CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

….In the Meantime…..

AN: This is kind of a filler-chapter, giving you what everyone is going through at the current time and their state of mind before I continue to move on to the plot.

Special thanks and a box of pill-bugs to FleeingDawn for her super cool suggestion, and another huge thanks for the army of PLOT BUNNIES from my dear Plot Bunny Guest (hides behind the huge pile of fluffy plot bunnies then decides to use them for a mattress)

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VICTOR CREED

He could SO get used to this, Victor realized at he woke the next morning, his purr going full fledged, both his mate and cub wrapped securely in his arms. It was the second time he had woken to this and, he had to admit, he was looking forward to doing it for the rest of his extremely long life.

Once Roddy was grown and in his own room, Victor was confident that he could have his mate well pregnant and on her way to giving them another child to hold and love. In the meantime, however, he had things to do, plans to make, a mate and cub to feed and a younger brother he had to train up.

He ran a clawed hand gently over Roddys head and nuzzled into his mates long red-brown hair, breathing in her scent, beaming when she made a sleepy noise and pushed herself in closer to him. He thought about waking them, then remembered how late the two of them had been getting to bed, and then they had had to wake Roddy so that he could eat.

Victor frowned. The cub had to be undernourished from not eating properly. There had to be a way around this aside from hunting for lightning bugs every night. What were they supposed to do when Winter came around and all the bugs were dead? Maybe a bait shop?

He pondered on this for a while before remembering his confrontation and bargaining with Nick Fury the day before. The promise of whatever stopped Nick from aging. The deal that might be made…..no, that HAD to be made and the traps that might be involved. The training he would have to put his little brother through.

Victor grinned ferally. He was going to enjoy forcing his little brother through his own tough manner of boot-camp. The runt wouldn't know what had hit him. The thought definitely put a shine to his morning.

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OUTSIDE ROGUES ROOM

LOGAN/WOLVERINE

Logan, however, had had the exact opposite of a good nights sleep, and his morning was hardly cheerful. He had spent most of the night pacing infront of Maries dorm room, arguing with himself, mentally beating himself up, and even trying to decide whether or not he should pack up and leave.

The Wolverine inside of him roared his anger at the very thought, incensed that Logan would leave their mate, Jonesy, Jubilee, Clarisse alone at the school with such an incompetent caretaker as Xavier. The animals opinions were very clear-cut; `No. Mate. Pack. Protect. Not leave. Stay. RESPONSIBILITY TO PACK!`

Logan shook his head, grabbing at his hair almost like a deranged mad-man. "They'd be safer without me." He muttered, but even he couldn't fool himself with that mantra anymore, not with Xaviers frequent examples that he wasn't able to properly care for one cub let alone several, let alone his mate.

And how was he supposed to break this to Marie!? Should he even tell her!? `No…..` he thought to himself. `…..she doesn't need to be saddled with me.`

The Wolverine in him was quick to disagree in VERY loud mental growls. Of COURSE he was the best choice! He could hunt, keep her fed and warm, give her cubs and comfort and safety. No-one would DARE touch what was his! Besides, she needed his protection.

Just then, the very object of his mental torture decided to poke her bed-head out of the door and look at him bleary eyed and yawning. Logan decided he had never seen anything cuter.

"What's wrong, sugah? You've been pace'n out here all night."

"Nothin' Marie." Logan finally managed out, sniffing at her scent. "Yer still tired. Go back ta sleep."

"If yer sure, darlin." Marie said tiredly, giving out a huge yawn and covering her mouth.

Logan smirked at the sound of his usual endearment coming from her lips. "Go back ta sleep Marie." He repeated his order gently, pleased when she shut the door quietly and he heard her climb back into her bed under her covers. Then the great Wolverine groaned quietly and put his face in his hands. He was hooked. Well and truly hooked.

Inside him, his Wolverine gave him the animal equivalent of an `I told you so`

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KAYLA/BUNNY

During the night, the young Native American had not been idle. When the others had gone to bed, she had done much like Sabretooth had done, if she had known. She had gone to explore the grounds, noting the entrances and exits, learning the twists and turns of the huge school. Unlike her 'imouto' Bunny had an excellent sense of direction and soon had the entire school mapped out in her mind.

She made a quick call to her husband to assure him she was fine and that everything was going reasonably well (emitting the part where Sabretooth had thrown her across the room, she didn't need him storming in here with an uzi) and that she would be staying there for a week. Then she headed for the kitchens, thinking, thinking about her adopted little sister and her ability to get in trouble, thinking of Sabretooth and his claws and the massive amount of deer he had caught.

`Well, he's a good hunter.` she thought, rifling through the huge fridge for an A&W Root Beer, letting out a satisfied 'Ah-HAH!' when she found one. `Seems to be a good fighter.` Well, he HAD thrown her across the room. She popped the tab on the soda and began to guzzle it thirstily, letting out an impressive belch when she was done. `But he's still got a lot more to prove.`

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PROFESSOR CHARLES XAVIER

Charles Xavier sat quietly in his master suite, breathing deeply, trying to calm himself.

The telepathic mutant could not remember ever feeling so helpless…..so incompetent…and so FRUSTRATED.

He had THOUGHT he had known what was best for the children here, thought he had created a safe haven for mutants everywhere, a place where exceptional young mutants could learn to control their powers and become an integral part of society.

Now the foundation that he thought was so stable was beginning to crumble under his feet; anemic students, safety hazards he hadn't even thought of or known existed, dietary needs that he hadn't even considered, and a wild, uncontrollable alpha feral male who seemed intent on wresting his school away from him.

He had to think.

He had to plan.

He had to TRY to understand.

But panic and uncertainty had taken root, and their seeds were beginning to grow.

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STEVE ASWELL

He had watched and listened and observed.

He had studied his petite-soeur, seeing her fear and uncertainty, and even the affection she held towards the feral mutant. Affection that, he feared, was starting to grow.

Still, something kept him from whisking his adopted little sister and her onee-san away from Xaviers School for Gifted Children. The main one being that the Professor had told him that his petite-chaton had slept without medication.

He doubted Charles Xavier truly understood the great importance of that fact and how much it had truly startled him. Of course, he WAS adept at hiding himself from even the best telepaths, part of his training…..and speaking of training, that reminded him.

Steve switched on his laptop and, with a few quick commands, had the schools security camera footage projecting onto the guest room wall, security cameras that HE had installed.

The Professor had been foolish not to put up more than two cameras, putting too much trust in his telepathic abilities, extensive though they were, so Steve had taken the initiative to install a few of his own cameras at a few key points (entrances, exits, and of course where his petite-soeur slept in the arms of that odorous feral).

He watched said feral as he woke with Steves little sister and a young mutant child in his arms, surprised and appreciative that the 'Der Schlater' had the consideration to let the young woman and child sleep in a little.

After checking in on his little sister, Steve pulled up the mission files he had been forced to abandon when he had received the call from Xavier. The files were encrypted in his own special cipher and even written in a type of lighting that was only visible to medically enhanced eyes, like a UV light. If a normal person were to look at his documents, all they would see would be blank pages with no way of changing the text color.

A visit to the Pentagon to discuss security had to be changed, as did his meeting with the Head Chief of Security in Egypt, and…what was this? Nick Fury had left him a message.

Steve let out an amused little huff. The Captain of S.H.I.E.L.D was ranting about how he didn't appreciate being blackmailed by Sabretooth. Steve sat down and began to type out a response to the letter.

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VOCABULARY:

EMITTING: Leaving out

IMOUTO: (Japanese) Little Sister

INITIATIVE: n. the first step in bringing something about

ODOROUS: smelly

CIPHER: Code