Title: Fire

Series: Elementals Quartet

Rating: M

'Verse: AU, two years after the first movie.

Disclaimer: Sadly, only Gaia and Vulcanus are mine.

Summary: The second in my Elementals series, wherein the residents at the X-Mansion meet a 'family' of very unusual mutants. Kitty Pryde finally gets her prince, only to find that fairy tales are better as fantasies. The arrival of a new mutant rekindles her dreams.

Chapter 1

He prowled through the trees, nose lifted to the wind, ears straining against the silence, his feet noiseless against the soft earth. Ahead, a squirrel saw him coming and skittered up its tree, its bushy tail flicking wildly in warning to its fellows. The sight made him smile slightly, his eyes gleaming as an idea began to form in his mind.

With the natural grace of a predator, he swung up onto a branch and began to move towards the center of the forest, jumping lightly from tree to tree, moving through the boughs as easily as a jungle cat. The comparison was a fitting one, he mused. He was, after all, on the hunt.

He came to the tree he sought, a large, sturdy pine that sat near the center of the little wood. Its strong scent made his nose wrinkle, but he settled down amongst the needles, knowing their thick veil hid him from view, for the most part. His ears twitched slightly, hearing the light sound of a footstep. At last!

His muscles tensed in readiness, but as always he had to pause and catch his breath when she entered the clearing. She was tall, almost unnaturally so, and slender, with thick waves of bark-brown hair spilling over her bare, creamy-white shoulders. He inhaled deeply, forcing back the crushing pressure around his chest inspired by the sight of her, and her delicious, lightly floral scent, as familiar and as dear to him as his own, flooded his senses. She wore no clothes, her feminine charms a banquet for his eyes, which greedily clung to every flawless curve. He almost sighed in besotted adoration before remembering that he was supposed to be hiding.

Creeping along a sturdy branch, he inched closer and closer, preparing to spring forth and drive her to the ground when the wood beneath him creaked and bent, lashing from side to side like the tail of an angry cat. He just had time for one startled yelp before he was unceremoniously dumped on the soft, moist ground. He grunted in irritation, rising to his feet as the sound of musical laughter rang in his ears.

"These trees keep no secrets from me, my love."

Gaia watched, amused, as her fiancé hauled himself up from the ground, a disgruntled expression making his adorable nose crinkle and his gorgeous golden eyes glitter like those of a sulky child. Deliberately adding a little extra sway to her hips, she prowled a circle around him, noticing as she did that his custom-made slacks did very little to hide his reaction to her nudity.

Drawing close, she rested a soothing, teasing hand on his chest. "I'm sure you'll win eventually, dearheart." She crooned in an effort towards placation.

Hank turned his eyes towards his wife-to-be, tearing them away from the mesmerising, arousing sight of her long, elegant fingers winding in his fur. As his gaze collided with hers, the intensity she found there made her mouth go dry and a warm throbbing start up low in her stomach.

"Demi?" He murmured in the deep, husky growl she had humorously dubbed his 'sex voice'.

Feeling her knees turn to jelly, she smiled alluringly. "Yes, Hank?"

The answering smile that flashed across his face was feral in a way that, before her dramatic entrance into his life, would have been a source of shame and disgust to him. Now, he generally accepted the animal part of him with a weary sense of the inevitable. Sometimes, however, he revelled in it. "Run."

It took her less than a second to see the primal flare in those beloved eyes, and she turned and fled, feeling a surge of desire that made him groan when the rich smell of it drifted tantalisingly to his sensitive nose, sealing her fate.

She didn't even make it to the edge of the clearing.

With a growl of delight, he bounded forward, catching one long arm in a firm but painless hold. It took him almost no effort to tug her back into his waiting arms, which folded around her in a welcoming clasp. She smiled up into his suddenly tender expression before his lips came down on hers, banishing all rational thought, leaving only his heat against her skin, his taste in her mouth, his knowing hands sliding over her body.

At last he lifted his head, eyes blazing as they panted for breath. She rested her head against his shoulder, revelling in the security of his embrace, and his deep purrs of contentment vibrated against her sensitised skin deliciously. After a long moment just luxuriating in his arms, she turned her face up to his.

"Hank?"

The sound of her soft, caressing voice made his eyes, which had drifted shut in pleasure, slide open, and he looked down into her familiar, beautiful face, sure that he was glowing with love for her. "Yes, my dearest, dearest love?"

"Make me yours."

Smiling tenderly, he swept her feet from beneath her, depositing her gently on the ground. "You were always mine, Demi. From the moment I first set eyes on you, you belonged to me."

She gave the rich gurgle of laughter that he had always found so appealing, eyes gleaming with mischief even as she extended her arms towards him in welcome. "Are you sure that you are not mine?"

Catching the betraying twitch at the corner of her full mouth, he gave a mock snarl in answer, baring his teeth at her as his lips curled back. Descending on her, he crushed her mouth beneath his, supporting himself on one powerful arm to prevent his weight from squashing her flat, while the other hand skated over the side of her breast, skimming its tempting curve lightly. His keen ears twitched, detecting the slight catch in her breath at his teasing touch, and he smiled against her mouth.

