TEN UNEXPECTED KISSES

Logan and Ororo

Ororo roared over Logan's head in a howl of shrieking wind. Snagging him by one arm - the effort almost yanked her arms out of their sockets - Ororo flew on, desperately grabbing for the altitude she needed to avoid smashing head-first into a fast-approaching line of trees.

Behind them, a bomb was ticking. And it was a big damn bomb.

Pointing urgently, Logan yelled something that Ororo couldn't quite make out because of the noise of the wind. However, she could see what Logan was pointing towards. It was a stone wall, about four feet tall, that separated two fields.

Ororo immediately lost altitude and pushed for the wall - praying to the Goddess for all the speed that she could manage. Just before reaching the wall, Ororo reversed her winds, flaring them underneath and around their bodies. That effectively slammed on the brakes while levitating herself and Logan for a split-second. Then, mustering every bit of physical strength she possessed, Ororo pitched a wildly cursing Logan over the wall.

Ororo dove after Logan and landed on top of him. He immediately rolled her over and covered her body as best as he could with his own. Trapped underneath Logan, Ororo frantically waved her arms - raising a strong, cyclonic wind on the far side of the wall they were using for cover.

The bomb went off, but thanks to the wall and Ororo's winds, it wasn't as bad for them as it could have been.

Logan and Ororo found themselves face-to-face as dust and fragments of leaves began pattering down over them. Their lips were locked together. Ororo had Logan's very firm ass gripped in her hands while his fingers were tangled in her thick, white, hair.

Eventually, they broke apart. Logan pulled back, shook his head in amusement, and grinned down at Ororo, "So... what d'ya think of working for this Xavier guy?"

They'd been X-Men for only two months.

"Y'know, you an' me, it's really just a matter of time," Logan continued intently as he ran a finger along the line of Ororo's jaw. Then he licked her cheek with surprising delicacy.

"So how about right now?" he added calmly. "We may as well get it over with."

Ororo took a deep breath and forced herself past Logan's sheer animal magnetism.

"I do not like you, little man," Ororo said evenly. Then she pushed Logan away from her. That wasn't easy. For some reason, he seemed to be a lot heavier than she expected. She'd noticed that while she was carrying him.

"We will never be friends, Wolverine. Much less anything more," Ororo said coldly as she wiggled out from under him and got up.

Logan shrugged and said nothing as he also climbed to his feet. Then he turned and began hiking towards a nearby hill. They had parked the Blackbird behind it.

Behind him, Ororo licked her lips and tried to decide who had initiated the kiss.

Sam and Rahne

He was eighteen, built like a beanpole, had ears like an elephant, and didn't know the first thing about women. In other words, Sam was a frustrated and very embarrassed virgin.

Rahne was lovely in her gawky, half-grown manner. And for some reason, she was completely taken by the older boy from Kentucky.

They were alone together on the back porch of the mansion, sitting on the steps as they watched the fireflies flicker around the yard. And like millions of young men and boys before him, Sam felt like he was on fire. Every hormone in Sam's body was telling him to ignore his damned conscience, quit wasting time, and take what was being so innocently offered.

Except that just wasn't him.

Leaning over, Sam gently kissed Rahne on her forehead.

"You'll always be my little sister," he told her softly.

Rahne blinked her green eyes - half in pleased surprise and half in unspoken disappointment - and then smiled uncertainly up at Sam.

"Thank you," she said. Then she hugged him and leaned her head against Sam's shoulder.

Bobby and Rogue

Really, it came as a surprise to both of them. Rogue was loading equipment into the Blackbird and Bobby was helping her. Then he looked up and saw that distant look in Rogue's eyes. It was a look that was all about loneliness and regret. He had long since learned to recognize it in her and in so many others.

Leaning over, Bobby quickly brushed his lips against hers. He had seen Remy do it that way. Apparently, the trick was to be quick. He felt the electric tingle and a brief wave of dizziness. But otherwise, there was no further effect on him.

