Part Two

"Hey, Vic." Malice greeted as she came through the door. Her smile turned to a scowl when the blond waved at her nonchalantly, not even bothering to take his eyes from the various maps and blueprints scattered on the table. "You going to even say hi?" she pouted.

Victor sighed angrily and looked up at the tall woman, surprised to find Essex's new charge standing behind her. He was so caught up in the mission that he had completely missed the new scent walking in the door. "Hi." he answered, never taking his sight from the boy. He took the chance to memorize everything about the new occupant. The tall thin frame, long auburn hair, the demon like red and black eyes and the young man's scent. He imprinted it all in his wild mind, not that it would be hard to forget such a creature. His friend was right, the boy would be a piece of work when he became well and gained some weight.

Malice rolled her eyes at the larger man, seeing as she was going to be ignored. She pulled the young man gently to the opposite side of the table and waved him to an empty seat before taking her own. "Having problems with the plans?"

Creed followed the young man's every move, still analyzing the teenager. He could see that the boy was still very ill. Now that he was paying attention, he could smell it too. The dark circles under the teenager's eyes and thin frame told him that the younger man had been sick for a while. It had him wondering why the kid wasn't in the lab resting. His brow furrowed in concern when the boy's eyes flutter erratically for a moment, as if the kid was about to pass out. "You okay?" he asked the younger man, ignoring that fact that he hadn't answered Malice's previous question.

The teenager looked up from the floor, surprised to find the older man talking to him. "Oui." he lied.

Malice cleared her throat, bringing Victor's attention back to her. "The plans?"

"Um, yea, I can't figure out a way around the alarm system. Those damn X-freaks have it wired all around." Creed finally answered, pulling a blueprint out from under a stack of papers for Malice to see. He was surprised when boney fingers pulled it to the other side of the table.

"Dat would be my expertise, Monsieur."

"Alright..." Creed stopped, realizing he had never been introduced to the newest occupant of the laboratory.

Malice caught the pause and filled Creed in while the young man looked over the blueprints. "Sorry. This is Remy. Remy, this is Victor." She smiled when both nodded. "I told you I would find a guy who could help you with the alarm systems. Remy here is a trained thief of the Guild. Plus, you need to fill him in on the plan so far because he will be joining us on the mission."

"What?" Creed barked, which caused Remy to jump, as well as Malice. "Give us a second." he stated to the younger man, signaling Malice to follow him outside to the hall.

"Are you nuts?" the larger man asked in a hushed tone, after they were both out of the kid's hearing range.

"What do you mean? You said we needed more people, and he knows the security system."

"He's sick! The kid's about the pass out in the chair and you think he is going to be able to go on a mission with us?"

"We still have awhile before we even go ahead with this mission. The boss has got some things he needs to finish up and research to do on Remy's condition, so the mission will most likely be pushed back a few weeks if not longer. I think there is plenty of time for Remy to receive treatment and recover. So does Essex. He put Remy in my care and made him part of the team as of this morning."

"Bullshit!" Creed growled, knowing there was no way Remy would be in perfect health in time for the mission. Especially not with Sinister's experimenting.

"Just give him a chance. If he's too sick to go I will recommend we leave him behind. The boy needs something to take his mind off of things and Essex needs him out of the lab once in a while. Remy doesn't know about the other experiments and research yet. At least let him help you with the security system. You won't get any further in those plans without him and you know it."

Creed growled under his breath, his anger building. "I don't need a half dead brat to get through a security system."

"Yes, you do! Now stop being stubborn. You go in there and play nice." She demanded, pulling a filled syringe from her lab jacket and handing it to Creed. "Take that, you are getting a little too crabby for my liking and I'm not going to let you take it out on Remy. You calm down before going back in. I'm going back to the lab so I can assist Essex in research of Remy's condition. When I get back I want him in one piece." Victor growled. Knowing he was going to get nowhere arguing with the woman. He stomped away to the opposite end of the hall to calm down like she had demanded.

Malice finally turned to leave seeing the man had injected himself with the drug Essex had supplied. She stopped short of exiting the hall, deciding it would be best to talk to Remy before leaving the young man alone with Creed. "I'm going to speak with Remy, can you give us a few minutes?"

Victor looked up at the woman with understanding. "Yea, go ahead." He knew what she was going to talk to the kid about. She was going to tell the boy about his uncontrollable rage, the drug, and everything that went with it. Probably even give the kid some of the medication that combated the rage, just in case. It was typical protocol for anyone new coming to the lab, this was no different, but for some reason it felt different. He didn't want the younger man to fear him like everyone else did. "Hey, Mal!" he called out before Malice disappeared into the room.

"Yes?" she replied, surprised by the sadness on Victor's face.

"Don't make me sound like a monster, okay? If I'm going to work with someone that young I don't want him afraid of me."

"Alright. I promise I will make you sound like a pussycat." Malice smiled.

Creed snorted. "Now I wouldn't go that far."