CHAPTER NINTY-FIVE:

Feeding-Tubes, Hunting, Satellites and Escorts

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LAST TIME AT XAVIERS SCHOOL FOR GIFTED YOUNGSTERS:

"What the hell's goin' on here!?" the Wolverines growl made every head turn.

At the sight of his father figure, Jonesy promptly burst into tears. "Don't stick a tube down my throat, Logan, I promise I'll eat!"

Logan was dumbfounded. "What the-!?"

Jubliee winced sheepishly. "Heh, heh…..oops."

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XAVIERS SCHOOL FOR GIFTED YOUNGSTERS

CAFETERIA

CASSIE

When her mate Victor had left to hunt this 'ice brat'—and for the record, she couldn't believe how well and easily the term 'mate' fit in her mind when associated with the feral who had kidnapped her—Logan/Jimmy/James had gruffly ordered that she follow him to the cafeteria to eat, leaving Hank to nurse the Avengers.

The battle of dominance—and she had no doubt that that was what the fight in the danger room had been—and then the trip to the med bay and the 'nursing' that had ensued had taken up most of the morning and it was almost noon on-the-dot when they entered the cafeteria, a grumpy Cassie carrying a groggy Roddy.

Logan/James/Jimmy seemed to have the innate ability to immediately locate the inner members of his pack and headed straight for their table before Cassie even managed to spot them in the crowd. There must have been some kind of interesting conversation going on because the very instant they approached, Rogue/Marie was yelling at Jubilee and when Logan/James/Jimmy demanded 'what the hell was going on' Jonesy burst into tears.

"Don't stick a tube down my throat, Logan, I promise I"ll eat!"

Though his back was to her, Cassie was willing to bet that the Wolverines face was a sight to behold. Heck, her own jaw had dropped.

"What the—"

Jubilee winced them smiled sheepishly. "Heh, heh…..oops."

The Wolverine gave the teen a glare that had sent supervillians running for cover (Jubilee did hunch down in her seat trying to make herself smaller) then gentled his face (or tried) for Jonesy.

"Why the fu—heck would you think I'd do that, cub!?"

Jonesy was still bawling great, big crocodile tears. "C-Clarisse said if we didn't eat you'd force-feed us and Jubilee s-said that that was when people put tubes down someones throat."

Now even the gentle Clarisse got a glare.

Starting up his purr, Logan stepped forward and gathered the young mutant boy into his arms.

"That's not going to happen, Jonesy. You need to eat, yes, so you'll stay healthy and grow up big and strong, and it's my job ta make sure you eat what you need, but I'm NOT goin' to stick a tube down yer throat and I'll skewer anyone who tries to do that to ya."

His mentors reassurances plus his purr had Jonesy calm and relaxed in no time.

"Now, the rest of ya are gonna march up there and get some breakfast and I'll be dealing with you after, Jubilee."

Jubilee gulped; she could just hear the funeral dirge now.

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VICTOR CREED/SABRETOOTH

He ran on all fours, utilizing every inch of his feral mutation. No normal human could bound across the earth on all fours as gracefully and with the speed that the Sabretooth could.

As he had feared, the scent of the ice-prick had faded significantly over time. At least it hadn't rained, which would have probably erased the scent entirely.

He ran past the trees and bushes and schoolgrounds, sending all the lesser animals (prey) running for cover. He ran to the road where his hunt had ended last time and there he stopped and stood…..listening.

Human logic couldn't help him here, there was a fifty-fifty chance the ice-prick could have gone either way; so Victor turned to the one thing that had (in his opinion) never led him wrong; his instinct. The same urges that had led him to battle for supremacy with the Avengers and force the leadership of the school away from that mind-gamer Xavier. The same needs that told him to keep his mate warm and safe and fed and to secure the school as a safe place for all of the cubs.

He turned left…..and ran.

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NICK FURY / STEVE ASWELL

THE INFINITY LAB

The super-spy Steve Aswell sat calmly in the cushioned chair, hands folded in his lap, the very picture of serenity while the other super-spy was anything but.

Nick Fury paced the floor, shouting into his ear-piece, barking orders. "Yess, I want a wanted poster of this boy in every subway, every train station, every bus-stop, library and street-corner, I want his face known around the world. We'll establish a hot-line for information, issue a reward of one-million dollars….."

Steve arched an eyebrow at the news. Surely the infinity serum was worth more than that, but it would definitely get the masses going.

"Yes, I know there will be a lot of false leads, but you'll have a staff o weed them out…..Yes, I know how much man-power this will take, JUST DO IT!"

Fury pressed his ear piece and Steve Aswell temperately withdrew his own cell phone and typed in a few texts along with some commands.

Nick Fury turned determinedly to a few of his lab scientists who stood anxiously awaiting his orders. "Alright, let's get the satellite feeds up and running from around the world. I want this boy FOUND!"

Steve pushed a button on his phone and immediately a hologram of maybe a million miniature satellite feeds popped up. "Already done."

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BOBBY DRAKE /ICE-MAN

On the Bus

LAST TIME:

…..The little old ladys' eyes were pitch black with no white, like holes in her head. Her smile showed all pointed teeth, jagged and sharp like a great whites. "No, you don't want to double-cross Thanatos. It's best that you do what he wants, dearie."

His heart almost stopped.

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PRESENT

BOBBY DRAKE/ICE-MAN THE OLD LADY

Bobby Drake sat on that bus frozen in fear like a block of ice. If he had been in a more stable state of mind, he would have found that ironic, given his mutant powers. As it was, he could barely control his bladder.

"Now, now, dearie, there's no need to be so frightened," the Grannie from the Black Lagoon clucked. Her tone was sweet, maternal even, and completely at odds with the shark teeth and harpy talons. "Just think of me as an…..an escort of sorts….."

Bobby didn't even want to imagine the places this old lady could 'escort' him to.

"You seem to have gotten yourself into a bit of a pickle here, dearie."

Well, that was certainly one way of putting it.

That was when some movement from the back of the bus caught his eye. He didn't know how he managed it when it felt like his entire spine was frozen in place but, somehow, his vertebrae creaked and turned as he looked out the back window of the bus…..to see the predator Sabretooth barreling towards the vehicle on all fours…..and closing ground quickly.

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AN: Next chapter; SABRETOOTH VS A BUS! Dun dun DUUUUUN!

VOCABULARY:

MATERNAL: motherly