Author's note: Thank you to IAmARebel22, LEXA14 (sorta, haha), NotMarge, Guest, NicoleR85, ZabuzasGirl, Luna von Rae, and kmj1989 for the reviews! Anyone see what I did with the title of that last chapter there? Not only did they free Zoey from the freezer, Hank got some freedom from the guilt he felt over Raven. Nice, right?

But anyway. Yay, they found her! But we're not out of danger yet :-(

Reunion

"Zoey," I croaked, trying to peer inside. "Sweetheart-"

She came stumbling out of the mist and fell right into my arms with a deep, shuddering exhale of contentment. I lifted her off of her feet and held her as tightly as I dared while mumbling affectionate nonsense to her.

"Zoey- oh, thank heavens-"

I felt like a man who had just been told his terminal cancer was actually misdiagnosed, who had gotten a last-minute reprieve from the electric chair. My heart was whole and beating again.

It was all I could do to not collapse from the overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude I felt. I barely had the presence of mind to reach over with one leg and shove the door to the freezer shut, to block the frigid air.

Thank God thank God thank God.

Zoey felt like a mutant-sized popsicle- her lips were blue, her teeth chattering, and her body was wracked with shivers. Her hands- red with cold- were so chilly they stung me a little when she dug her fingers into my fur to warm them.

She moved her head away from my chest and pulled me down for a kiss, which I gladly reciprocated- and then some. I felt like I was melting, even as Zoey pressed her icy lips all over my face.

"We're ok, Hank," she whispered earnestly. "It's ok. You're here now, darling, you have me-"

You're the one who got kidnapped and you're comforting me?

It was ironic, but truthfully I welcomed the reassurance. Zoey always seemed to know exactly what I needed, how to make me be my "best" self. She was the ultimate source of any strength and inner peace I possessed.

"Th-the baby?" I sputtered hopefully, finally setting her to her feet.

I vaguely noticed her shoes were gone as I reached out to touch her tummy.

"Fine, I think," Zoey assured me with a smile. Her hand joined mine on her stomach.

My breath left me in a whoosh and I grinned back, pulling her in for another embrace.

"Ahem," Raven interjected pointedly.

Zoey and I jumped- I'd completely forgotten the shape-shifter's presence, and Zoey hadn't even noticed her in the first place. Now that I remembered Raven was there I had to fight the childish urge to stick my tongue out at her.

See? Zoey loves me, even like this.

"Hello, Mystique," Zoey greeted her uncertainly.

She glanced at me with noticeable confusion, obviously wondering what Raven was doing here on a rescue mission.

Yeah, I haven't figured that out either.

"Can you have this little reunion on the jet? We're still in enemy territory, here," Raven snapped, ignoring the pleasantry. Her caustic tone made it sound like she really wanted to call us "idiots" as she watched us with disdain.

Her judgment wasn't fair, though- our emotional reunion had lasted a mere two minutes or so. Could she really blame us for taking a moment?

Raven Darkholme, you have a heart of stone.

"Let's get you out of here," I told Zoey, taking her hand. "Do you need me to carry you or do you want to walk?"

"I don't think I can walk very far," she confessed. It looked like it killed her to admit the weakness, especially since Raven was regarding her with evident condescension and hatred in her cold yellow eyes.

"It's ok, my love," I said soothingly.

I easily scooped her up and broke into a trot, trailing slightly behind Raven since my hands were full.

"What happened to your sandals?" I asked after a minute or two.

"I burned them to keep warm," Zoey replied simply.

I wished I hadn't mentioned it. My hands tightened around her at the thought of what she went through, because of me.

We were almost out, with no further run-ins with armed and belligerent FOH members. One more hallway and we'd be at the front door and the freedom beyond.

I should've known we wouldn't get out that easily.

"Zoey, I'm-" I began to say as we strode down the hall.

And then two young men- actually, they were more like boys- stumbled into our path, with submachine guns at the ready. There was a fanatical gleam in their eyes, an almost rabid excitement as they regarded the blue, alien-looking mutants in front of them.

"Don't move!" one of them ordered in a familiar voice. "Or we'll turn you into mutant Swiss cheese!"

It's the ring leader of that group of hoodlums who attacked us. That punk-

The other one chuckled giddily, like his friend had just made a hilarious joke.

Raven and I froze, assessing the situation.

Our assailants were too far away to disarm without them opening fire first. Pistols we might've been fast enough to handle, but with such rapid-fire weapons neither of us had a hope of getting to them without catching a few bullets at the very least. With Zoey there, risking it wasn't even an option.

