Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh MY!

by Leonaria Dragonbane

The plight of mutants just got worse, with the legal recognition of Vampires and Lycanthropes as protected classes in the United States and the European Union, Mutants aren’t even third class citizens – they have no status at all.

1. Chapter 1

Title: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh MY!

Author: Leonaria

Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance/Family

Rating: M (entire story, I'm not going to be careful, this is Creed we are talking about here)

Summary: The plight of mutants just got worse, with the legal recognition of Vampires and Lycanthropes as protected classes in the United States and the European Union, Mutants aren't even third class citizens – they have no status at all. One young mutant becomes active in this new world, and turns to the only haven of safety, the Brotherhood, however the Brotherhood is having growing pains of its own. She turns to the one person who can protect her from the rival factions, but is she safe, or will his claws and fangs rip her to pieces.

A/N This is going to be along the lines of an old epic, VERY long, and I am not playing when I say rated M. There will be some underage sexuality within the piece – deal, I don't condone it, but let's face it, it is a fact of life. There will be underage violence and brutality, graphic violence, language and action, I'm not going for a fluffy character piece here. For those who have read some of my other works, epic story arcs are nothing new, and this will follow the OC from her awakening – until…we'll see. This will contain multiple characters from the X-Men universe, but hey, this is me, so you know the MAIN one will be Sabretooth

Sit back, relax, and welcome to my version of Mutant Hell.

XXXXXXXXX

She was trembling in the rain. It was cold, and wet, and she was hungry. It wasn't nearly the adventure she'd hoped it would be. Her mutation wasn't fully developed, but they knew she was a feral of some kind, not a lycanthrope. That had been her father's first fear, that she'd been bitten. When he'd found out she was just a 'fucking mutant' he'd thrown her out on the street.

Her mother had fought with him over it, was still fighting when she left, but she didn't want him to hurt her mom, so she'd run. It had been raining that day too. The last thing she'd heard was her mother screaming at her father – and the slam of the door. She'd run down the wet streets in nothing but her shirt and jeans. She hadn't even been wearing shoes.

She'd lived on the streets for a couple weeks, and then found a group of mutants willing to take her in. They'd talked about Magneto – and the Brotherhood, and how you were fed, and clothed, and taken care of with them. They were all looking for him, for them, and she'd tagged along. She'd stayed quiet, in the back and out of the way. She was only fifteen, and a flat, tomboyish fifteen at that. Her father always told her she looked like a boy, that she'd never look like a real woman. Her red gold hair had been kept short at home, but out here, she didn't have the time, and it was always falling in her face.

When she could look in a mirror, she watched the changes her mutation gave her, her chocolate brown eyes fading to complete black, with no whites, the fangs aching in her jaw, trying to burst out, her face thinning out, taking on an almost rugged, feline cast. She expected whiskers to pop out at any time, but they didn't. Her taste buds on her tongue enlarged, and became rougher to the touch. Her skin was more sensitive, and the fine hair on her arms became thicker. One of the other girls, who tried to help her with her hair, said it was growing down her back, in a sharp V. She remembered the first time her claws had slipped from her nail beds, under her normal fingernails; she'd been fighting off one of the guys, and slashed him up pretty good. After that most of the guys in the group left her alone.

There were times when she hated what she was becoming, and times it was the most fascinating thing to watch, and somehow she knew, she wasn't even close to the final outcome, it felt like there was something sleeping inside her, and she dreaded and prayed for it's awakening.

The water was dripping off the thick pine needles overhead, right onto her bedroll. She was wet and miserable, and hungry, so hungry, but she didn't dare go into the main camp for food. THEY were there. When her group had found the Brotherhood, they'd been welcomed, given places in the camp, food to eat, clothes to wear, called Brother and Sister. That had lasted a couple weeks, and then another group came in – this time from New York. They were rougher, mean, and thought they could control everything.

When the leadership was around, they played meek, did what they were told, the rest of the time, they were HELL! Three girls had been raped so far, and no one wanted to report any of it, because those guys – and their mutations, were scary. She honestly doubted that Magneto or Mystique or even Sabretooth would allow it, but no one dared speak up. She and a few other girls had taken to hiding in the woods, and only going into camp when one of the main commanders was in camp. At first they'd left her alone, because she looked so boyish, but that had changed as she started to fill out – finally.

