Disclaimer: Sabretooth is not mine, (more’s the pity!) The character belongs to Marvel. Although, Eden is mine. I have received no money for this story. Comic book verse. Archive; yes. Just let me know where. Feedback is welcome at: Caprinee@ aol.com. As always, many thanks to my sis; Natalie. Your help is invaluable!
Part 1: Dreams
1978
Victor Creed returned to his home; a spacious one bedroom apartment on the upper west end of Manhattan, satisfied with the day’s work. Smiling to himself, he ran his tongue over his sharp teeth. The job was too easy, he thought to him self. The security the big-shot businessman had was a joke! He savored the memory, as he thought how he quickly bypassed the Infrared beams, took down two of the lackeys who were standing guard, and had the guy by the throat in minutes.
He laughed at the memory of the man’s face as he lifted him off the ground and brought his face close to his own and growled, “Scream for me!” Corny, I know, he thought. But the expression on the man’s face was priceless, and he had to say something to add to the man’s fear. And that little request did it! He delighted in seeing the man grab at his hand around his throat squirming and kicking his legs. When he didn’t comply quickly enough, Sabretooth tightened his grip and the man began to scream! It reminded him of a pig being ready to get slaughtered. His face started to turn red, then in one deft move, his claws ripped the throat out of the offending squealer.He dropped him to the floor, and watched as the man struggled to keep the blood from oozing out. But, it was a no-win situation and in the end he laid lifeless on the floor. He licked the dripping blood off his claws as he stared down at the body. “Easy money” he chuckled as he turned and left as quickly and quietly as he came.
He stripped off his Sabretooth costume, tossing it into a basket. Then went into the bathroom. Turning on the shower, he stood letting the hot water run over his body. He washed himself thoroughly, then stood under the water until it grew cool. Getting out of the shower he dried himself off then wrapped the towel around his waist. He headed into the kitchen and looked into the refrigerator. None of the food in there looked tempting, but the beer did so he grabbed a sixpack and headed back to his room. He opened the first bottle and drank it down in one gulp. He opened and drank a second, then a third. The headache was coming back with a vengeance and no amount of beer was easing it. He laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. In a half an hour, sleep finally claimed him.
He dreamed he was in a forest. It was dark, but with his keen senses he was able to see clearly. He heard something running in the distance, coming closer. He flared his nostrils and opened his mouth sucking in the air around him. He smelled fear, perspiration and youth. He stepped into the shadow of a stand of trees as it came closer to him. He listened, he could hear it’s heart beating rapidly, and smell the panic that was radiating off of it. As he sniffed again, he realized that it was a young girl who seemed to be running for her life.
She stopped for a moment and listened. She could hear the men talking, “Here, this way! She went this way!” “No! Oh no!” she cried. “They’re gonna find me! They’re gonna find me and catch me!” She looked around, “Where can I go, where can I hide?” Her eyes darted around, searching for a place she could blend into and disappear. When she saw no options, she began to cry. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks.
Victor watch the scene unfold from his hiding place. She couldn’t have been more than 8 or 10 years old. Her honey- red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but quite a bit of it had come lose from it’s rubber confines, probably due to the fact that branches had snagged her hair as she ran. She had the most expressive, beautiful emerald green eyes he had ever seen. She wore a gray jumpsuits and had a backpack strapped to her back. She was the prettiest thing he had ever seen. Had she been older, he would have had his way with her whether she wanted it or not! She was so small, she wouldn’t even make a decent appetizer! He could pin her ears back, butter her head and swallowing her whole! But looking at her quivering form, something stirred deep inside him. He felt the need to protect this little waif, killing all who dare threatened her. They both heard her pursuers coming, the dead leaves rustled loudly under their feet. The girl gasped and looked around, ready to run again, when she heard a voice ahead of her say, “Come this way. Follow my voice.”
The girl was unsure at first, but the sound of her pursuers close behind her made up her mind. She began to walk toward the voice, stopping when she was unsure. “That’s right,” the voice said, “just a little further.” Victor stepped out of the shadow and held out his arms. “Come to me, I’ll protect you.” The girl ran to him and wrapped her arms around his thigh. As they heard the men come ever closer, she buried her face in his hip. He reached down and scooped her up into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, clinging to him like the last leaf on a tree at the beginning of winter.