In our current position, halfway down a windowless, door-less hallway, we also didn't have much chance of escaping back the way we came without getting shot.

The fact that Raven wasn't moving told me she agreed with my evaluation.

"Let's kill them," the second kid said eagerly. "They'll have to make us full members after this."

I bit back a snarl.

Could this really be happening? After all we'd been through, the love of my life and my unborn child would die in my arms at the hands of mutant-hating bigots.

Because of me, because of my stupid vanity and self-esteem issues. The FOH would've never taken her hostage if they didn't have reason to believe I could develop a cure. My wife, my love, would die now. And it was all my fault.

In that moment I wished I'd never met Zoey Dubois. Without me she would've lived a long life and stayed far away from the all of this. She'd be safe somewhere, hopefully happy and content. Not staring death in the face.

"Homo sapiens," Raven hissed, her fists clenched at her sides. "You think-"

I tuned out her little rant, trying to think of a way to at least save Zoey.

Maybe if I run back the way we came my body will be enough to protect her from the bullets until we make it out of range, I thought wildly. She might stand a chance, if she can hide long enough for the other X-Men to save her.

It was the best hope I could give Zoey.

"Shut up!" the other kid yelled, holding his gun up higher. "Let's kill all these freaks."

I squeezed Zoey tighter, trying to silently communicate a goodbye. She was gripping one of the straps on my flight suit like it was a lifeline.

I love you, Zoey. I'm so sorry. I wish I could've met our baby...

The next events happened simultaneously, so fast my brain could barely comprehend everything.

Their fingers went to squeeze the triggers-

I began to turn away, shielding Zoey's body with mine-

And then Zoey snapped her fingers, and both boys shrieked like little girls as the magazines of their guns blew out the bottoms with a great deal of force.

The gunpowder. She ignited the gunpowder of the cartridges in the magazines.

I didn't stop to admire Zoey's handiwork, though. I made a run for it, now that our enemies had no weapons.

Raven was already on the attack, flipping one boy over her shoulder so he landed on his back with a hard thud. The other got a solid kick to the face- it sounded like his nose broke as I bolted by him, clutching Zoey to my chest.

One minute later all three of us were out of the slaughterhouse and breaking for the trees. The entire extraction from the moment Sean and the rest had entered the building to now had taken a little less than fifteen minutes.

"Charles!" I called out, hoping he would hear me. "Charles, we've got her!"

Splendid. I'll let the others know.

"Where the hell were you two seconds ago when we had machine guns aimed at our heads?" Raven shouted up at the sky. She sounded very grumpy.

I'm so sorry, love. Alex and Erik were having- a bit of a disagreement.

I groaned. Did I even want to know?

By then we'd reached the Blackbird. I set Zoey down once we were inside, but kept an arm around her waist when she wobbled from exhaustion.

"It's so good to see you safe and sound, Zoey," Charles said with a relieved grin on his face. He reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Congratulations on the baby, dear."

She gave him a tired smile. "Thank you."

Raven plopped herself down in a jump seat, looking bored and annoyed. "Can we get out of here now?"

"Just a minute, love."

For lack of anything better to do I sat down across from Raven, pulling Zoey into my lap. She curled up and snuggled against my neck with a quiet sigh while I held her tightly, nuzzling her hair.

I have you. You're back where you belong, Zoey.

I did my best to ignore the way Raven seemed to watch us with a sullen expression on her face.

It's not that I believed she was jealous of Zoey and I- after all, Raven had made it clear she never cared for me that much in the first place. But for whatever reason, my happiness just seemed nauseating to her.

What, does it hurt your ego that I'm not lovesick over you still? Even though you never wanted me, anyway? Get over yourself, Raven.

The others showed up soon after we settled in. Sean looked relatively unscathed, but Alex was sporting a black eye and Erik had a busted lip. Both of them were giving each other malevolent looks.

Alex spared us a half-smile and a nod before saying, "I'll go ahead and pilot the jet home."

"Thanks," I told him with sincere gratitude.

I didn't want to let go of Zoey yet. Honestly, I probably wouldn't for a while.

Erik was silent as Alex stalked past him on the way to the cockpit, but thankfully made no move towards the younger man. He took the seat next to Raven and basically ignored the rest of us.

"Hi, Zoey," Sean said in an overly cheerful voice, trying to ease the tension. "Glad you're ok."

"Thanks, Sean," Zoey replied. "I'm glad all of you are safe, too."

Sean shrugged. "It was actually kinda fun."

"Fun or not," Charles said meaningfully, "it's over and done with. Let's go home."