CODENAME: ATHENA by LWC

I do not own the character of Victor Creed…if only. It is the sheer attractiveness of Liev Schreiber, who plays Victor, which inspired me to write this.

Please let if you want me to continue writing this…..it will get smutty if so. That is a promise. But please review otherwise I have no idea if you want more. Many thanks!

The rain pelted down mercilessly from a dark, unforgiving sky. The creatures of the forest ran for cover as thunder rumbled threateningly overhead. Mud was forming on the sodden ground as the water splattered down harder and harder.

Athena looked down at the forest below her.

She stood at the top of a huge tree, way up off the ground and way out of sight. Her green eyes scrutinised the forest and she listened with her being to her surroundings.

Would he take the bait? Athena knew not to underestimate this deadly mutant. Regular tactics and approach would be pointless with him.

The Agency had resorted to sending one of their top agents, "Athena" on this mission. Athena possessed high intelligence, great skill at tactical warfare and was extremely relentless. Although The Agency only employed mutants Athena actually had no mutant trait. She was the exception to the rule. It was her keenly developed human skills that paralleled those with mutations. She could out-smart others, predicting their needs, movements and responses. Bright, brilliant and resourceful. She was what The Agency referred to as a 'Diplomat'.

It was her skills as a 'diplomat' which had been hired to find and negotiate with a top level predator mutant – Victor Creed,

Profile: Alpha male predator with psychotic tendencies. Mercenary. Deadly and very intelligent. . Mutation: phenomenal regenerative cell repair. Super strength and speed, Heightened five senses. re-tractable teeth and claws. Exudes dominant male pheramones which can both intimidate and sexually arouse males and females in his presence. Approach with extreme caution. Weaknesses: Decapitation (unconfirmed).

Decapitation….a weakness? A weakness?

She had been paid damn good money for this 'negotiation' No wonder the pay-cheque was so damn high. She could pay for this with her life. Others had.

How do you hunt a hunter? How do you hunt a man-giant you probably can't kill? How do you get him to come out and play? And if you do get him to come out to play….how do you survive to tell the tale?

Victor Creed was not a man to find easily. That was the problem. In many ways he was more of an animal than a man. Other agents had foolishly missed that detail. He was a creature of instinct and as the years had passed those instincts dictated his human behaviour more and more. Victor Creed had been alive a long, long time and his alpha male status had merely grown. Endless wars had fed his blood-lust and that need to hunt, to fight and to dominate was second nature to him. He had become a very powerful creature but he was also a highly intelligent and a rich man. His skills had been bought for a very high price in the past and there were those who were prepared to pay for it now. They were, in fact, insisting on it.

The other, unfortunate, Agents had tried numerous standard approaches, all of which had failed. After it was apparent their agents weren't coming back (well, some parts of them were inelegantly returned in a number of creative ways), The Agency had thought it would try and pressurize Mr Creed to communicate with them. This, perhaps, wasn't the wisest decision The Agency had made in its long, long existence. Dominant alpha males, as a rule, don't like to be told what to do by those beneath them. They, in fact, believe that as top predator, everyone is beneath them.

Agents are trained to find solutions to problems and get results. Use someone's weaknesses against them. Turn your weakness into strength and remember, everything is a weapon in the right hands. Keep focussed. Mr Creed's animal instincts were, in fact, a weakness, Athena had concluded.

Whereas the other agents had approached Creed on the basis that he was a (psychotic) man, Athena's approach would be different. She would reach out to his animal side. Top predators need careful handling. There was no use thinking he was a man, she thought as she looked at picture of him.

God, she could feel the strength of his being from those photos. He exuded masculinity and dominance. It was undeniable that a dark female part of herself felt an instinctive approval of him as a man. But those eyes…..eyes that took pleasure in pain. As she was assessing all different approaches to bringing Mr Creed to the discussion table, her mind momentarily wondered about him sexually….was there more to him than a rapist and killer? Did he even have a concept of rape? He would just take what he thought he owned and kill anyone that stopped him. How many human females could survive his animal need combined with his size and strength? There had been one she had a report on. She hoped for the sake of human women, he had been sticking to more enduring mutants for his needs.

It was interesting to note that the report on the human female survivor of an unwanted 'sexual encounter' with Mr Creed, stated that she had found herself intoxicated with Creed's presence - the classic effect of the pheromones of a highly dominant male predator on a female. She had reported she had felt an overwhelming sense of arousal, light-headedness and desire. The fear she had felt had turned to burning desire when he stood 20 feet away. To say her feelings on the experience were mixed was an understatement. She wanted him to mate with her. That was all she could think of.

Fascinating, Athena thought. It would be interesting experience to see if this creature had the same effect on her. She would love to objectively observe herself around this creature. Would that same desire to mate with him strike her?

'Bring him to the table, Agent' she had been told. She hadn't failed a mission yet.

This wouldn't be one to fail. If she did, she was sure Mr Creed would make it her last.

