Victor smiled warmly down at his little brother's sleeping form. He had never known James to sleep so soundly during a thunderstorm.

He washed the smell of blood completely from himself, the only lingering trace was in his own nostrils, a sweet reminder of victory that put him to sleep in his own pleasantly unpleasant dreams.

It was only the smell of frying bacon that woke Victor so early and the sound of his own stomach demanding theat he get up and eat. Not bothering to get dressed he wandered into the kitchen wearing only his night pants and found James, similarly undressed, at the stove making breakfast. He sat down, stretched his arms over his head and yawned.

"Late night?" James asked, handing him a plate containing four strips of bacon and a piece of toast.

"Ya," Victor replied. Ignoring the toast he picked up a strip of bacon with his claws and put it into his mouth, it was a little too crispy for his liking.

"Where'd you go?"

Victor shrugged, "here and there, went to a few bars, picked a few fights. And you burnt the bacon."

James ignored the comment on his cooking and shook his head, when Victor got into bar fights it never ended well for the other parties involved. "Didn't do anything illegal did you?" Victor snorted but didn't offer a reply, which usually meant he'd had his fare share of trouble, but luckily not enough to mention.

James sighed and changed the subject, sometimes he didn't want to know what Victor got up to in his spare time. "Im going to see Scarlet today."

It took all of Victor's willpower not to grin, instead he kept his demeanor uncaring and simply replied, "good luck with that."

They had the day off today, which was an all around good thing, the rainy weather that had rolled in the day before promised a long stay, Victor didn't think too much of working in the rain. And he would have his brother all to himself, if James actually came home after his visit.

James left shortly after breakfast, after combing his hair and dressing his neatest. Victor imagined the things going through his brother's mind as he got ready, going over some planned speech about how much he loved her. James was fully expecting things to go well, but it was clear he was nervous.

Victor smiled, you set yourself up for disappointment from the beginning Jimmy, he thought to himself.

/

James picked the first bouquet that caught his nose, full of the most beautiful pink and white lilies. He imagined Scarlet lifting it to her own delicate nose and smiling secretly at the sweet scent.

He thought again about what he would say to her. He dint know where to begin, he wasn't even sure she was mad at him. He settled on simply apologizing for the horrible date and telling her how beautiful she is.

As he drew nearer his mind wavered from positive to negative thoughts. He expected many things, for Scarlet to forgive him or say she had already forgotten, for her to be angry that he hadn't spoken to her in days, even a stern lecture from her father about how he doesn't tolerate thugs sniffing around his daughter. That last thought made him snort amusedly, the old man seemed like the type.

What he didn't expect when he walked up the steps and knocked, was the old man glaring at him through the crack of the chain bolted door.

"What do you want!" the man demanded.

"Im here to see Scarlet," James replied hesitantly.

"She aint here!" the man's tone was threatening, James wondered if he should just leave. He didn't know what was going on, but if there was a problem, or if he was the problem, he was determined to fix it.

"Can you tell me when she'll be back?" he craned his neck to look over the man through the crack, "is there a problem I can help with?"

"I don't need help from the likes of you!" the man snapped. "Scarlet aint comin back, she said to give ya this." A folded piece of paper was handed through the crack and James took it. "Now get outta here! Before I call the cops!" The door was slammed and James could hear the rest of the bolts being secured behind it.

James starred at the door in bewilderment, what did the man mean? He wanted to knock on the door again, pound on it and explain that this was all just a misunderstanding. But he unfolded the letter in his hands and began to read, and his heart sank to his feet.

/

Victor allowed himself a short grin when he heard the apartment door open and his brother shuffle in, then composed himself.

Without moving from his laid out position on the couch Victor calmly asked "how'd it go?" It would have been an ass hole question coming from someone who knew it went badly, but Victor knew nothing of it and that's what his brother would believe.

When James didn't answer he looked up and saw his brother's expression, "not so well I take it." He sat up to allow James to sit down beside him.

It had poured with rain as James was walking back and he was soaked to the skin, but he didn't care. He still held the note but the paper was wet and the words were blurred.

"What happened now?" Victor asked, it was again time to slip into the role of caring big brother.

James just sat there in silence, staring at the stained carpet, his eyebrows furrowed in an expression seeming between anger and deep disappointment. But Victor knew the look was one of sadness.

"Jimmy?" Victor said softly. When James finally looked up at him his eyes were watering, he was as close to tears as Victor had seen him in many years.

James swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke, "she saw the claws," he turned away as his voice shook, "she said she could never be with someone like me." He clutched the letter in his hand so tight the paper tore under his fingers. "She left town." He sniffled, one of the building drops in his eyes slipped free and rolled down his cheek.

"C'mere Jimmy," Victor put a strong arm around his little brother's shoulders and pulled him close. James shook as he resisted the urge to sob uncontrollably. It was nearly heartbreaking, a moment of weakness Victor truly hoped he would never have to see again.

"I don't know what to tell ya Jim," Victor threaded his fingers through James's hair. He couldn't fix his brother's broken heart, it would be a lesson he would hopefully carry for the rest of his life. But he would help him move on.

"Shit happens Jimmy, you've gotta learn from it. I learned from it, and I've told you. They see one thing they don't like and they're gone, no matter how good your other qualities are, that's women for ya."

