SUMMARY: A Response to A certain Line in

SUMMARY: A Response to A certain Line in Everything I need to know I learned from the X-Men

Which was created by the Amazingly talented Wolvie and Jubes Story Board Crew :) Creed and Blink and another character of mine, NO MARY SUES ALLOWED

DISCLAIMER: Everything you recognise belongs to Marvel, lucky them, Anyone you don't know which includes Sarah are mine, I made them up in my mad little head, any reference to people real or fictional is a terrible mistake or new psychic powers.

THANKS: Everyone I've ever worked with on a fic, who know how awful I am ! And to The WolverineandJubilee.com people, who are inspiring and inspired.

FEEDBACK: *deep breath* feedback will be worshiped adored looked over and poured with melted chocolate covered in whipped cream eaten and cherished nourished and thanked for later, everyone who feeds the feedback machine gets the X Man/Woman of choice covered in the feedback chocolate combo and hand delivered via my mail @ the following address. lost_and_frozen_soul@lycos.com Flamers will Be Personally Delivered to Vic and Wolvie and used for Amiko's Sushi lunches.

Silk and Steel

Part One

Hazy Shade Of Winter

A tiny little thing, lying twisted in the snow, a snippet of purple and the stench of burned cloth. Her eyes flickered open taking in the cold darkness of a typical Canadian winter. Wide and terrified, as if snow hadn't been much of an opener in her life, or perhaps she had seen the bad things lurking in the shadows.

But when she caught sight of him, there was no fear at all, and there should have been, he was one of the bad things. She swallowed, once, twice. Throat muscles working in skin that was rapidly bluing with cold, before managing two words in a voice that sounded as though screams had scraped it raw. "Mr Creed?

And then her lids fluttered closed, gone again, passed out completely this time. But in the frail's eyes, there had been something like, relief? He looked down at her, she couldn't be that old, thirteen or fourteen, half naked in the falling snow she'd be dead soon. Exposure would take care of yet another who was too weak to live.

Nature red in tooth and claw, he'd read that before, Canadian winters were long, and dark, it encouraged reading something. Turning away he picked up the deer he'd snagged and started to move away before stopping dead.

He closed his eyes against the impulse, he'd be turning into the runt soon, all compassion and little frail's followin' him 'round. But he couldn't leave her there to die. Heaving a sigh he turned back and scooped her up. She weighed less than the deer, and she was shivering with cold. It looked as if he would be heading back to civilisation earlier than he'd thought.

It was perhaps a half mile to the car, he'd stopped for no reason at all, if he'd believed in fate then he would have said that he had meant to be there to pick the pup off of the floor. But he didn't, so the fact that he had wanted food to bring to cabin with him explained it away. A shudder against his chest got him moving faster, now he'd got her he didn't want her dying on him.

Sliding her into the jeeps passenger seat and strapping her in he hesitated. He'd never had hypothermia, healing factor kicked in before that had a chance to start, but it was pretty obvious that the frail was right there. Shrugging out of his coat, he pushed it over her, that was a start, the jeep was fairly new, so the heating system worked, he pushed it on full blast and angled it at her.

Blankets weren't something he kept in his cars, so for now she'd have to do. He couldn't keep her in the cabin, she'd never survive, so it was back to good old NY, but first to get out of the snowstorm. Slamming her door he went over the bonnet to his own and climbed in, shaking the snow off of the vest he was wearing before gunning the engine.

Mixing antifreeze into the petrol seemed to have solved that cold start problem, although he hated to think what the corrosives were doing to the engine block. He backed the jeep into a three point turn and started off into the snow at his usual breakneck speed, before slowing. It was obvious that the puppy didn't have a healing factor, he growled, a low rumble before speaking to the air.

"You're more trouble than you're worth"

Several miles later that statement came into its own, he had managed to steer them into Yellowknife, the place was almost dead during the winter nights, much much too cold for people to go in and out of buildings. Taking her to the hospital was pretty much out of the question, he couldn't tell them anything about her, and he couldn't just leave her there…..

He looked at himself in the drivers mirror, same Vic Creed, so why not? Turning to look at the pup he had his answer. She was so blatantly mutant, and up here that marked bad, hate wasn't confined to the big city. He stopped the jeep outside the motel and repeated the slide across the bonnet to get her, it wasn't done to look impressive, it was quicker, and the metal was warm.