“It’ll be OK, I’m here now. I ain’t gonna let no one hurt you.” he reassured her. “Thank you,” she whispered, “Oh, thank you!” “OK now, I want ya ta listen to me an’ do exactly as I tell ya. I’m gonna put ya down and I want ya ta close yer eyes and cover yer face. Yer not to open ‘em til I tell you to, understand.” The girl nodded her head, “Yes, I understand.” “Good.” He reached up to unclasp the hands that were tightly around his neck “My name is Eden.” She whispered in his ear. “I’m Victor.” He replied. She leaned close to his face and kissed him gently on the cheek. The touch of her lips on his face sent a shock wave through his body that made him tremble. He set her down on the ground with her back against the trees and stood to full height. He watched as the men came into the clearing, then glanced down to see if she had done what he told her to do. Eden was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest, her eyes closed tight and her hands covering her face. He smiled at the picture she made, then stepped out of the shadow to confront her pursuers.
There were four men dressed in black and carrying tasers. “Did a little girl run by here?” one of the men asked. Creed took step forward, breathing in their scent. They stunk of perspiration and desperation. “Well did you or didn’t you? Answer me damnit, don’t just stand there looking stupid!”
At that statement, Sabretooth lost any control he was trying to maintain. With a roar, he reached out and buried both his claws into two of the men standing closest to him, gutting them from crotch to wind pipe. The men dropped to the ground with a thud. It happened so quickly, that the two remaining men didn’t realize what had happened. Before they could react, he was on them, gutting them in the same fashion. He reached down to one of them and tore a piece of his uniform and wiped the blood from his hands. He grunted at the sight of them. It was obvious all they were good for was chasing and terrifying little girls.
He dropped the soiled cloth back on the man then turned and walked to the waiting girl. She was still in the same position as when he left her. He bent down and picked her up. “Can I open my eyes now?” “No, keep ‘em closed a little while longer.” He walked away from the lifeless bodies. When he knew he was far enough away that she could not see them he told her to open her eyes. When she opened them she saw his face and smiled. “Are they gone? Will they come after me again?” “No honey, they’ll never come after you again.” “Promise?” “Yeah, I promise.” He started to set her on her feet, when she began to glow. “Oh, your head hurts.” She said softly. “Here, I can help.” She placed her small hands on the sides of his head, looking into his eyes she gasped and the light that surrounded her grew brighter. Victor stood transfixed as the pain drained from his head. After about three minutes the light faded, she gently pulled his head down to hers and kissed him softly on the fore head. “All better”. She sighed then laid limp in his arms.
He stared down at the motionless child in his arms and for the first time in almost 20 years Victor Creed was scared! He didn’t know had happened or what to do. So, kneeling down he laid her on the ground. He removed her backpack so she could lay flat, then unzipped her jumpsuit to just above her breast, hoping to give her some air. He rubbed her hands and face hoping to revive her, but she just laid there. “Oh fuck! What the hell is wrong with her? C’mon Eden, wake up!” He stayed beside her, rubbing her hands and shaking her lightly. When all he tried had failed, he sat there with his hands in his lap, his head bowed. It felt like someone had ripped out his heart! He was finding it hard to breathe and he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. Though he would never admitted it and would gut the first person who even hinted at such a thing! After 10 minutes, she began to stir, then slowly opened her eyes. Unimaginable relief overwhelmed him and he gathered her in his arms, holding her close. “Are you all right? What the hell happened?” he demanded. My bag, where is my bag?” she asked as her hands fumbled around on the ground.
“Here.” he said handing her her backpack. She opened it and took out a bottle of water, a bottle of vitamins and some dried fruits. She quickly took a vitamin, drinking half the bottle of water, then started munching the assortment of dried fruit.
He watched dumbfounded as she sat there eating. “What the hell just happened?” he demanded.
She looked at him, an expression of regret on her face. “I’m sorry if I frightened you. I should have let you know what was going to happen, but it came upon me so quickly that I didn’t think.” She took one of his large hands into her small one and gave an affectionate squeeze. “I am a healer. I heal people when they’re sick or hurt.” She explained. “I need this”, she said waving her hand over the array of drygoods, pills and water, “to replenish the nutrients I lose when I heal someone. But first my body needs to sleep to regain the strength I lose. The worst the injury, the more I need to sleep and eat to recover from it.” she explained.
Creed nodded his head in understanding. “Well kid, I wish you wouldda told me, ya scared the hell outta me! But I am grateful to ya for takin’ away my headache. It takes for ever for those damn things ta go away!” he said and gave her and affectionate hug.
