Author's note: Thank you to NotMarge, IAmARebel22, NicoleR85, Olufemi Whitlock Hale, Luna von Rae, FutureOlympian, kmj1989, musicjunkie1996, ZabuzasGirl, Jinxofthe2ndLaw, and SA Jedi DC of Marvel for the reviews! I don't know if I made it clear or not but Hank's been in Beast mode since he confronted Nicholas. He's too edgy to change back. IAmARebel22, here's that Hank and Raven chapter you asked for, I hope you like it! We also find out what's been going on with Zoey, which I hinted at when we saw her in Cerebro. Partygirl98, when you get around to reading this let me know if you were right!

Freedom

"Here" happened to actually be an abandoned slaughterhouse at the edge of a decrepit hamlet located in the lap of the Catskill Mountain range.

I imagined that the stockyard had been the residents' main source of employment until its closing. Now, without it, the tiny town was so small and rundown you could blink and miss it as you drove through.

Perhaps half a mile from the dilapidated building where the Friends of Humanity were keeping Zoey there was a small clearing between the trees. I navigated the Blackbird to it, as Charles directed, and landed smoothly.

"So what's the plan?" Sean asked as soon as I cut the jet's engines. "How many FOH guys are in there?"

Charles pressed his fingers to his temple, searching the slaughterhouse with his powers. "There are at least forty men in the main floor area of the building. They're having a meeting of some kind," he murmured. "It seems that some of the group are arguing against keeping Zoey alive until Beast produces the 'cure'-"

I couldn't stop the growl that rose in my throat.

"-because she keeps setting everything on fire. They turned on the freezer unit they're keeping her in as punishment."

My hands balled into fists so tight I almost drew blood from my palms. The mental image of my little fire fairy huddled into a corner slowly freezing to death flickered across my vision and very nearly made me lose my head.

That's why Zoey didn't mention it when we spoke to her using Cerebro, I realized with a pang. The way she'd hunched over and rubbed her arms while we talked now took on an entirely new meaning. She was hiding how cold she was to keep me from panicking.

It felt like my heart was bleeding for her. My brave, beautiful Zoey knew me so well.

"How many are guarding her?" I demanded through clenched teeth.

How many limbs do I get to go rip off?

"Ten," Charles replied.

Isn't that a little excessive? They must be terrified of her.

"I think it would be better if we split up," Erik suggested. "One group retrieve the girl, and the other make a diversion."

"I'm going to save my wife," I stated bluntly.

Charles deliberated for a moment. "Raven, you go with Beast. Havok, Banshee, create a diversion with Erik. You'll be able to work together, yes?"

The plan made logical sense- if all of us could cooperate, at least. Raven and I were more suited for close range, man-to-man fighting. The other three were better adapted for attacking large groups.

Sean and Alex reluctantly nodded in agreement, though they regarded our allies with evident suspicion. Raven rolled her eyes at them. Erik just smiled that ghoulish grin of his.

It's the teeth, I think. Creepy.

"Alright. Beast, I'll walk you through it once you're inside," Charles told me. "Good luck, all of you."

We left him in the Blackbird and quietly crept through the trees to hide at the edge of the woods, where we could see the door to the warehouse.

There were three men standing outside smoking cigarettes. They appeared to be on guard duty, if the machine guns hanging loosely from straps across their chests were any indication, but they didn't seem to be particularly vigilant.

"Erik," I said quietly.

Within seconds the guards were silently dispatched, having been pistol whipped by their own guns.

"Alright, let's go," Alex muttered.

Erik led the way, striding confidently towards the door while the other two followed. Raven and I stayed in the treeline in anticipation of Charles' signal that the FOH members were sufficiently distracted for us to make our move.

After a minute or two I heard shots firing and the sound of Sean's supersonic screams.

But still no signal. I let out a restless sigh, hating the inactivity of waiting.

"You nervous?" Raven asked flippantly.

I turned to look at her incredulously.

Small talk? Really?

"No," I replied without thinking. "Just impatient to get my wife back."

"What's she like?"

I blinked, wondering what her motives were. Raven was pretending like our conversation on the jet didn't even happen, and it was incredibly disconcerting.

She's trying to get in my head while I'm vulnerable, I thought cynically. "Tell me about your wife, Beast. That way I know just how much you love her right before we watch some FOH nut job kill her."

When had I stopped trusting Raven, anyway? It must've been that day in Cuba. The woman I thought I knew would've never left Charles like that, wouldn't have listened to Erik's insane theories of mutant superiority.