She looked down at her changing body – her daddy would be proud, she was finally starting to look like a girl. Her hair hung down her back, her chest was rounding out, almost too much, and her pants were tight on her hips, she needed to go to supply and get another pair, but with the head honcho's gone, she wasn't about to go into that camp. It was like a war zone in there, when they were gone.

One of the girls had gone in, yesterday, to try to sneak them out some food – but she hadn't made it back yet, and they were getting worried. If you had a strong mutation, something to fight back with, you had a chance, but Jane's was just simple invisibility, great for sneaking, but not if you got caught.

'Hey duckies – come out of the rain." They heard a familiar, and dreaded voice. He called himself Predator, and was the worst of the New York bunch. "We have food, clothes; all you have to do is come back to camp. We'll take GOOD care of you." She trembled, she'd seen his idea of taking care of – the girl had been in the medical tent for a week, and she was like a zombie in camp, passed around between them like the only handkerchief at a funeral.

She groaned. Something had to be done to stop them, anything would be better than ending up in their hands, anything. She'd been considering something, but it was almost as frightening as being caught by THEM!

She'd been in camp, last time Sabretooth was back. They'd left them alone, he scared even them. She'd ducked into the kitchen tent, and managed to get a decent meal. She'd been sitting in the back, near an exit she could duck out, when he'd walked in. They were all huddled together, the younger girls, trying to manage to get enough food in their bellies to last a few days. He'd just glared at them, raking over them with his eyes. She hadn't ducked quickly enough, and he'd locked eyes with her. She felt rather than heard his growl, and she felt a tightening deep in her gut. She'd ducked her head, to look at her plate, and he'd looked away, before leaving the tent. That had been almost a month ago.

His eyes were as black as hers – and a part of her wondered if they shared a common mutation, but she didn't dare ask him, didn't dare approach him with something like that. The last kid that tried to ask him something ended up slashed from shoulder to groin with four matching ragged slashes, and a reminder that he liked to be left alone.

She heard them go back to camp, laughing, but she didn't trust it. She stayed up in the branches of the tree; she hadn't set foot on the ground since that last day in camp. Her roll, her camp supplies, everything they'd look for were on the ground, they'd found them a couple times, but Predator couldn't get a scent. She stayed high, and stuck to water for traveling when she had to be on the ground. Someday he'd think to look in the trees, but she'd gotten good at jumping between them, and doubted they'd be able to catch her. It also gave her a vantage point to watch the camp – see when it was safe to go in.

Magneto had been gone for almost two weeks, Toad even longer. Mystique was in and out, so they couldn't count on her presence being much of a deterrent for long. Honestly it was Creed she watched for, Creed that meant safety. She wanted more security than this – had even considered running away again, but the road – the streets weren't much better. She heard a cry and watched as Predator found one of the girls – Shana, damn.

She watched him drag her into camp, into the tent they all shared, and then put her hands over her ears to muffle the screams. The others quickly gathered under her tree.

"They got Shana, Risa." Kate said.

"I KNOW!" She hissed down at them.

"It'll be safe a while, we might try for food again." They were becoming decidedly more pragmatic about the whole thing.

"NO! They always leave a watch, it isn't safe. Jane was our best bet, and I haven't seen any sign of her."

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, I'm thinking." Risa said. "Now get back into hiding. I don't want them to know where I am. We need to be able to watch them."

The others just nodded, and slipped into the underbrush with a silence born of necessity. She was watching for safety – for a golden giant that meant they could eat for a day or two.

XXXXXXXXXX

He knew there were problems in camp, that last group from New York acted like they owned everything. He'd asked Mags to let him take them down a peg or two, but Erik had other things on his mind, the big picture and all of that. Some of the 'army' were just kids, and he'd scented some things he didn't like – not one bit.

Mystique laughed at him, said it was survival of the fittest, the weak would be swallowed up by the strong, and in most cases he'd agree, but THEY were responsible for these kids. He knew they'd probably end up dying in some fight somewhere, most of them, but you just didn't let your troops prey on each other, it was bad for morale, and there were definite predators out there, preying on the weak.

