The ruckus from below her drew a smile as Angel carried her garment bag along the hallway. Slipping into the loft apartment she called home, she hung it on the back of the door before kicking off her shoes and moving across the room to her desk.
Settling behind the scarred wooden desk she began sorting through the stacks of mail that had accumulated with two days of ignorance. Tossing aside the junk she stacked the bills neatly, each one would be checked, paid, and filed before she went to bed.
Glancing up at the soft knock on her door she frowned, “Come.”
“Uh Miss Angel?” Tiny, dark eyes surrounded by a mop of straight midnight hair stared at her apprehensively.
“Come in Sally. What can I do for you?” She smiled to ease the girl’s fears and rose to walk around the desk. Her apartment was her own space, a place she could go to do nothing or everything if she chose but the door was never really closed to the residence.
“Um I was wondering?”
“About what?” Angel waited for the tiny girl to speak her thoughts.
“Piotr.”
“What about him?” Angel tilted her head slightly and wondered what could be the problem. Most of the girls either ignored him or treated him like an extension of her. That one of the girls was worried about him bothered him.
“Is he comin’ by tonight?”
“Of course he is. Why? Do you not want him to?” Angel traced a gentle hand over the girl’s dark hair. “Does he frighten you?”
The girl flushed and shrugged, “No. I heard he’s one of the enforcers. One of your policeman and I was kinda hopin he could chase away the bad men.”
“Bad men?” Angel paused and smiled softly before pulling the girl closer to her. “I promise you this, Sally, no one and I mean no one is gonna hurt you. If they tried it everyone would fight for you. I don’t want you to worry about someone coming from the past; I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“But Piotr’s bigger and stronger than they are. He’s never tried to hurt me, tried to make me do bad, dirty things.”
“Baby,” Angel paused catching the faint but distinct flinch from her ward. “Sally, I hope that someday you can look beyond what you’re feeling. Fear is no way to live, but you know what. It doesn’t make you weak. Now Piotr will stand up for you, he’d stand up for any of the girls.”
“Does he stand up for you?”
Angel shrugged, a warm, knowing smile crossing her face. “Yes he does, even when it’s me that’s he has to fight. I give you my word, Mentor isn’t coming back.”
Sally nodded and rose to her feet, her hands covered by the sleeves of her sweater. Even in ninety degree weather every inch of her body was covered, a defense mechanism if ever Angel had seen one. “I trust him, and that’s not easy. I better get back; I’ve still got some homework.”
Angel nodded and watched the girl slip out into the corridor. As soon as she was certain she was gone she rose and walk to the window. Staring down at the street below her she felt the anger rolling within her.
She flexed her fingers feeling the sadistic pleasure she’d gotten out of watching Mentor being destroyed. She’d started small within his organization, stealing the odd child from him, faking deaths, interrupting his supply lines. Everything had been planned, every move choreographed to destroy at the basic level.
Killing his business had take her months, killing his soul had taken all of twenty minutes. She’d killed the most important thing in his life, beyond his business. Glancing at the filing cabinet beside her she moved to it and opened the top drawer, pulling out a folder and opening it.
Angel stared down into the face of a young woman, her eyes haunted, a fake smile upon her face. Oh yes, she’d destroyed everything that man had ever had, and saved more than just the souls of the girls on the streets.
“Who’s that?” Piotr’s voice drew her attention.
A bolt of shock raced through her and she gasped, jerking to her feet, her body primed for a fight. “Damn it! Don’t scare me like that, I could’ve drained you dry!”
“I’m not so sure you’d do that.” Piotr dropped a kiss on her cheek and refocused her attention. “Who’s the girl?”
“Her name’s Emily Franks.” Angel said tracing over the glossy 8 x 10 with care. “She works for me.”
“I kinda figured that. Where’d you meet her?”
“Kansas.” Angel replied. “In a shit hole that would have made Logan’s skin crawl.”