Pulling her out of the car he wrapped her from head to foot in his jacket, lucky she was so small. Then he tucked her under one arm and walked into the lobby. The man behind the desk knew him right away.

"Mr Creed, sir, I thought you were heading home today"

He shook his head.

"Nope"

Most other people would have offered some sort of explanation, but why bother? Even if the mans greedy little eyes were watching the bundle under his arm with something almost predatory. Then the clerk shrugged and reaching up took down the key.

"Room six again?"

He nodded and caught the thrown key, she was easy to support with one arm, light as a feather, but still shaking.

"Food?"

It sounded like a question and a demand, 'is there' and 'there'd better be' in one word. The clerk's finger pointed at a chalk menu above his head. It wasn't that late, about nine or ten, but several things were crossed off.

"I want the soup, the tea, the coffee and everything else that's got meat in it"

Starving was not the word for the feelings his stomach was giving him at the moment, the clerk looked a bit put out, but he nodded and wrote it down.

"In the room?"

He nodded back, a curt shift of his chin and headed up the stairs. He pushed the key into the lock and slammed his way into the room before crossing to the bed and putting her down. He looked at the thin drawn features. She wasn't good, she was shaking with cold but he could feel the heat of her from the other end of the bed.

A knock at the door, before he'd had time to think of anything to do, so he tossed his coat over her and took the trolley with a tip and a growl. He was ravenous but she had to be sorted out first. He picked up the tea mug, no cups, they had remembered from last time. He pulled her out from under the coat and wrapped her in the blankets one handed before pulling her up so that she rested against his chest.

"Okay pup, you have to drink this, otherwise your gonna die, and, even if I'd think that was useful, I don't wan' it to happen, got me?"

He tipped it, the stuff was almost lukewarm, the coffee would be steaming but they'd never managed to get the tea hot around here. It traced into her mouth, she choked, spluttered and then swallowed convulsively. Half a cupful at least before she stopped.

A flutter of sensation against his cheek, lashes opening, seemed she was gonna join him for a little while at least. "Mr Creed?" the voice was still rough, but there was less distress there, she was relaxed almost asleep, that was better than unconscious, although her temperature was still burning against his skin.

"'S Right frail" another murmur before she almost snuggled into him "You're gonna have to eat before you sleep pup" the murmur was a protest now, but he shook her, seemed to much effort to disentangle her, so he stood and took them both to the trolley before bringing them both back to the bed to feed her.

Tomato soup, his lip curled, cheap and nasty from the smell of it. But anything was better than nothing at all. He managed to get her to eat a grand total of three spoonfuls before she refused to eat anymore "Strong willed for a frail" it was a grumble but he let it go, before going to the trolley and grabbing at the food.

As he ate he looked over at the bed, the kid was still, and her breathing was shallow on the air. She wasn't better but she wasn't worse, which was a good thing. The food was pretty much gone, not high quality but probably better than the stringy little deer that he'd left in the snow. He walked into the bathroom and stripped down, wincing at the deep break in his ribs that was still healing after his last encounter with the runt.

Washing off he slid into the shower, hot water half relaxing him. He wasn't ever fully relaxed, but he could at least get warm, and he was more than ready to sleep….. A scream wrenched through the rooms, the water was suddenly unimportant as he dashed out of the shower and back into the bedroom. The pup was still asleep but that didn't stop her from screaming.

He pulled a much too short motel issue robe from the back of the bathroom door and wrapped himself in it before sitting on the bed. How did you comfort a frail puppy who was having nightmares? Awkwardly he pulled her up onto his shoulder and stroked her the way he would have with a kitten, from the crown of her fever dry head down over to her neck where her pulse was hammering like a mad thing and back again.

The screams had stopped, and the whimpers were dying down, but she was still clinging to him like some sort of monkey. He rolled his eyes, before laying backwards onto the bed and dragging the mess of blankets over them both.

"Fine frail, fine, tonight you can hang on me, but tomorrow I want some answers and you can sleep by yourself."

He wasn't sure who he was saying it to, but it made him feel better to say it, even if he did have a sinking feeling about whether or not it was going to happen.