"Robert Louis Drake," Rogue said sternly, but there was a trace of a smile on her lips, "what are you up to?"

"I didn't know you knew my full name," Bobby laughed. His lips felt a little numb.

Rogue huffed at him, "Do that again and I'll..."

Then she stopped.

"What?" Bobby asked with a grin.

Rogue shrugged and picked up a clipboard, "I'll whip your ass."

"Promises, promises," Bobby sighed. It really wasn't much of a joke, but they both giggled anyway.

Rogue tried to ignore Bobby and concentrate on the clipboard. After a second or two she realized that she was holding it upside down. Waiting until Bobby wasn't looking, she hurriedly turned it right-side up.

Tony and Emma

The hotel suite cost five thousand dollars a night. The caviar was fifty dollars a pound. The champagne was five hundred dollars a bottle. Hell, the silk sheets on which Emma had recently been splayed wide open were worth more than most women's wedding rings.

"You're a very good fuck, Tony," Emma said with a seductive smile. She was nineteen years old and very sure of herself.

Tony loved it when the Hellfire Club tried to manipulate him. They were so arrogantly sure of themselves that it never even occurred to them that an ordinary human could have developed counter-measures against their schemes. For example, the cameras recording everything that happened in the suite would eventually be discovered to have mysteriously malfunctioned. And the Hellfire Club agent he was bedding wasn't actually reading his mind. Instead, she was reading a bland simulation of his mind. One that was feeding her some very useful disinformation.

There was a trace of semen on Emma's cheek. Tony Stark carefully wiped it away with his thumb. Then he smiled back at Emma and leaned forward to grant her a tender kiss.

He was really just buying some time while he tried to remember her name.

Kurt and Jean

They were standing in the main hall of the mansion, their bodies locked together as they embraced one another.

Jean broke away from Kurt. Completely and utterly surprised, Kurt stared into Jean's eyes. Jean was... warm. Warmer than a normal human being. He'd never had the opportunity to notice that before.

"J-Jean? Vas? What...?" Kurt stuttered.

"Goodbye," Jean said quietly. There was something inhuman in her eyes.

Kurt's stomach twisted.

Hank and Betsy

The more personal aspects of Hank's anatomy were... peculiar. But Betsy had long since gotten used to that. Conventional sex with Hank was pretty much impossible. So they improvised.

Gritting his fangs as he tried not to howl, Hank climaxed massively. Afterwards, Hank shuddered as he gasped for air. Then he took long and deep breaths as Betsy used a towel to carefully wipe them both clean.

"Betsy," Hank whispered softly. His eyes were closed.

"Hush, Hank," Betsy answered. "Everything's fine."

Suddenly leaning forward, Betsy did something she'd never done before. She kissed Hank. His mouth was three times as broad as hers. His teeth were fangs. His tongue was rough and cat-like, and his breath was definitely that of a carnivore.

And he was gentle. So very, very gentle.

Scott and Raven

Raven forced a confident smile onto her face as Scott pushed her away. It wouldn't do to look nonplussed.

"Don't do that again," Scott said coldly.

Trying her best to look calm and condescending, Raven used the back of her hand to wipe the blood away from her lips. The bite marks Scott had left on her would be deep.

A quick fantasy image flickered through Raven's mind. It featured a collar of leather and chrome, the bite of a leather belt on naked blue skin, and Scott's voice issuing orders...

What the hell? Raven blinked as she tried to banish those thoughts from her head.

Meanwhile, Scott was walking away, his back stiff with anger.

Behind Scott, Raven slowly shook her head as she stared at his ass. Now she finally knew what Jean and Emma saw in him.

The Mandarin and Jubilation

The Mandarin's servants captured Jubilation in Tokyo. But before she was brought into his presence, they made sure that she was properly dressed. That was why Jubes was wearing the traditional robes of a young Manchu noblewoman in attendance at the Imperial Court. She was also wearing approximately ten pounds of ridiculously over-stylized makeup.

