She sits alone upon a bench staring at an empty space of white wall. A painting used to be there. Below where the painting once rested was a brass nameplate. "The Lion and the Lamb" by Marguerite Warren; that painting was one of her favorites. A lion like man, tall and handsome, fierce and deadly, in love with a timid and shy woman. Maggie was particularly proud of this painting and it was kind of hard to give it up. She sighs happily and gets up off the bench, then leaves the art studio; as she puts on her jacket.

As Maggie walked she couldn't help but think as she eyed the Statue of Liberty. She noticed that the flame of the torch was gone. They had talked about it in the news, saying that it was the work of mutants. She shook her head; she herself had nothing against Mutants. She knew a Mutant named Ashley; she had the ability to heal people by merely touching them. A sigh escaped her as tightened her coat, it was a bit chilly.

Maggie finally reached her car got in and started driving. She kept thinking about what her new painting would be about. As she thought about it she happened to glance out her window and she saw something. To be more precise she saw a person in the water. Maggie stopped her car, got out and ran to that person. "Hey!" She ran down to the docks and to the water. Finally she got a look at him.

The man was tall, extremely tall, well over six feet. Though she couldn't really see his features, she could tell by his silhouette his was a big guy with lots of muscle. Maggie knew that she had to get him out of the water and some place safe and warm. She pulled him out of the water using all her strength.

"Oh my god, you're a cow!"

She said as her smaller self tried to pick up this grizzly of a man. He moaned in pain as he was being lifted. "Okay stay with me here come on, stay with me." Maggie got him out of the water and onto his feet and walking. She made it to her car and laid him in the back. Now she had to get him home.

Ten minutes pass by and Maggie arrived at her large loft; once parked she hauled the big guy out of the back of her car. He was slowly coming to, so it was easier to get him inside. "Okay big guy we're almost—AAHH!" Maggie collapses under his weight and falls onto the soft carpeted floor of her living room, with him on top of her. "Oh great, okay lets get you rolled over." Though she seemed to struggle with rolling over

"Okay if I knee you somewhere I apologize and…Oh god you smell good." She finally gets him rolled over on his back and was now straddling him.

He let out a small groan like growl and his eyes slowly open to reveal the beautiful black pools that were his eyes. He looks at her in wonder. "Hi." She says softly. His eyes roll back and he lost consciousness again. Maggie leaned down pressing her ear against his chest. She could hear a steady heart beat and sighed in relief.

"Okay, let's get you cleaned up and into bed." She said as she tried to get up and that was when she truly stopped and looked at him. His hair was long and blond. His sideburns led down to a beard. And his whole body seemed to be made of nothing but muscle.

The man before her was truly handsome. Not a pretty handsome, but more along the lines of a handsome that resembled a big cat in the wild. Beautiful but dangerous seemed to be the best way to describe him, for at the end of each finger was a deadly talon like claw.

Maggie finally managed to get up from her position then she began to get the man up off the floor. After what seemed hours she got him to her bedroom and collapsed with him on her bed. Once again she rolled him over, but blushed when his shirt had been pulled upwards. "Oh wow."

She shook her head before she proceeded to remove his wet cloths. Trying her best to revert back to her time as a nurse at not stare in amazement as each piece of clothing was removed. Apparently being like an animal meant going commando, but Maggie was not complaining.

After his wet cloths were removed she covered him with the warm sheets and comforter of her bed. After that was taken care of she proceeded to deal with his cloths. His jacket was leather but his pants and shirt were cloth so they could be washed.

Once that was taken care of she crashed on the couch and fell asleep, but not for long. She awoke some hours later to a rapid and loud knocking at her front door. She stormed over and opened the door only to find Ashley standing there "Ash?" She smiled "Okay now before you say anything, where is he?" Now she was really confused "Huh? Wha-how did you?"

Ashley raised her hand stopping her "I told you I was developing my…telepathy. So, well I kind of poked into your mind." Maggie sighed "He's in my room." Ashley walked to the room with Maggie hot on her tail "Oh my." She said once she got a good look at him, "Oh honey, you said he was scrumptious in your mind but oh how much you left out." Maggie rolled her eyes "Okay Ash go take a cold shower and then we'll talk." She said before she walked back to the couch and flopped down.

Five minutes later Ashley came back out, "Well? Is he healed?" Ashley smiled "Yes he is. Now he just has to sleep to regain his strength. But I don't know how long that will take. I mean judging by the extent of that blast injury to his chest area and all the bruising to his back. It will take sometime. But you know he is lucky, if you hadn't found him, his healing abilities would have only done so much."

Maggie smiled "Thanks Ash." She smiled "No I hope that this little detour won't keep you from painting." Maggie laughed "No it won't," She smiled "Okay, now sleep well Sweetie." "Night Ash" Maggie drifted back off to sleep.

Again that didn't last very long.

Maggie awoke around two in the morning to a slight growling noise coming from her bedroom. She ran in and checked on the man, well Feral. He was perspiring a lot. Maggie touched his forehead and cheek, he was burning up. She ran into her bathroom and got a washcloth and got it wet before returning and placing it on his forehead. "It's okay. Shhh, everything's okay," the Feral seemed to calm down more and more as she spoke to him. Maggie sighed all she had to do now was wait.

She got up from her place at the edge of the bed and dragged her reading chair over and plopped down in it. She swung her legs over the one arm and placed a pillow under her head and drifted off to sleep.