He'd seen them – the ones that had banded together to protect each other, half starved because they were living away from camp, away from danger. One had caught his attention. She couldn't be more than twelve or thirteen at the most, flat chested, skinny kid, but her eyes – they were pitch black, and determined, so determined. She was scared – deep scared, the fear that just fills every pore of your body until that was all you smelled like. They all smelled like that, but there was something else in her – a strength, a determination to keep them safe, she wasn't a follower, she was a leader, she was in charge of that little band of half starved girls, and he hadn't liked it one bit. He'd bitten back the growl, but it had still vibrated through is body as she looked back to her plate; he'd almost seen a plea in her eyes – more of a demand than a plea really.

He didn't know what she wanted from him, that scrawny kid, but those kids didn't need to be out there on their own.

He leaned back in his truck. He was finished with this job, and he didn't plan on taking any more for a while. Mags was in planning stages on something big, and he needed to stick around. Maybe HE'D take responsibility for getting the camp in order. It needed it. It was a two day trip with a stop, eighteen hours if he didn't. He sensed danger, he wasn't going to stop.

XXXXXXXXX

"Risa…" She heard the voice.

"Jane?"

"Yeah – I managed some food, took me longer than I thought, they caught Shana."

"I know."

"I'll leave you some; take the rest to the others."

"Do that, and thanks." She said. She listened to the slight footsteps through the underbrush. She knew the girl was invisible, which was a good thing. Even better that she could make whatever she touched invisible too. She glanced over to her 'camp" and saw a small bundle appear on her bedroll. She'd get it later. There were other girls who needed it more. She remembered enough from her grandfather that she'd been able to scrounge some food, even in this winter forest. The others just didn't know anything about living off the land.

She waited, glancing at the watch on her hand. It had been fifteen hours since Shana was caught. She'd seen Predator and the others come out of their tent looking smug and satisfied, and she was waiting for any sign of Shana. She wasn't going to come down until she knew she was at least still alive. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her last handful of pine nuts. It had taken a while to find enough cones with them still inside…but they'd kept her alive this long.

She'd come to a decision. She didn't know if it would work, but someone had to do it, to try to get things under control in the camp. It was dangerous – too dangerous, there were fewer people coming, and somehow she knew that wasn't a good thing. More people were leaving too, scared for themselves, or tired of how things were run, she didn't know which. She was going to him, next time he was in camp. She didn't know if he'd listen, didn't know if he'd help, but frankly she'd rather be ripped to shreds by Sabretooth than caught by Predator and his gang.

She dozed off in the tree, sleeping lightly; any and every sound starting her awake. She longed for a bed – a hot meal – a shower – clean clothes – and not to be HERE anymore. She heard something moving in the underbrush. Soft voices, male voices – and Predator; damn, they were out hunting again, NOT a good sign for Shana. Usually when they caught a girl, they took their time enjoying her, passing her around. That they were out again meant she was either dead – or in the medical tent where they couldn't reach her.

"Fuck." Predator hissed. She saw him next to her bedroll. "Risa's smart, too smart."

"We'll get her." Granite said.

"Damn straight – I want that bitch to beg for it." Predator said, and kicked the bundle on her bed. She had a sudden insight, and knew this wasn't a hunting expedition, it was a gathering expedition. They'd gotten tired of the game. The food was drugged. The other girls – they were sitting ducks. The boys were too close; she didn't dare move, until they did.

"MARISSA! I know you are around here somewhere. Come out!" He shouted, hoping to flush her. "Jane said you are in the trees – watching us. Smart girl – Janie…knows where her bread is buttered. You and the others – come out, or we are going to find you – and you won't like what happens when we find you."

She knew they couldn't see her, and Jane hadn't told them which tree she was usually in.

"Let's just get the others, she'll come in when there's no one else out here to run to." Granite said. "Besides – the invisikid said there were like ten of them out here – that's a lot of pussy to punish."

The others chuckled, and she felt a sinking in her gut. She had to do something, but she just didn't know what.

"Fine we'll get the others – and then I'm going hunting. She likes to hang in the trees like a monkey – I'll hunt her like a fucking monkey." She shivered.

She glanced back toward the camp and saw something that made her heart race. Creed was back – he was in camp. She knew something they didn't and suddenly she decided to take the chance. She tensed her legs and silently pulled her body into a crouch. She waited until they were tromping through the underbrush and sprang for another nearby tree. She kept to the treetops until she was near the camp and then jumped to the ground at a dead run. She could hear noise behind her and knew they had stopped their "gathering" to chase her down. Predator must have heard her moving through the trees.