When he finally broke away and stared down at her, she was breathing heavily and her beautiful eyes, their pale green unbroken by any other colour but the silver lines tracing over their delicate surfaces, were glazed with passion. The scent of her desire drifted to his nose, curling enticingly in his nostrils, and as his groin tightened painfully, he groaned aloud.

Her chuckle was husky. "I'm not in a much better state, my love." Her remarkable eyes shining with her love, she smiled a knowing, seductive smile. "You are a very handsome man, Doctor Henry McCoy."

The first few times they had made love when she had repeated that statement to him, he had blushed and looked away; his animal features and blue fur were a source of shame and frustration to him, and he had spent many hours researching possible means of getting rid of them. But now, looking at the tenderness mixed with the desire in her face, he believed that she saw him as a man, an attractive man, and he would thank the god who had given her to him every day for that blessing, whether He had intended it or not, whoever He was.

He was about to lower his mouth to hers once again, his hand sliding with gentle possessiveness over the bare curves of her body, when a strange pressure began to pulse against his eardrums. He frowned and shook his head, trying to dispel the irritating feeling, but instead it grew stronger. He pressed his palm to the base of his ear, rubbing at the muscles there in an attempt to soothe away the sensation.

"Hank? What's wrong?"

Demi propped herself up on one elbow beneath him, instinctively pressing herself closer to his broad chest. Her fiancé's golden eyes narrowed as his ears began to twitch restlessly.

"Hank?" She repeated, frowning now. Her husband-to-be was usually a very level-headed, unflappable man; his obvious agitation was disturbing.

The animal part of Hank was beginning to stir, the urge to protect its mate rising fast within him at this prospective danger. The pressure was growing steadily, and now it was accompanied by a dull, muted roar that reminded him of the sound of an oxyacetylene torch at work.

He rose abruptly, pulling Demi to her feet and pressing her protectively against his chest with one arm, shielding her nakedness from the world. She rested her head in the hollow between his neck and shoulder, relaxed and trusting in his arms and his ability to keep her safe. The thought made his lips quirk wryly; in the middle of a forest, his beloved was hardly without defences of her own.

The roaring grew louder and louder in his ears, and he felt Demi flinch suddenly, stiffening in his embrace. Lowering his head, he looked at her with eyes dark with concern. "What is it, my love?"

Her usually pale skin was almost white, her green eyes huge in her strained face. "The Earth… the plants… they're screaming."

She moaned quietly, pressing her ear against his chest as though to block out the wail in her mind. Hank's own ears were ringing with the strange sound now, and his nose twitched as the acrid, bitter scent of ozone suddenly fell over them like a cloud. With it came comprehension, and he threw himself to the ground, pulling Demi with him and covering her with his body as a bright flash lit up the forest.

A moment later there was an echoing boom, and the earth shook beneath them. As the thunderous din faded, Hank cautiously raised his head, eyes seeking his fiancée's face. "Demi? Are you hurt?"

She grunted, rolling over and peering up at him through a cloud of disarrayed brown hair. She looked so adorably disgruntled that he chuckled, flicking back the wayward locks with a gentle finger. Rising easily to his feet, shaking the leaves from his fur, he scooped her into his arms and sighed.

"As much as I wish it didn't, it appears that our er… activities must be curtailed for the nonce, my love." Despite his best efforts, Hank felt a blush suffuse his face and fervently hoped that the fur hid it.

Demi, seeing the redness, giggled and slid down his body to the floor, making his breath hitch. Throwing him a coy glance, she darted across the clearing and pushed a hand into the trunk of the fir tree he'd been sitting in. As always, seeing the evidence of her power made Hank's inner scientist perk up, and he watched with interest as she withdrew her hand, clutching one of the filmy green dresses she often wore.

As soon as she was dressed, the humour cleared from her face and she knelt, frowning. Hank crouched beside her, his sensitive ears straining; although his senses were far more powerful than those of a normal man, he could hear nothing. Demi, however, sunk a hand into the earth, closing her eyes in concentration as she reached out with her power, feeling it sweep over Hank, a warm mass of energy in her mind's eye, and extend through the forest.

For a few moments there was nothing, and then something tingled at the edge of her awareness. She reached out cautiously, her consciousness spreading over the area until a searing burst of heat made her jerk back sharply, her power returning to her like a whip recoiling.

Demi stiffened, her eyes snapping open as she drew in a harsh, gasping breath. Hank instinctively tensed, looking around for the source of her pain so he could make it go away. The slender hand that rested on his forearm, however, made him turn back to her, to see her face suffused with wonder and dawning recognition.

"Hank," she breathed, "It's fire."

"Where?" He asked curtly, worried now. If there was a fire in the forest it could spread to the mansion…

"Not that kind of fire. My kind." Seeing his confusion, she smiled slowly, her eyes glowing with awe. "Hank, it's… a brother."

His golden eyes widened on his comprehension. "You mean-"

"It's another Elemental." And she laughed, the ripple of silvery sound easing the last of the tension in his chest.