Desperado

Ok I know I did this once – sort of – but well it just has to be redone. The idea is just too good NOT to play with it – and this time gets more of the goodness that is Marvel involved. This is somewhat AU, post X1, completely disregards X2 and 3. So all the usual I don't own them – except any OC's I create. Yes it is loosely based on the song by the Eagles. Sorry it took so long to finish…my life's been crazy lately.

Summary: It was just another job – but it ended up changing his life. Now he's faced with a difficult choice, can he pull himself out of the darkness and blood that consumes his life, or will he drag her down with him.

Chapter 11

He was running, a crowd behind him and he couldn't seem to get away. He could hear their screams of hate, feel the sticky blood on his hands, his face, his chest, and down his legs. He could smell it, the hot coppery scent overpowering even the fresh scent of the forest he was running through. He didn't see the drop, just felt the ground go out from under his feet as he slid down the damp embankment. Suddenly he was surrounded by clutching hands, or roots he wasn't sure which but they grabbed a hold and he lashed out his claws slashing through but still they grabbed.

The sudden light shocked him, as the door to the cellar opened, and she walked in. She was dressed in light blue, skirt so long she seemed to be floating instead of walking. He cringed back against the wall not wanting her to see the blood on his hands and face.

"shhhh, Baby, shhhh It's alright, I'm here, they won't hurt you anymore." The words were ones he didn't remember. Neither was the scent, or the warm presence next to his body.

He started awake, his instincts taking over before he could think, and he had her pressed under his body on the mattress, hands pinned over her head, one of his massive thighs forced between hers, his lips curled in a snarl.

"Victor, it's alright." She whispered.

"Jo…" He moaned as his body reacted faster than his brain again. She was wearing a slip of a gown, the only thing between her skin and his, and his claws quickly shredded that. It was her bare skin, and scent that shocked him back to reality. She wasn't afraid, he could smell her aroused scent and it frightened him.

"Victor, I'm here. I love you." She whispered, as she leaned her head back, exposing her throat to him. The predator in him took over as his lips and then his teeth stroked the column of her neck, before gently taking the muscle between her shoulder and neck between his teeth. Her moan, and the way she arched her back under him, rubbing her moist heat against the thigh pressed between hers caused his control to slip through his fingers as he bit down. Her blood was hot in his mouth but not as hot or as sweet as the scent coming from her body. His instincts were out of control and it was like his mind was cut off from his body, unable to stop it. He felt her claws rake down his back as he surged into her, he could hear her whimpers and cries but his mind couldn't control his body, couldn't stop himself from taking what he wanted.

The scream in his ears as he felt a strange constriction of the muscles surrounding him inside her body, and the sudden increase in her pheromonal scent pushed his body over the edge and he roared against her neck as his body surged, pouring his seed into his mate's womb.

He just laid there, his face in the pillow next to her head, praying she wouldn't smell the tears. She had to hate him; now after everything he'd gone and done the one thing he'd been trying to avoid. The sudden pain in his neck shocked him back to himself. She BIT him!

His body reacted strangely, not with aggression, but with another surge of lust. He didn't understand it, but her tongue tracing the outline of her teeth on his skin made his hips buck against hers where they were still joined.

"Mmmm keep that up…." She whispered against his neck.

"What…" He lifted his head and looked down at her face. There was blood on the pillow under where he'd bitten her, drying on her neck, and his blood drying on her lips, but it was the glow in her face that had him confused.

"Baby that feels fantastic." She purred…she actually purred he could feel it against his chest. Her hips moved against him, and he groaned. She was right it did feel fantastic. His senses were out of control, he could hear her racing heart, her panting breaths as she moved her hips against his again, and then she wrapped those legs that felt like velvet against his skin around his waist and he felt himself slide deeper inside her and gave in to his instincts again.

It was hours later when she collapsed against his chest, both of them temporarily spent. He wrapped his arms around her and let his eyes close again in sleep. He wasn't ever letting her go now.

He started awake, but she was gone. He moaned, and almost chalked it up to a dream until he saw the dried blood on the sheets, his moan changed to a groan and then a roar as he realized just how much blood there was.

Victor I need you in the ready room. Josephine is fine.

He growled but grabbed a clean pair of jeans and walked into the bathroom. Her scent was all over it, and he relaxed a little as he realized that she'd been comfortable enough to use his bathroom. He climbed into the shower and rinsed off the blood and other detritus of the night.

Ten minutes later he was sitting at the holographic table ready to kill something.

"Josephine, Kitty, Piotr, Logan and Jean left this morning on a mission to try to disrupt activities on Genosia. The transponder on the Blackbird stopped transmitting ten minutes ago." Victor glanced at both Rogue and Scott, the fear for their mates filling the room, and he smelled something else he wasn't use to, the sickly sweet smell of his own fear.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

She hated this place, wanted to burn it to the ground. She also felt guilty leaving Victor there like that, but she knew he'd want to come and she couldn't handle another killing rage on a mission. She and Logan had talked on the plane and come to the conclusion that it was her mating instinct that caused the killing rage on the last mission.

"I feel sorry for anyone that touches your cubs, Darlin." Logan laughed.

"Why's that?" Jo glanced at him across the body of the plane.

"If you got that riled up over Creed getting hurt, God help the world when your maternal instincts kick in…a lot sooner than you think…" Logan glared at her.

"What?"

"Did you have to fuck him last night?"

"What I do with my fiancé is my business, Logan."

"Yours – his – and now…the baby." Logan growled.

"Look who's talking – Mr. The Condom Broke…."

"FUCK Creed…" Logan muttered, but then laughed. "Well no help for it now, and we ain't turnin back. This is your show kid."