She didn't stop. She past the perimeter guards at a run, and headed straight for Creed's camp. She could hear them gaining on her, and she had to get to him first.

"PLEASE!" She panted as she skidded to a stop in front of his tent. He was dropping his bag.

"What?"

"She's a discipline problem, Mr. Creed." Predator said behind her. His breathing was ragged from the chase.

"NO I'm NOT!"

'I'll deal with it." He snarled at the boys and they all slipped into the gathering crowd. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw the look Predator gave her. She KNEW she wouldn't survive what he had planned.

"Now – you want to explain all that?" Creed snarled at her, his claws slipping out of his fingertips.

"I'll do whatever you want, just don't let them get me – or the others."

"What others?"

"There's about ten of us, we hide in the woods…"

"I KNOW THAT! That's why I'm here, to clean up things around here." He snarled.

"PLEASE! We just want to be safe, to be able to be a part of the Brotherhood, but not…"

"Not what?" Just then the clean up detail passed carrying several large bags, one of them ripped open, and a hand slipped through the opening…Shana's hand, Risa recognized the ring.

"Not THAT!" She said.

He glared at her and walked over to the detail. She watched him sniff the hand, the bag, and she felt the snarling growl that everyone knew meant he was PISSED off.

"When'd they get her?" He snapped over his shoulder. Risa looked at her watch.

"Yesterday afternoon, about sixteen hours ago, and honestly, Mr. Creed…"

"Sabretooth or nothin' KID!" HE roared at her and she cringed.

"Sabretooth – she's the lucky one." He really glared at her then.

"How long?"

"Since they got here – about three months." She said.

He nodded, and took three giant strides and grabbed her by the arm.

"Take me to the others."

She didn't try to shake him off, just led him out of the camp and into the woods. The boys had found three of the girls, and had them tied up for transport. The others were in their hiding places – all unconscious.

"They drugged the food." She said simply.

"I can smell that." He grabbed her arm again, after sniffing the last girl, and dragged her back to camp. He almost threw her into his tent. "STAY HERE!"

She wasn't going to argue with him. She heard people moving in the camp, loud voices, and then groups moving out into the woods. She did what she was told, she didn't move.

"You listen – good. That's a good start." He said as he ducked under the edge of the tent flap. "Your friends are in the medical tent – what they put in the food just MIGHT kill all of them. Did you eat any of it?"

"No. I was going to – but something told me not to trust Jane."

"Jane?"

"The girl that goes invisible."

"She wasn't with the others?"

"No – I don't know where she went."

"Sit down, kid." She looked around but there was only one chair and he was settling into it, so she dropped to the floor.

"You heal yet?"

"What?"

"Your mutation – has your healing factor kicked in."

"Not yet."

"Damn." He muttered.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to know, now shut up unless I ask you something got it. I need ta think."

She sat there, waiting on him to bark another question at her, but he didn't. He leaned his head on his massive fist and stared out the tent flap, seemingly ignoring her completely.

XXXXXXXX

He'd been right. There were problems in the camp – bigger problems than even he'd realized. One girl was dead – raped by at least four he scented maybe more, she'd bled out from the internal injuries. He'd ordered the disposal team to give her a decent burial. He had six teen age boys terrorizing the camp – at least ten girls terrified of dying or a fate worse than death, and one pubescent feral sitting in his tent offering to do 'anything' he wanted, in exchange for safety.

The really sad part – he was considering her offer. He didn't like little girls – they usually didn't do a thing for him, but this one was different. There was a backbone, something he didn't usually see in something so young. He'd been like that at her age – ready to break out, take on the world, and fight for freedom, safety, and security from abuse. He'd killed his father – she'd turned to him.

The fact that she was filling out – starting to show the promise of becoming a woman that wasn't helping him; he tried – at least in the camps, with Magneto's kids, to keep his hands to himself, his women usually ended up like the one in the bag, and he knew it. Did she even KNOW what she was offering him? He wouldn't look at her, looking at her was distracting and he needed to think this through. Several things had been happening lately. The whole "citizenship" law, making the undead legal citizens, the laws that were passed to protect lycanthropes, saying they couldn't be discriminated against because they had caught a disease, but Mutants – they were still trying to register and control mutants. They whole registration act had been brought up again.

