The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Chapter Eighteen (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (TM), Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch, Uberbeta, and EMPRESS OF MULTITASKING … *poke * InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are loverly and smoresy for archiving/hosting!!! ProPhile is glompworthy and a wondermous smutmuse. Morgan… sure you don’t want to burn things? Readers/Reviewers: *glomps * Both beta and writer are going away this weekend, lol, so no updates after this till Monday!!! Thank y’all sooooooo much for reading and reviewing when you get the time!!!


Wanda sighed and folded the thick stack of tens and twenties over into a neat square and stuffed it into her backpack’s front pocket. She really hated her job, but it paid the rent so Tabby did not have to rely on Kitty’s fund. She wondered if Kitty even noticed the decreasing use of the special account set up in Tabby’s name, but she doubted it. She stared into the depths of the pocket for a moment more before zipping it closed and turning to the vanity area to get dressed. The costume she wore was the last word in uncomfortable but it got her big tips, so she did not mind it too much. It was nearly eleven and she was glad she only had to work for an hour or so, just filling in for one of the other girls who had to leave early herself. Tabby was waiting out front, no doubt sipping a Big Gulp and snapping her gum, trying not to call Amara and Rogue every five minutes to check on Lucas. Wanda paused as she pulled up her jeans and stared at herself in the mirror: too much make up, too little clothes, pale skin with some jerk’s finger marks on her upper arm… “Damn it, I love her,” she muttered, jerking her jeans the rest of the way up and reaching for her t-shirt. She was not keen on leaving Lucas with Rogue and Amara had been Tabby’s concession to her worries…, pointing out that Rogue was more careful in her treatment of Lucas than most other people they knew, including Dr Reyes. Wanda sighed again and waved good night to the other women getting dressed or getting ready to go on stage in Bayville’s one topless bar/sports bar (but who were they kidding, really?) and headed out the side door to the employee parking lot. Tabby had the car running, the dull thump of bass clear despite the irritating music blaring from the club behind her. She paused several yards away and smirked to herself. Her girlfriend was happily singing along, unselfconscious as she waved her straw as if she were conducting, her eyes closed and her head thrown back, blond curls bouncing with each jerk of her chin.
Tabby had just gotten to her favorite part when the passenger side door opened and Wanda slid into the seat. “I love you, you know that?” the dark haired girl sighed, not quite meeting her eyes as she arranged herself in the seat.
Tabby blinked and turned down the concerto. “Huh?”
“Nothing,” Wanda sighed, waving at her to just drive.
Tabby shrugged and pulled out into the sparsely trafficked streets of north Bayville. “I called the apartment and no one answered,” she began, pausing to slide a sideways glance at Wanda. When Wanda did not respond, merely shrugged herself, Tabby continued, “But that Roberto answered at the Institute and said that Rogue and Amara were taking Lucas back over there with them for a little while to visit…”
Wanda nodded and made an incoherent noise as she stared out into the night, watching the houses grow closer together and the town become less seedy. “Tabs, I’ve been thinking about stuff lately, about what’s best for us and for Lucas… Are you sure you want him to be raised by two women?”
“Well, yeah,” Tabby frowned. “Us, specifically.”
Wanda raised a brow but still did not look at her. “We’re really young, Tabby… I love you a lot and all but… I mean, we’re eighteen, ya know?”
“I know. And I have a son. Whether you like it or not, I always will. What are you getting at, anyway? You never do this soul-searching crap unless someone’s been picking on you at work.”
Wanda bristled at that. “No one picks on me at work!”
“Okay, okay, whatever…” Tabby turned towards the back roads leading to the Institute rather than following the main street to their apartment complex. “Why deepdeepness?”
“I’m allowed to wonder,” Wanda snapped. “Okay, look, it’s like this… We’re not really with one side or the other, are we? We’re just kinda here, doing whatev But But sometimes, a lot lately, actually, I begin to wonder about whether we should choose or not, what side we need to be on.”
“Why do we have to be on any side?” Tabby asked as calmly as she could, which was not very. “What the fuck is it with you and needing to be on one side or another?”
Wanda glared. “This isn’t about the lesbian argument, Tabby. I mean, maybe Magneto is right. Or maybe Xavier is. I don’t know! Neither of us do! But we can’t just sit here and twiddle our thumbs and wait to see who the winner is before allying ourselves.”
Tabby nearly slammed on the brakes in the middle of the black top road. “ALLY OURSELVES?” she shouted. “Are you on crack?”
Wanda suppressed a snarl. Instead, she said only a shade more calmly than Tabby, “You have a son to think about. I have my life… We can’t be pawns!”
Tabby held her until they pulled up to the gates of the Institute. The silence in the car was heavy with anger and hurt. She counted to ten to try and be calm but utterly failed, exploding with an expletive. “Shit, Wanda, you don’t fucking bring shit like that up in the car, damn it!” As the gates opened, Tabby seethed. “You’re starting to sound like fucking Pietro, taking sides and shit!”
Wanda stiffened. “Never compare me to him. Ever.”
Tabby slammed the car into park and shoved the door open with a savage snarl. “Life isn’t black and white, right and wrong!” she snapped, glaring at Wanda. “Don’y toy to force me into some mold just to make yourself more comfortable.”
Wanda had the distinct feeling they were not longer simply on the topic of Brotherhood versus X Men. “Tabby…”
“Shut up,” she ordered, marching to the door. “I just can’t talk to you right now!”