They were on a ridge; she could still smell Victor's scent, stale and faint, where he'd laid on this same spot to rescue her. She knew he had to be pissed, she'd just run off this morning, but they'd been planning this mission for days and after her reaction to him being hurt, she didn't want to risk it again, so they'd substituted Logan instead.

She caught the scent but it was already too late. All she heard was Pete's curse, Logan's roar and Kitty's choked off whimper before everything went black.

She woke up in the same holding cell as before, but this time there was no pain behind her ear. She glanced around, Kitty and Jean were with her, and Jean was just removing the chip from behind Kitty's ear. Everything was going according to plan – so far.

"Where are the others?" Jo asked Jean.

"One cell over they evidently separate men and women." Jean glanced at Jo, her eyes glowing red. Even the Genosians couldn't deal with the Phoenix unleashed, something Jo had counted on.

"Remember Jean, No MUTANTS." Jo hissed.

"Right…Humans only." Jo hated that voice, and what it meant, but since Jean had gained control over her darker side, and her full powers, it was best not to ask too many questions, and make sure instructions were very clear. The only downside to the whole mission was that what Jean planned on doing was going to disable all electronics on the island, including the mutation suppression chips, and the Blackbird. Kitty had downloaded the memory core, and they had backup equipment that was locked away on the plane to replace what they would need to get out of here, but the transponder would go out, and that would cause worry and concern at home.

"Get on it Jean." Jo whispered a sinking feeling in her gut. She'd killed, to save her mate, but she'd never have the pure cold hate that Phoenix had, to just kill. She wanted to keep the deaths to a minimum, but she knew Phoenix wouldn't care.

She heard the distinctive pop of the door lock, and the three of them rushed into the hallway. There were piles of dust on the ground and Logan and Pete came out of a neighboring door, blood dripping down behind Pete's ear as his body transformed to its metal state.

"Let's find Thirty Two." Jo said, as she brushed the dust that had been a human guard off her boot. She forced her stomach under control; she'd worry about the repercussions of letting Jean loose later, right now, she wasn't leaving these mutants in slavery.

Jean started to sway, even Phoenix's power wasn't unlimited, and Logan slipped an arm around her waist to support her. He just nodded at Jo, a hard glint in his eyes, and they slipped down the corridor, avoiding the dust piles on the way.

She heard his muttered comment and just filed it away for later. "I didn't think you had it in ya, kid…you are definitely Victor Creed's mate."

She glanced back at him, but kept moving.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What the hell is goin' on?" He snarled as they watched the compound. Everything was in confusion, and then he saw Jo and the girl, the one who'd helped her, Thirty Two. Logan was supporting Jean, and he heard Scott's intake of breath.

"I knew they were up to something, but nothing like this, she might be your fiancé, but I'll kill her if she's hurt Jean."

"Over my dead body." Victor snarled at the boy scout. "What I want to know is how she talked Chuck into this?"

Victor we will discuss the why's later, for now get both jets ready to go, the first team is on the way.

"You'll tell me why now…why you let my mate be the one to order this."

I didn't she's following my orders.

"After nearly one hundred years of this crap, you finally decide to do something about it, I ain't buyin…" He snarled out loud. Scott glanced at him through the glasses but nodded.

Very well, I was made aware of Genosian plans to breed mutants with healing factors, I knew they would be coming after Jo, she agreed to be bait. Kitty's father has been working undercover for me as a programmer in Genosia, and the information he has sent has been very reliable. They have been very close to implementing complete world domination of mutants using these suppression chips, I regret the deaths necessary to stop them, but they were necessary.

"Fuck you, Old Man; you have more blood on your hands than I do. I'm takin' Jo and getting out. I thought you were the good guys, maybe you are – maybe not, but I'm not lettin' my girl do this again." He could smell the anger from Scott for questioning the Professor and it just made him even angrier.

The team came into sight, and he smelled her relief, then fear, then shame at what she'd done. He didn't glance left or right, just swept her up into his arms, and felt her body start to shake. He'd been worried about taking her innocence…but it was Xavier that raped her soul.

"Thirty Two and the others are taking control of the island." Logan said as they topped the ridge.

"Both jets are ready to go." Scott said coolly as he took his wife from Logan's supporting arm.

"Let's get out of here." Victor could smell the bitterness in Logan and realized he wasn't the only one unhappy with the day's results. The repairs were completed in silence. Jean was passed out on one of the bench seats and Jo wasn't talking, just leaning on his shoulder.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She didn't say anything for three days…and then she threw up. He waited, patiently, for her to finally start talking. He knew she wasn't happy about what happened, and she knew he wasn't either. They didn't avoid each other, but she went back to her room instead of sharing his. He could smell it, she knew he could, but they didn't discuss the life growing inside her.

One morning he couldn't stand it anymore, he started packing his bag. Logan was standing at the door, and didn't say anything, just dropped a set of keys on the dresser and turned and walked away. He looked at the keys – to Logan's truck – and nodded. He wouldn't refuse help from the Runt – not now.

She walked in the door while he was packing and didn't say a word, just dropped her already packed bag next to his. He wrapped his arms around her, and let her tears wet the front of his shirt. He was going to make a difference, one way or the other, and he was going to start here and now. He couldn't do things Xavier's way, he couldn't do things Magneto's way, but he was going to do things HIS way…THEIR way.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too." He whispered back, then grabbed both of their bags and headed out the door, he knew she was right behind him as he dropped the bags in the back of the beat up truck, and made sure the straps were tight on both of their bikes in the trailer.

They both climbed into the cab, and he answered her small smile as they both clicked the seatbelts into place. Maybe he didn't obey rules very well, but he was going to make his own rules, and maybe – just maybe find his path along the way.