DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They make me write faster.

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CHAPTER 8

Heather and Marie were putting the toys back into the boxes and shelves, while one little boy still sat drawing at a table - all his classmates were already at home or were just picked up. "Vincent is one of the few in the all day kindergarten program. His father is a single parent and I think he's a high animal in Langley." The older woman hitched her brows. "I mean that literally."

"His father is a mutant?" Marie was now curious to meet that man and maybe talk with him about his son's manifestation.

Nodding Heather further lightened her voice, now aware that the child might hear her even from the other end of the room. "He's charming the one moment and in the next he's creepy. I never wanna be alone with him in a room." She saw a black SUV turn into the school's parking lot and shuddered. "When you speak of the devil..." She wanted to make the boy's father leave as soon as possible, so she got the child ready to go – as usually. "Vincent, your dad is here. C'mon, I'll help you with your coat."

The little boy jumped up from the chair and let the crayon fall onto the stack of white papers. He ran over to the two women, his newest picture in hand and a shy smile on his lips. Marie grinned as the toddler came to a halt in front of her and held his drawing up above his head. "For you," whispered the boy and waited for Marie to kneel down and take the sheet of paper from him.

The brunette was touched by this gesture – she hadn't thought to be accepted and liked by the kids this fast. "For me?" A nod. "Thank you very much, Vincent!" She scrutinized the yellow and green dots and remembered the yellow flower she had picked on the playground to put into the ponytail of little Karin, who had cried about her damaged Hello-Kitty scrunchy. "That's a beautiful flower, sweetie!" Her praise made the child beam at her and she ruffled his hair.

"That's quite a honor to be presented with one of his drawings," rang a gruff voice from the door frame and Marie looked up with a 'huh?', startled by the familiarity of the voice. Before the young woman could get a coherent word over her lips, Vincent had spun around and ran smiling towards the large man, hugging his leg tightly. "Daddy!"

"Had a good day, cub?" A clawed hand ruffled the boy's dark hair and the small guy looked up into his father's smirking features, nodding vigorously. "That's good."

"Hallo, Mr. Creed," greeted Heather and even Marie could smell her fear in the air.

"Hallo." His blue eyes locked with Marie, who finally stood up. "So that's your new occupation? Could have mentioned it."

"Ya didn't ask," brought the brunette eventually out, still baffled to see Victor of all people in a place like this.

Grunting, he rolled his eyes and picked his son up. "C'mon, Marie. I'll drop you off at your apartment."

"Umm..." Marie wasn't sure if she was already allowed to leave, so she casted a questioning look at her boss. It would spare her the bus-ride cross-town. "Heather..."

The woman in question was still in shock that the new one was apparently friends with that creepy man – the same she wanted to leave as soon as possible. "S-sure." She held Vincent's coat out for Marie to take. "We'll see us tomorrow, Marie."

The brunette smiled and took the cloth. "Thank you! Bye!" and sprinted out the door and caught up with the two ferals, who had just turned to leave.

X

"So, daddy, why didn't ya mention your bundle of joy?" Marie finally asked as Victor had strapped his son into the safety seat in the back and had presented him with a chocolate muffin and then sat down next to her in the driver's seat.

"I strictly differentiate between family and … you know. I don't want Vin get attached to someone and then he has to lose that connection again just because it didn't work out." Not that he usually brought any frails home – son or not – or would bother to see them a second time – the frails wouldn't have WANTED to see him the first time.

"It doesn't mean we have a relationship just because we ended up between the sheets." Marie hitched her brows in suggestion. "Even if it would happen again. It's just s-e-x." She caught sight of the little boy through the rearview mirror.

A predatory smirk tugged on Victor's lips. "So you wouldn't mind a repeat-performance?"

"Was nice last night."

"Just nice?" His brows went up.

She giggled. "Maybe a little more than just nice." A blush crept onto her pale cheeks. "Though Ah leaked the half day long." He laughed heartily. "Maybe that's the reason why Vincent said he liked mah scent."

"He did?" This surprised the feral and his eyes searched for the young boy on the backseat. "Vin, you like Marie's scent?"

The boy nodded while chewing, crumbles stuck to his fingers and mouth. "Marie smell nice."

"SmellS, honey." Marie corrected the boy, who repeated the word smiling.

