On the other side of the phone...
Sep. 1st, 2005 07:14 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsA conversation.
She shuddered and let the phone fall from her hands. Tears were already running down her face. Around her neck, the collar glinted in the dying light of the day. To all appearances, she was in perfect health though a fading bruise shadowed her jawline. In a day or two it would be gone. She wore her own clothes, a courteous treachery that, a pretty sundress that she'd intended for days on the beach.
"You're doing very well. I expected to have to keep a tighter hold on you still."
She shook her head slightly. "No," she said, hardly more than whisper.
"No," he agreed, pleased. "I'm quite glad of it. I expect that your foolishness the other day cured you of such theatrics."
Her sharp intake of breath pulled the stitches on her chest, hidden under the thin fabric. "She wouldn't have stopped me." The infatuation with Sabertooth had its advantages, she'd learned. If you could call them advantages. She'd nearly convinced him to kill her, the pain nothing that she didn't deserve.
"That's why I did. You're too valuable to be allowed to damage yourself. I've gone to far too much trouble for you. In any case, I'm pleased with your progress and as I promised, you will be rewarded. I would have done this task myself, but I am willing to delegate to my daughter."
"I'm not your daughter." It was an automatic response. She continued to say it even in the face of all the evidence, her last bastion of defiance.
He chuckled softly. "Really, Lorna, this continued denial is only making you look foolish. DNA does not possess the wit to lie, and the sooner you accept who you are, the easier this will be for you."
She flinched, "I'm not your daughter. Blood doesn't change anything." Standing, she faced him squarely. "What is it you want?"
"Just a small task. Nothing beyond your abilities, I'm sure." His smile took a mocking edge as he handed her a file. "Just a little, easy favor from my doting youngest child."
She took it because she had no choice. Hadn't had for weeks.
She shuddered and let the phone fall from her hands. Tears were already running down her face. Around her neck, the collar glinted in the dying light of the day. To all appearances, she was in perfect health though a fading bruise shadowed her jawline. In a day or two it would be gone. She wore her own clothes, a courteous treachery that, a pretty sundress that she'd intended for days on the beach.
"You're doing very well. I expected to have to keep a tighter hold on you still."
She shook her head slightly. "No," she said, hardly more than whisper.
"No," he agreed, pleased. "I'm quite glad of it. I expect that your foolishness the other day cured you of such theatrics."
Her sharp intake of breath pulled the stitches on her chest, hidden under the thin fabric. "She wouldn't have stopped me." The infatuation with Sabertooth had its advantages, she'd learned. If you could call them advantages. She'd nearly convinced him to kill her, the pain nothing that she didn't deserve.
"That's why I did. You're too valuable to be allowed to damage yourself. I've gone to far too much trouble for you. In any case, I'm pleased with your progress and as I promised, you will be rewarded. I would have done this task myself, but I am willing to delegate to my daughter."
"I'm not your daughter." It was an automatic response. She continued to say it even in the face of all the evidence, her last bastion of defiance.
He chuckled softly. "Really, Lorna, this continued denial is only making you look foolish. DNA does not possess the wit to lie, and the sooner you accept who you are, the easier this will be for you."
She flinched, "I'm not your daughter. Blood doesn't change anything." Standing, she faced him squarely. "What is it you want?"
"Just a small task. Nothing beyond your abilities, I'm sure." His smile took a mocking edge as he handed her a file. "Just a little, easy favor from my doting youngest child."
She took it because she had no choice. Hadn't had for weeks.
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