Piotr flinched and stared down at the picture. “Do I want to know details?”
Angel shook her head. “Only if you want nightmares.”
“Okay, just tell me how you came to get her.”
“She was part of the take down of Mentor.”
A quick jerk of his head and Piotr was staring into the blue eyes of his girl. “Is he back?”
“No. Not that I’m aware of. Sally’s been scared that he would come back and I’ve been trying to convince her otherwise. He won’t be back.”
“Where is he?”
Angel smiled a cold, sadistic grin. “I took care of him. Left what there was of him at the bottom of a lake in Washington.”
“I don’t even want to know. Did you make arrangements for security for tomorrow night?” A swift change of topic and Angel slapped the folder shut.
“Yes. Bulldog, Deke and Reaper will be here for three days. They’ll stay tonight, be around during the day tomorrow so that the girls know they’re here then they’ll lay low until day after tomorrow. They’re the first line of defense for these girls and I won’t…”
“Don’t explain.” Raising a hand, Piotr halted her explanation. “A simple yes would have done. Do you have any questions or concerns about the function at Xavier’s?”
“How many people are going to be there?”
“Around five hundred. They’re men and women from all of his dealings. He’s after money and they have lots.”
Angel snorted, “And why am I going? I haven’t got a fortune.”
“You’re going to decorate my arm.” Piotr chuckled and kissed her neck. “And to show ‘em what a real woman is.”
“Mmm, you do realize that they might have a problem with you bringing an ex-whore and…”
“Some whore.” Piotr whispered in her ear. “I saw that delightful little stain on the sheets the first night we made love.”
Angel glanced at him and shook her head. “Enough. Tell me more about these functions. I need to know all the details you can spare if I’m to fit in. Besides, why shouldn’t I work the room to? Perhaps I could convince some of those wealthy people to spread a few pennies my way.”
“Good idea.” Sinking onto the heavy easy chair, Piotr leaned back. “They’re black tie of course. Security is always done by residence. Charles is always prepared for anything, he’s a telepath.”
“Who on your team will be there?” Angel asked settling across from him a tall glass of coke in her hand.
“Hmm, hard to say. Depends on if there’s a mission. But you’re looking at Bobby Drake, Rogue, Logan, Ororo Monroe, Hank McCoy, Scott Summers, Jean Greye, Kitty Pryde…”
“So both Alpha and Beta teams?”
“Pretty much. Logan doesn’t really like going to ‘em but he’ll do it for Rogue. Besides, he’s the head of security so he has to stick close.”
Angel nodded thoughtfully, “Any mutations I should be concerned about? I mean beyond the telepath?”
“It’s not a battle, it’s a fancy dinner.” Piotr pointed out. “And no. There are a multitude of mutations but they’re not bad people. Logan might be a bit of a pain in the ass, he followed me the other night. Not sure what all he saw or heard but…”
“I can work with that. Rogue’ll keep him in line, I hope. What about my tats?”
“What about ‘em?”
“If I’m not wearing my charms I have to have a safety back-up. I don’t want to pick up the silverware and absorb the energy.” Angel frowned as she thought about it. “I’ll have to let my tats show.”
“Angel, honey you don’t have to do anything. Now, this is gonna be easy. You just be who you are and if they say anything, we’ll just leave. Enough talk about Saturday night, lets talk about something else.”
“Like what?” Angel giggled as he pulled her into his lap.
“Dinner. Jack is waiting for us downstairs, we have reservations at Reno’s and you are just too sexy.”
“Reno’s huh?”
“Yep.”
“In that case, I’d better get changed. I’ll be as quick as I can.”
Piotr leaned back against his chair and watched her snag clothing before slipping into the bathroom. He wondered if Logan would realize just what he had started, if he would recognize the young woman that was such a big part of a world that few even knew existed. Exhaling sharply, he raked his hands through his hair, resolved to let his Logan problem sort itself out.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000