Victor's words sounded like wisdom to James, the wisdom of an older brother, something he should have listened to from the start. But he was desperate to hold on to his humanity, to experience the happiness of two human lovers, something his humanity cried out for almost as intensely as the beast cried for the wild.

"I thought I could hide it," James murmured.

"You cant hide it Jimmy. You couldn't hide it from your family, or the military. We cant hide who we are."

"Its my fault," James desperately tried to argue for Scarlet, "I shouldn't have lost my temper, maybe in time she would have understood..."

"Understood what?" Victor interrupted harshly, "you would have waited a year or two before telling her, or she'd find out, then she'd leave you for not telling her you were a freak sooner! It would have been the same result, people don't change." His tone softened, "that's how people work Jimmy, they cant accept what's different. She would have never accepted you like I do."

Victor pressed his lips softly to his brother's forehead and continued to stroke his hair. He was reminded of a time not long after they had run away, a young James starred down at his claws with tears in his eyes. "Why me?" Jameshad asked, Victor had no answer except that things were the way they are because they are. He had nothing to offer but comfort and to tell him he wasn't alone. Things were different now, he had so much more to offer his brother, if only James would see that Victor was all he needed in his life.

James couldn't help but melt into the gentle touch, the heart beating steadily beneath his ear was soothing. He was grateful for his brother's comfort, a comfort no other was ever able to give.

Slowly his upset over Scarlet ebbed away as he began to accept the fact that Victor was right, had always been right. Scarlet had left him because of who he was, a mutant, she would never have accepted him, not like Victor did.

James drew in a breath, he could smell no lust on Victor. They were so close, he was surprised that Victor didn't try to kiss him again, and if he did James didn't know if he would resist. He was almost hypnotized by Victor's breathing, the steady rise and fall of his chest lulling him into relaxation, he was ready to agree to anything his brother might say or do.

Sitting like this with his brother was something he could do for hours, but Victor's impatience won out. "Forget about her Jimmy. Its just you and me now, as it should be," his voice was a soft rumble as he stroked his fingers over James's forehead, "we don't need anything Jimmy, anyone, we're different."

James heaved a sigh and pulled away from Victor's body, his head returned to his hands as he fought the swirling tide of emotions in his head. Victor's love was powerful, it could control those tides in his head, could excite or calm the beast. Too many times he had ignored his brother's advice, and it was always Victor who was there to comfort him when things went wrong. The path he had taken to Scarlet was winding, but the path leading back to Victor was straight. He always came back to Victor.

As much as he hated to admit it, to himself or anyone, Victor had always been right.

"What's on your mind Jimmy," Victor asked, as if he didn't know, but he wanted to hear those thoughts.

"You were right," James admitted, without looking up, "you were right about everything." He couldn't see Victor's smile but he knew it was there. Victor was always so smug when James admitted he was right about something, it angered him a little as always.

Victor's heart skipped a beat at his brother's words. He could hardly contain his excitement, it took all his willpower to keep his manhood from rising instantly. Could this be it, what he had hoped for these past weeks? He refused to wait any longer, he would find out for certain here and now!

James had been expecting it when Victor grabbed his chin and Kissed him. Shaking hands instinctively grabbed Victor's forearms to push him away, but instead they slid up the muscular arms to grip his shoulders as he returned the kiss.

Victor let himself go then. He had won, James was his, it was clear there would be no fighting back this time, or ever, Victor hoped.

All he could feel was a rush of pure passion. His mouth opened wider as he kissed his little brother more fervently, tongue tasting as much of him as possible. Victor's claws lengthened and tore down the sides of James's best shirt, releasing his skin to the air. Victor could feel his own body getting hot, he wished James would return the favor and cut him free of the confining clothes, he wasted no time in tearing free the rest of the shirt and roaming his hands over every inch of skin.

If James cared about the shirt he was too lost in the kiss and the feeling to notice. Victor pressed up against him and pushed him back against the armrest of the couch, the fabric prickled at the skin of his back, but not as much as Victor's claws which had extended to full length and scratched light trails down his shoulders and sides. Clawed thumbs hooked into his pants to pull them down to reveal his sharp hipbones, then went for the button and zipper when they refused to go further.

"Wait!" He grabbed Victor's wrist to stop him.

"Wait? For what?" Victor didn't want to wait, he had waited too long. He moved his mouth down to James's throat and kissed him there, biting and sucking.

"I..." James didn't know what, and he was too distracted to think with what Victor was doing to his neck. He tried to push the larger man off but Victor was persistent.

When he realized James had stopped participating and only continued to halfheartedly try to shove him away, Victor finally pulled back and looked him in the eye. "We could take this somewhere more comfortable if you'd like, on the floor, in the bedroom, or even the bathroom," he suggested, "but don't you back down on me, I've waited for this for so long, you know I have," he accentuated his point with a long lick along his brother's jugular and pressed his hips forwards, grinding his erection into James's crotch causing him to gasp aloud. He wasn't going to let Jimmy off on this one, he would have him tonight, even if he had to use force.

"I just..." James shoved him more forcefully, " I just need a minute."

Victor took a good look at him, James's eyes pleaded with him, the lower half of his face was wet, his facial hair matted with Victor's saliva. The image made him want to go in for another taste, the aching member still constrained in his pants throbbed.

Reluctantly Victor nodded, "meet me in my room in five, any longer and Im coming to you." He would give him some time, as long as he got what he wanted soon.