X

The next morning – Marie was half an hour too early due to the bus schedule – Heather immediately took the young brunette to the side, eager to learn about her and Vincent's father's relationship. "You should have mentioned that you know Mr. Creed. It's no problem since we don't grade the kids, but-"

"Ah didn't know that Vic, umm Mr. Creed had a son. Let alone that it is Vincent." 'But there are a lot of similarities.' The former mutant thought.

"Of what kind is your relationship, if I may ask?"

Marie felt herself blush. "We- we are just friends." 'with benefits' she added in her mind, but saw that her boss wasn't really satisfied with her answer. "Well, Ah jobbed at a diner and Mr. Creed is a regular there and we began to chat…"

"And how do you know so much about mutants?" Heather probed, she knew as her boss she wasn't allowed to ask directly if Marie was a mutant, thanks to the new law.

"Umm, Ah had a good friend… back at school, who was also a feral…" The brunette answered and was glad when the first kids arrived, eagerly introducing Marie to their parents or nannies.

Like the day before, Victor offered to bring Marie home, Vincent eating his blueberry-muffin in his safety-seat while the two adults talked about everything and nothing… and sometimes Logan. The young woman wondered what had happened with the boy's mother, but asking this in front of the toddler was a bad idea – and a part of her guessed she might not want to know the story.

So the weekend came and Marie had her shift at the diner. She couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched, but tried to busy herself with wiping the tables and keeping her eyes from dropping close – she was so damn tired and her 'afternoon'- sickness didn't help to do her work either. Ginger-ale helped her usually, but today in the morning she had emptied the bottle, and Tina had already asked her suspicious 'If she was alright' when she had hugged the customer's toilet. Lucky her, it were only a few patrons at the diner and she was able to get a new bottle during her break.

Now the brunette knotted the garbage bag and neared the backdoor. With a sigh she placed the heavy bag next to the dumpster and slid the lid back. The moment she bent down to lift the bag, a large hand covered her mouth – keeping her from screaming – and an arm slung around her middle – holding her in place forcefully. Marie struggled and was about to bite the man into his hand, when she felt a familiar purr vibrate in his chest, her back was firmly pressed against. Hot kisses rained onto her tender neck and a husky voice rumbled next to her ear.

"Thought I take you upon your offer of a repeat-performance, Stripes." Usually Victor loved the terror and fear in his sex-partner's scents, but with Marie her sudden relief laced with the other smells made him all the more harder. He relaxed his hold on her, when her struggles subsided, enabling her to turn in his embrace.

"You could say 'hi', like any other person!" Marie's chocolate eyes were angry, the adrenalin still rushing through her system. "Ah could loose the baby!"

Victor rolled his eyes and simply crushed his lips onto hers, his tongue licking and pushing for entrance. After a while he began to smell her arousal and she began to kiss him back, her tender hands caressing the nape of his neck. His clawed fingers slowly slipped further south until they were under her mini-skirt, shredding her panties with one swift move.

Yelping, Marie broke away, staring up at him with a scowl. "Do you have to rip my panties?"

A frustrated growl escaped his throat and he spun her around and unbuckled his belt. He never was a friend of foreplay.

X

Marie leant heavily panting against the dumpster, her legs still shaky. Her cloudy eyes searched for the feral behind her, when suddenly the backdoor of the diner swung open and revealed Tina, a long knife in hand. "Is everything alright, Marie?" She saw the young brunette jump in fear and look around her. "What was that roar?"

Marie felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment and was glad that Victor had ducked behind the dumpster and out of sight of her boss. "Umm…" She searched for words – an explanation. "Dog!" Finally an idea dawn on her with lust clouded mind. "T- There was a really big dog behind the dumpster. Ah thought it would attack me!"

"Where is it now?" Tina looked left and right with fear.

Marie pointed down the ally. "It just ran away."

"You fine?" Her waitress nodded and picked the garbage bag up and threw it into the dumpster. "You better come back in."

Marie obeyed with a last glance at Victor, her heart still beating in her chest like it would run a marathon. 'That was close!'

As soon as the door fell close, the two women heard a bone-shaking roar. Tina bleached and locked the door immediately. 'This bastard!'

X

A/N: I'm surprised that no one guessed correctly and saw coming that Vincent might be Victor's son.

I know there is another fanfic out there in which Victor's son is also called Vincent. This is indeed a coincidence (I wrote this chapter together with chapter7 years ago). After watching Origins, I had thought Victor's name was Vincent (I really don't know why?) and thus I decided to call his son Vincent, when I came upon my error…

Oh, and the muffin-riddle is also solved.

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