Athena had tracked Creed's location to a ten mile radius. It had taken two weeks and she knew he was somewhere close by. As she couldn't go to straight to him, there was only one solution to that problem.

Athena had gone to a colleague of hers who had acquired the pheromones of female big cats in heat. Athena had placed the bait down on the forest floor –the wet forest floor. Would he pick up the scent from miles away? Would this intrigue him at any level? Mere curiosity? Arousal?

If he could smell the sex pheromones of big cats from miles away then it was logical that he could smell her near him.

Athena had to become invisible to this creature's senses.

Creed could not/must not sense her near him. Precautions were required; her life depended on it.

Athena had pulled another favour and got her hands on something called a chameleon suit. Every part of her was covered from head to toe and she breathing from a small oxygen bottle. The chameleon suit disguised body heat, pheromones, sweat. It also blended into the visual landscape and could replicate natural sounds around it.

Although she was completely covered, Athena had placed some plastic objects in her nostrils. Just in case, she thought. Just in case.

In her right hand she held what looked like a small, plastic gun with a series of lights down the side of it. It looked very high tech as if it had just been stolen from a lab. It had, in fact….by Athena. It would, of course, be returned….at some point.

Come on, tom cat, she thought. Come and take the bait. Come and smell the little kitty cats in heat.

Athena felt a change in the forest. Yes…she could feel it strongly now. It was apparent to Athena that over the years she had developed a keen jungle sense – something humans in cities and desk jobs had allowed to fall into neglect.

Her skin tingled and she knew that he was nearby. The forest became quieter and all she could hear was the pitter patter of rainfall on leaves.

There she saw him. A huge, broad man in a long black, trench coat. Dark cropped hair, mutton chops and a face could be described as handsome but he was so much more than that. It was his presence. The forest seemed to recognise that he was king of the jungle and it was quiet in reverence.

Athena felt her heart beat a little faster. She knew he had heightened hearing and would be able to recognise the human heart. Come on suit, don't let me….don't let down…she whispered in her head as she tried to control her breathing.

Victor Creed approached the soaking wet mud and kneeled down. He sniffed the ground and then he let out a slow, low, growling noise. God, Athena thought. That noise was deep. It vibrated in her body and down into her groin. Jesus, she thought. Jesus…

Creed continued kneeling down and growling.

Athena involuntarily licked her lips and felt her breathing deepening. She knew her pupils were dilating, a sign of arousal and she felt her body start to respond.

Why was he still doing that? Athena asked herself. Trying to call to whatever made the pheromones? Calling to a female?

But his distraction could not be wasted.

Athena pointed her gun down at Creed's head. A red, laser light beamed out from the end of it and it touched Creed's ear. Yes, his instincts were like lightening and as soon as he felt it, he reacted but he was too late. The light let out a huge, high-pitched pulse directly into Creed's ear. He leapt up, roared with outstretched arms and threw a hand over both ears. Creed clocked where the beam of light was coming from but was in too much pain to move.

Athena knew from his look her position had been compromised and she needed to move to safer ground. She had a few minutes whilst he was incapacitated. She changed a setting on the gun, aimed at his jacket and shot a tiny piece of metal into his coat.

She changed the setting again on her gun, aimed at a passing critter and shot it. The critter shot off at high speed into the forest. Creed turned at sniffed in the direction of the critter and growled in the deepest and darkest way Athena had ever heard. Her body reacted on a deep level and she at this moment felt blessed she couldn't sense his pheromones.

Creed had been in heat. Sending out a growl to a female…dear god, didn't she know it…..

Creed now looked torn between getting up the tree where Athena was standing and pursuing the critter. He looked enraged as his instincts tore at him. He growled in pain and growled at the mixed primal instincts his body was demanding of him.

Athena jumped down the tree from branch to branch. She knew Creed would be unable to hear her at this moment. She landed on the ground and aimed her gun at others critters, firing the pheromone into them. Suddenly Creed was spinning around and around, growling in different directions.

Confused, tom cat?

She ran over to where he bent over, growling and snarling and quickly stuck a label on him with writing on it. He turned around and around. He could not smell or sense where the touch had come from. His nostrils were filled with pheromones…..his ears buzzed….he knew someone or something was near but he could not focus.

Athena ran off into the forest. She knew she had minutes before his hearing recovered. She knew his sexual instincts would be going wild with the smell of females in heat running around in all directions…..

In fact, five minutes passed before Creed recovered his senses.

He was deeply and darkly angry. An anger he hadn't felt for a long, long time.

He reached down to his coat and pulled the label off.

It read: "The Agency humbly requests the presence of Mr Victor Creed. Time and place below. Cuddles, Lady Black.

Victor Creed had a look of pure murder across his dark features.

Yes, he would attend. Yes, he would find out who Lady Black was and repay her. Yes, he would enjoy that. He would enjoy that a lot.

Ends.