“Thank you again Victor for saving me from those awful men. I’ll never forget it.”
Victor woke up alone and confused. He looked around his room, the sun was beginning to filter in through the curtains that hung on the window. He rubbed his eyes and face and looked around again, “What the hell was that?” he asked uncertain if it was real or dream. The one thing that he did know, was that his headache was gone. He knew he had never seen or met the child in his dream, but he knew with certainty that he needed to find her.
“This is great! So far she’s healed everyone we’ve brought to her.” said Dr. Green, a tall, thin man with a long scraggly beard. He turned to his colleague, Dr. Simon, “Let’s see how she handles birth defects.” Dr. Simon, a short, balding and bespecled man brought in the newborn baby who was born with Down’s syndrome. He went over to Eden who was sitting by a metal table, “This is Mr. And Mrs. Weber and their son, Jonah. We’d like to see if you could heal him.”
Eden looked at the baby, then his parents. “Oh, I hope you can help him.” said Mrs. Weber. We’ve been trying for years to have a baby and although we’d love him just as he is, I really wish he could be healthy.” “I hope I can help him too.” said Eden. “I think every little baby should start out life healthy.” Eden placed her hands on the boy’s head, she closed her eyes concentrating on healing the boy. She began to glow bright gold as the baby giggled and waved his arms and kicked his legs. She held on to him for 10 minutes, then passed out, falling off her stool and hitting the ground hard. Unfortunately, Jonah remained unchanged.
Eden dreamed she was in the woods running for her life. She didn’t know who she was running from, but she knew she had to get away from them. Branches clawed at her as she ran past them, ripping at her clothes and tearing at her hair. Her breath came fast, and her heart was pounding in her ears. She could hear them running up behind her, spawning her to go faster. When she came to a clearing, she stopped and looked around. She tried to calm herself, hoping to find a place to hide. Despair washed over her when she could find none and began to cry. She heard the men talking and coming toward her again and she began to panic. She was about to run when she heard a voice telling her to come to him. She was afraid, but the thought of being with the men chasing her seem to scare her more than the unknown voice, so she followed it.
Not sure which way to go, the voice instructed her and she followed. Suddenly, stepping out of the stand of trees was the tallest man she had ever seen. He was a handsome, blonde haired man with green eyes. He’d look so strong he could topple a tree with his bare hands! When he held out of his arms for her to come to, she ran to him knowing she’d be safe. She wrapped her arms around his thigh and she could have swore that it was made of steel! He picked her up, holding her close to him and for the first time since her powers surfaced she felt completely safe. She was so grateful to him that she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. When she did, the sheen film of perspiration on his cheek went on her lips, she ran her tongue over them and tasted his salty, masculine scent.
Tasting him, her heart skip a beat and a feeling she had never felt before overwhelmed her! She wanted to be with this man always. Obey him and please him in every way. When he gave her an order, she gladly followed it to the letter, fearing she would disappoint him and make him go away. When he sat her down, she felt a loss so great that she wanted to cry. But she didn’t, she wanted to be strong and brave like he was! She needed him to be proud of her and to want her in his life as much as she wanted him in hers. Her heart skip a beat when he picked her back up holding her tightly. When she felt the pain in his head, she was overjoyed to be able to help him.
Her heart sored when she saw the concern on his face when she woke up. When she heard the anger in his voice at what happened to her, her stomach dropped. She never wanted to make this man angry at her for any reason, so she quickly took his hand, squeezing it and explained what had happened. Relief watched over her when she saw he understood and forgave her. She prayed that this was real and that she would never have to leave him. When she woke up, her heart broke to discover that it was a dream. Oddly, when she licked her lips she could still taste Victor on them! “Maybe he’s real!” she thought excitedly to herself. “Maybe I just need to find him. And I will, even if it takes the rest of my life, I will find him!”
She could hear the doctors talking in the other room, and she lay quiet pretending to still be asleep. “ I think her powers have something to do with her head.” explained Dr. Green. “Remember when she hit her head and her powers were gone for almost 24 hours?” “Yes, I remember.” replied Dr. Simon. “So I’m thinking it may have something to do with her pituitary gland, thyroid or even her brain itself. Let’s start with a piece of her pituitary gland, if we don’t get anything from that, then we’ll go on to the thyroid, and if nothing pans out from that, then we’ll go to the brain.” he said enthusiastically. “If we get it right, will be able to to cure cancer, diabetes, heart disease, just about anything! We’ll be hailed as the most famous, respected doctors on earth and we’ll be rich beyond our wildest dreams!