Used to be, they all were outcasts together, but now – Vampires were running businesses, openly, even setting themselves up territories within the US and Canada, becoming law abiding citizens, were protected under the law, unless they broke it. That part he understood – kill them, they were dead already, and so killing was the only punishment that worked on them. You couldn't contain them, couldn't rehabilitate them – so killing them was the only answer.

Lycanthropes, those were different, closer to what he was, to his mutation with the senses, the healing, the natural need to hunt – hunt and kill. He'd even had a few friends who were lycs, hunting buddies or business associates, depending on your point of view.

"How old?"

"What?"

"The girl in the bag, how old was she?"

"Shana." He hadn't wanted to know her name. "She was thirteen."

FUCK! They were just KIDS. He was going to have a talk with that 'Predator' show him what a REAL predator was like. He glanced over at her.

"Whatever I want?" He said. She jumped.

"What?"

"That's what you said. You'd do whatever I want." He could smell her fear, and determination. She'd back it up, damn.

"Yes."

"You need to learn how to negotiate. All or nothing deals - you could end up my slave." He said with a grin. That idea had merit.

"No offense Mr…Sabretooth, but frankly you are the better choice."

"How old are you, Kid?"

"Fifteen." She was older than he'd thought but not by much.

"When did you start?"

"The mutation?" He nodded. "I was eleven when my jaw started hurting, my mom took me to a dentist, and they saw the fangs trying to push through on the X-ray. She took me to specialists, then the claws started and my eyes changed – and my dad got pissed about having a mutant daughter so they kicked me out six months ago."

"And you don't heal?"

"I do, just not the little stuff. Life threatening stuff heals quick, but cuts and scratches and bruises still take time." He nodded again.

"Go get you something to eat, clean up, and get a change of clothes, you stink." He snarled. "Get a fresh bedroll too; you will be bunkin' in here with me. You can put your stuff over there." He pointed to the far wall of the main room of the tent.

"What about the others."

"I thought the deal was just you." He sneered.

He watched her, the conflict racing across her face. She wanted safety, security, but she didn't want it at the cost of the others.

"The others will be under my protection. They already are. ANYONE touches them, they answer to me." He growled the last. She just nodded.

"Don't you want to know the terms?"

She looked him straight in the eye, something else he gave her points for, even stinking of fear, she had guts. "Your terms have to be better than theirs." It was simple, and so untrue. He moved so fast, her knees hadn't even uncurled from the kneeling position as he lifted her by her throat.

"Don't bet on it, girly. You set the terms – whatever I want. Those BOYS are dangerous because they work together. I'm dangerous because I work ALONE. Now I KNOW you ain't ready to handle a man like me – and I'll make allowances for that, but you belong to me now, kitten, you belong to ME!" Her feet dangled two feet off the floor as he held her at his eye level. She didn't flinch, even when he reached out to cup her developing breast through the ratty T-shirt she was wearing.

"Fillin' out nice, Risa…lookin' forward to tryin' ya out." He slowly pulled his arm in bringing her against his chest. She looked him in the eye, still. She wasn't defiant, but she wasn't complaisant either. She had plenty of fight – and knew when to pick them, and this wasn't the time.

"Now go get cleaned up – and I expect you back here, you take off, I'm comin' after ya." He let her go, and she had two choices, cling to him, or drop on her ass. She chose the first, landing gracefully on her feet, her hands clinging to his hips to steady herself. She didn't jump to let go, but she didn't linger either, just turned to walk out the tent flap. He watched her hesitate.

"Don't worry – I'll make sure they know you are mine." He said a slight threat in his tone. She either missed the threat – or, and this thought almost frightened him, she trusted him enough to follow his lead. She stepped out of the shadow of the tent and into the watery winter sunlight, he let her get three steps and then came surging out of the tent, and grabbed her arm.

"Forgettin' something, Risa?" He said harshly before grinding his lips against hers. He didn't give her and break; he tasted blood where his fangs pierced her lips when she didn't open her mouth quickly enough. She was inexperienced as hell, but she'd get better…she didn't have much choice. He lifted his mouth from hers. "Now get that shit done." He said pushing her toward the women's showers with a slight pat on her very nice rear. She just nodded and ran for the showers. He noticed a couple of the 'boys' hanging around and glared at them. They slunk off into the crowd around the meal tent. He wanted to make sure the word got out – that Risa belonged to him.