I never really knew her at all.

It made me appreciate what I had with Zoey all the more.

"Well?" Raven demanded.

"Zoey's smarter than I am, and stronger. She's the kindest, most compassionate person I've ever met. I feel like I'm a better person around her," I said finally. "She's my best friend. I can tell her anything."

I can talk to her the way I could never talk to you.

"Sounds like a real winner," Raven noted sardonically. "How'd she end up with a guy like you?"

"Sometimes I ask myself that same question," I murmured honestly, ignoring the spitefulness in her tone.

I still strive, every day, to prove myself worthy of Zoey...

I looked down at my furry monkey-toes for a long moment, ruminating.

The last time I spoke with Raven, I came to terms with the fact that I would never get the opportunity to apologize for the things I said that fateful night in 1962. She wouldn't want to hear it after all that time, especially when I still hid my true face.

But now I wasn't hiding anymore. And the man I worked hard to be- the man who deserved Zoey- would take this chance, even if it was all for naught.

"I want you to know that I'm sorry about the things I said that night before Cuba," I said quietly. "I've always wondered how much my words affected your choice to leave with Erik."

She barely paused. "Don't flatter yourself," Raven scoffed, with a derisive snort. "I had to get away from my brother or I would've never been my own person. You had nothing to do with it."

Despite the harshness of her words, I almost wanted to laugh. I never meant that much to her, then. I spent years hung up on Raven after she left, and I'd always wondered if things could've been different for her if I hadn't been so cruel- but I never really mattered enough to affect her decisions in the first place.

Far from hurting my feelings, it was oddly... liberating. I wouldn't feel guilty about that anymore, though she hadn't accepted my apology, per se. Because at least I tried.

Zoey will be so proud of me.

I pictured her giving me a kiss for making the effort to apologize right before stomping over to Raven and telling her she could've at least said "thank you." My wife was amazing like that.

I just wanted her back in my arms, where she belonged.

Come on, come on.

It had been less than five minutes, but my impatience was starting to grow worse by the moment. I was so close to getting her back.

Now, Charles' voice said.

I took off for the warehouse so quickly Raven was left scrambling to follow.

There were two men carrying pistols just inside the door. The wild look on their faces told me they were trying to run away from the general mayhem I could hear reigning on the large factory floor off to my right.

One of them squealed when he saw me, but I threw an elbow into his face and knocked him out before he could even raise his weapon. The other I grabbed by the arm and slung into the wall.

The hallway to your left, Charles directed.

"Hurry up," I growled to Raven, just now reaching me. "This way."

There was no way she could keep up with me, of course, but she tried. We surprised three other men that I easily dispatched as we ran for a few minutes, making a right when Charles told me to, and then another left. We were now deep inside the building.

Stop, he told me when I reached a left hand junction- Raven was still several yards behind. Around the corner is the freezer and all of the guards. Raven should go in first.

I heard a faint hiss behind me, the sound that always accompanied her transformations. She was disguised as one of the men I'd taken out on the way when she walked by, out into the view of the others.

"Hey, Jonesy," someone said from the end of the hallway. "What's going on? We keep hearing-"

The voice cut off with a strangled yelp, followed by shouts of astonishment and grunts of pain.

That's my cue.

I turned the corner and darted into the fray, grabbing a man by the collar and throwing him down the hall. I ripped the stock from the barrel of his machine gun for good measure, using the grip to deliver a blow to another goon.

One guard began to raise his gun into a shooting position but lost his balance when my foot, with its dexterous finger-toes, reached out and jerked his ankle out from under him. His head hit the floor with an unhealthy crack, but not before sending a few rounds harmlessly into the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Raven more than held her own. She had shifted into her blue form just as I joined the fight, moving with reptilian grace to knock out the rest of our opponents.

There were only eight in the hallway, and it worried me slightly. Where were the other two guards? A bathroom break? Had we already encountered them along the way?

"There's a padlock on the door," Raven observed, interrupting my train of thought. "Should we-?"

I wordlessly reached out and ripped the door's steel handle off. I dug my claws into the jamb and wrenched the door open, too hyped with adrenaline to consider less destructive options.

A gush of wintry air rushed out to greet me, along with a wall of icy mist that completely obscured my vision. A glowing fireball appeared within the depths of the freezer, probably held in readiness to be thrown at a guard's head.

"Zoey?"

The flames flickered out.

"Hank," my love's voice said, weak with relief and cold.

Finally.