Eden’s blood turned cold as she listened to them discuss how they were going to dissect her. “I have to tell Daddy.” she thought. “He’ll know what to do. I know he’ll get me out of here.” Her next thought was of Victor, “Oh, I wish he were here. He’d protect me, and see that those awful men never touched me again!” Still needing sleep, she closed her eyes and prayed that she would dream of her beloved Victor again.
She woke up six hours later shaky, in need of her vitamins and food. She found Dr. Green standing over her. “Well, how are you feeling?” he inquired. “Not very well. I need my vitamins and water.” “Yes, they’re right here.” he said handing them to her. “Did it work? Was I able to help the baby?” she asked anxiously. “No, for some reason your powers don’t seem to work on birth defects. But we’re going to run some tests to see if we can find out why.” “Where’s my father?” she asked. “I want to see him.” “Certainly,” he said patting her on the shoulder, “he’s in the waiting room. I’ll go get him.”
While she waited for her father, she took her vitamin and ate the food that was sitting on a tray. When he came, she was no longer shaking and was thinking coherently. Joseph Andolini was a handsome man. He was tall with a full head of black hair and had olive complexion. Pulling him close, she whispered in his ear and told him all she heard. He was frantic! He’d be damned if he’d let anyone use his daughter as a guinea pig! He calmed her fears and told her not to worry, he would make sure no one hurt her. She told him about her dream and how she wanted to find the man that protected her. He smiled at her, but didn’t believe the man existed. He kissed her on the top of the head and told her to get some rest. He assured her that the next time she saw him everything would be taken care of.
Joseph Andolini went in to the lab to speak with the doctors. “This last test took a lot out of Eden. I was afraid she’d never come out of that coma.” He said concerned. “I want you to leave her alone for a few days, she needs to get her strength back before you do any more tests on her.” “We agree,” replied Dr. Green, “ three days was a long time for her to recover. But we now know that she can not cure birth defects. We want to make sure she’s at full strength before we conduct another one.” Joseph clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the men. He wanted nothing more than to tear them apart with his bare hands! They talked about his daughter as if she were machine! It was definitely time to get her out of here. He didn’t trust them, so there was no way he was going to leave his daughter alone.
Using the phone in her room he placed a call to his brother, Linus. He briefly explained that he needed to speak to him, but the line was unsecure and he was afraid they were listening. Linus was a rich and powerful businessman and had access to new technology that had not yet been made public. He informed Joseph that he would call him back and the line would be secure. A few minutes later, the phone rang. Joseph conveyed everything he knew, expressing his urgent need to get Eden out of there. Linus agreed and together they devised a plan to get her away from the doctors and to disappear forever.
At 3 AM, Joseph crept to the back door of the clinic admitting Mr. Wu. Linus had hired him because he was a computer genius. He was short, thin and very exact. He would be able to gain access to the clinic’s computers, find where all the movies of Eden healing people were kept, where all hard information was beings store, and to erase everything in the computer that had to do with the Eden. Mr. Wu told Joseph where he could find all the written files and movies. While Joseph was looking, Mr. Wu began deleting everything ‘Eden’. By the time he was done, the clowns on staff wouldn’t be able to find her name, address, not to mention her social security number, everything related to her would be gone.
Joseph broke into it into the filing cabinet and took all the files on Eden. Anything with her name on it, even a scrap paper, he put into a large at attaché case, then went over to the door where the movies were stored, deftly popped the lock and stepped into a closet size space. Shelves lined the walls, and on them were reels of film. All the ones marked ‘Eden’ he quickly put in his case. It took them seven minutes.
Handing the case to Mr. Wu, Joseph asked him to put it in his car on his way out. He then went up to Eden’s room, where she was packed and dressed, hiding under the covers. He stealed into her room grabbing her suitcase and taking her up in his arms, they quietly left the clinic.
By the time they were driving down the road, it was 3:15 AM. They pulled into the first rest stop and exchange their car for a camper, the man waiting for them took their car and drove away. He handed Eden the case and got behind the wheel and drove to Yellowstone National Park.
