises, more dried blood, burns, and scars, including some that looked to be from barbed wire. He had a healing factor, so he couldn't completely empathize with her pain, but he knew what it felt like to be abused. His anger pounded in his chest. She was without a home, without a family, devoid of love. That would change this instant. He tossed the rag aside and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Relax kid, I ain't gonna hurt you. You can call me Mr. Creed."
She stared at him with wide eyes. "You're not Sugar Man?"
"Who in Avalon's that?" he muttered. "We're the rebellion. Are your parents alive?"
She shook her head slightly. "I've been trapped there ever since they died."
Victor shook his head, looking her over again. "What did those guys even do to you?"
The girl shuddered. "Abyss picks you up and drops you hundreds of feet. Then the next thing you know you can't breathe. He thinks it's funny."
Victor's pulse increased.
"The Dark Beast . . . he'd laugh at me when I screamed. His experiments hurt so badly," she shuddered, hugging herself.
"Who is Sugar Man?" Victor asked softly, even while berating himself for pushing her.
Her eyes widened. "Sugar Man . . . he . . . " She glanced at some of her scars, tears coming to her eyes.
"I'm sorry for asking," Victor said. "I just wanted to figure out how we might take them down."
She sat down beside him, tears falling freely. He wrapped a blanket around her. "If you cry too much you'll get a splittin' headache. Not that I've done it myself."
The girl hiccuped a sob and clamped a hand over her mouth. Victor sighed. He hadn't meant she had to stop crying. Communicating with her was just . . . new territory.
"That wasn't a command," he muttered. "I'm not too good talking with kids."
"That's ok," she mumbled. "Can I sleep here?"
"That's fine, let me find you a -" the girl slumped over on the couch, falling asleep in an instant. " - pillow . . ."
He shrugged and headed to the kitchen. Logan was gnawing absentmindedly on a turkey leg.
"How's the girl?"
"She's sleeping now. She's gonna need some time to heal."
Logan laughed dryly. "Don't we all."
Victor glanced in the fridge and groaned at its contents. "I'm just gonna wait till the rest of the team gets back to eat. Share the misery."
Logan grimaced, tossing the bone away and leaving the room. Victor grabbed a notebook and dropped to the couch. He spent the next few hours adding the information about the villains to their database and musing over potential weaknesses. The door opened and the rest of the team trudged in, all of them except Rogue passing by without so much as a second look. It must have been a particularly hard mission. Rogue broke off and headed towards him, smiling at him.
"You're a father, Vic."
He smiled faintly as his daughter stirred. "It's weird, ain't it? I've only known this pup for a couple hours and I'd be willing to walk into Hell for her."
Rogue tousled the girl's hair. "I know the feeling."
The girl opened her eyes, staring at them with surprise. Victor wondered if she'd heard him. Maybe, maybe not. It didn't make much of a difference. He shrugged.
"Welcome to the X-Men, pup."