Needless to say, Jubes was completely pissed off. Jumping up on a nearby footstool, she stood on her tiptoes, leaned forward, and then planted a huge, wet, cosmetic-smearing kiss on the Mandarin's utterly surprised face.

"Check it out, Manny," she announced loudly. "I'm American. American! I can't speak Chinese. I don't know jack about China. And I don't care, either! It doesn't matter how you and your people dress me up, I'm not... not... some kind of doll! You can take your fifteenth century fantasies and shove them up your ass!"

Everyone in the courtroom gasped. One elderly retainer fainted. Cold-eyed guards stepped forward. The Mandarin's favorite concubine of the moment frantically began searching for some way to distract him and thus save the life of this impudent child.

Holding up his hand in order to stave off his guards, the Mandarin accepted a scented cloth from his concubine. He used it to wipe the smeared traces of Jube's makeup from his face. Then the Mandarin slowly looked Jubes up and down.

Jubes gulped. There was something in the Mandarin's eyes...

"How old are you?" the Mandarin asked calmly.

"Uhm. Seventeen?"

The Mandarin stared at her. His deep green eyes were serene, yet seemed almost cat-like in their potential for cruelty.

"Sixteen?" Jubes squeaked nervously.

The Mandarin didn't look away.

"Fifteen," Jubes finally admitted in a very tiny voice.

The Mandarin nodded slowly. "Return her to Japan," he said calmly.

A pair of guards immediately grabbed Jubes by the arms and began hustling her away.

"Jubilation..." the Mandarin suddenly added.

The guards instantly froze. Jubilation craned her head around to look back at the Mandarin.

"Keep the robes," the Mandarin said with the thinnest ghost of a smile. "You look lovely in them. And perhaps someday they will remind you of your ancestors."

Steve and Laura

In the end, Steve let her go.

It wasn't an easy decision. Laura was a killer, after all. But she was also a victim. The latest incarnation of Weapon X had developed her into a horrifyingly efficient assassin, but it also hadn't given her any choice in terms of what she had become.

Steve knew he was going to take a lot of flak for his decision, but ultimately his gut told him that Laura was salvageable. The Xavier School was filled with people who knew how to help kids develop their powers responsibly. And the X-Men had a reputation for turning bad-guys into good-guys.

He was taking a chance, but he thought it was a chance worth taking. And Captain America had enough pull within SHIELD and the government to make it happen.

The surrounding squad of SHIELD agents tensed and hefted their weapons as Steve crouched down next to Laura and unlocked the thirty kilos of restraints that were the only thing between them and mortal combat with the efficiently deadly Laura Kinney.

"Logan is waiting outside," Steve told Laura quietly. "From now on everything is up to you. You've got a second chance. You're free."

Laura stood up. She was a small girl and Steve was a big man. Crouched down as Steve was, he was at eye-level with her.

"I'm... free?" Laura said hesitantly.

"Yes," Steve said with a smile.

Laura paused for a long moment, her eyes searching Steve's for the inevitable lie. The cruel trick.

She didn't see anything of the kind.

Nobody was more surprised than Steve when Laura hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

Logan and Ororo (Again)

It wasn't like Ororo to be unsure or tentative about anything. It bothered Logan when he saw her like that.

"Logan, do you remember the stone wall?" Ororo asked hesitantly.

At first, Logan was puzzled. Then his eyes suddenly cleared.

"Oh, yeah. I remember," he said with a wry smile.

"I... I said some things to you," Ororo continued. "I said that we would never be friends."

Logan chuckled, "Yeah. You did say that."

"I have never apologized."

Logan grinned and shook his head, "Don't worry about it, 'Ro. It was a long time ago. And you hadn't realized just how lovable I really am."

Ororo couldn't help but laugh. Then they were in each other's arms.

Later on, they both tried to remember who began the kiss.