As they drove further away from the clinic, Eden began to relax. She sighed deeply and turned and looked at her father. “Do you think we got away from them? Won’t they be able to find us?” “No honey,” her father said earnestly. “We are seeing to it that they’ll never be able to find us again.” She looked at her father, puzzled. How would they ever be able to get away from them. They knew everything about her, so she would be very easy to track down. She was about the point this out when her father turned to her and said, “Once we get settled at the park, everything will be explained. Until then, why don’t you go to one of the beds in the back and get some sleep. It will be at least a day before we get there.”
Eden wanted to argue, but found she was very tired and decided to take her dad up on his offer. “Where shall I put this?” She asked holding the case up for him to see. “In the closet by the big bed, there is a wall safe. It’s open, put it in there and close the door.” She did as she was told, the attaché case just fit, with very little room for anything else. “Do I have anything else to wear?” she called to her father. “Yes, looked in the dresser drawers. There should be clothes for you and for me.” She looked through the drawers and found underwear, pajamas, pants, shorts, and tops. She pulled out a pair of pajamas and changed into them. She looked around the camper, it was new and very impressive. She wanted to explore it, open up all the cupboards look in and see was behind every door, but she found herself too tired. All she wanted to do was sleep so she pulled back the covers on the big bed and crawled in. She pulled the covers up to her nose and settled herself down until she was a ball. She sighed again, then closed her eyes, silently praying that she would dream of her savior, Victor.
Six hours later, they pulled into a rest stop. Joseph was exhausted. Walking to the back of the camper, opened the dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas. He went into the bathroom, and shut the door. He closed the lid on the toilet and sat down. He scratched his head and rubbed his eyes, debating on whether he felt like taking a shower. He’d looked at it through the reflection of the mirror longingly. But decided to just wash his face and brush his teeth, he would shower when he had more energy. He stripped off his clothes and replace them with pajamas, he washed himself, then went out and crawled into the smaller, empty bed. He would only sleep for a few hours he said to himself. The sooner he was at Yellowstone, the safer he would feel. Then everything would be all right. They would no longer be afraid to walk down the street or go out in public. Yes, they needed to get to Yellowstone.
The sun was just going down the next day, when they pulled up to the gates that guarded Yellowstone National Park. Sitting in the passenger seat, Eden looked around in awe at the beauty the Park held. An abundance of trees, all different sizes and types. The air smelled sweet and clean and she could hardly wait to get out into the middle of it! She wanted to find sick or hurt animals so she could cure them. At least with them, there would be no repercussions for using her powers. Her father paid the admittance fee and drove in. They drove a few miles, looking for a secluded spot. They found one, nestled in some trees with a lake not far away. “This OK?” He asked Eden as he put the camper into park. “Oh yes, this is perfect!” She beamed as she opened the door and climbed out.
She stood under a canopy of leaves and smiled up at the sky. Her dad follow and took her in his arms. “We are finally away,” he said with a smile. “At last we can relax!” He kissed he top of her head affectionately and rubbed her back. “How about some dinner?” He asked as he climbed back into the camper. “Oh yes, I’m hungry!” She replied, “Here let me help you.” She followed him in and began opening up the cabinets to see what was inside. There was canned vegetables, pasta and two boxes of cereal. But they decided on making a salad out of the fresh vegetables that were stored in the refrigerator. While Eden made the salad, her father grilled the salmon steaks.
When dinner was over, Joseph made a little bonfire, then got the attaché case out of the safe and joined his daughter outside by the fire. “Here’s everything they had on you.” he said. “I want to go over this with you, decided which stuff we need and then burn the rest. We’ll put what we keep in a safety deposit box, that way we always have if we need it.” They put the important looking papers in a pile to be read later in the camper, then took the still photographs and the reels of movies and put them in the fire. They watched as the smoke spiraled to the sky. “There,” said her father, “that’s all gone.” He opened a box and said, “In here is our new identities.” He opened a wallet and said, “From now on you will be known as Dominque du Pres and I am, Pierre du Pres. Is he nuts?! Does he really think we can pass for French? Greek I could see, but French!” Joseph shook his head in disbelief and raved, waving his arms expressively. His face turned red, matching his temper. “I’ll talk to Linus about changing it.”
“I don’t know”, Eden said with a smile, “I like my name, it’s kind of exotic Uncle Linus always had a thing for the name Dominque and I think we can pull it off. Think about it, Pierre!”
They looked through the birth certificates, driver’s license, social security numbers and the address of their new home. They would be living in Wyoming. There was a house waiting for them on the outskirts of Casper; there they would be able to resume a normal life without the fear of somebody finding them and hurting Eden.
End of part one.