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Ice Lynx-


"So Remy, where do ya come from?" Steph asked drowsily.

"You dat bored, chere?" he asked, smiling.

"Yup," she said, sighing. "Answer the question or face my irritable wrath."

Remy whistled.

"Don' want dat," he said. "I grew up in New Orleans. Tough place, but a good spot t' learn 'bout t'ievin."

Steph nodded, pushing her beer bottle across the table from one hand to another.

"I imagine I grew up... inna home," she said thoughtfully.

Remy smiled and listened as she mused, using a mix of her personality, looks, and wild guessing to create a life she may have had. "Orphanage, 'cause my parents hated mutants. With lots o' mutie kids runnin' 'round n' breaking things. I was one of the older orphans before I ran away, fed up with it all, n' decided that the thing t' do was get married t' some guy n' have a girl, and maybe got divorced, shared custody o' Sam."

"Why divorced?" Remy asked, eyebrow raising.

Steph shrugged.

"D' ya know how many marriages fail these days?" she asked, reading the paper she held and pointing to some numbers in a column. "N' this is England, imagine what us trashy Americans are like back home. Wild guess anyway, but I suppose being a 'Mrs.' means I'm still married?"

"Or dat you never got rid of de name," Remy said cheerfully, shrugging.

"Whatever," Steph growled, just as the bar door opened and a tall man with tangled, dirty blond hair and large dark eyes walked through. He had a wild look about him, and was so obviously mutant just in the way he walked in and sniffed, as if testing the air, that it was hardly a surprise when he raised one hand to run some claws through his mane.

"Hey, haven't seen him 'round before," Remy said quietly.

Steph glanced at the newcomer and grinned, holding a fist up to her hand and faking a coughing fit.

"Cough Incomin' cough, cough Fuzzy Man! Cough," she said. The man obviously heard her and turned to glare as Steph looked down and spoke quickly.

"Hack cough choke die," she said louder. "Help me I'm passing out from lack of oxygen, someone call a doctor, I need an air tank or something." Remy laughed.

"Steph!" The man growled, eyes widening in surprise when he saw her.

She stopped fooling around immediately, sitting straight up as the man strode over. "What the # are yeh doin' here!"

Steph stared at him. "Ya know who I am, Fuzzy?"

"I told yeh not t' call me that, or I'd gut yeh," he growled. "Bad enough you people calling me Creed…."

"Creed?" Steph said. The name, like other things, both sounded somewhat familiar yet completely foreign to her.

"Yeah," Creed growled, bushy eyebrows raising slightly. "What're yeh doin' here? Ain't the team lookin' for yeh? With all these attacks goin' on…."

"Wait! Team? What're ya talkin' about?" Steph said, good mood slipping away. Who was this guy?

Creed gave her an even stranger look, then stared at Remy suspiciously.

"Recruiting?" he guessed. "Get stuck over here?"

"Look, either tell me who the & you are n' how ya know me, or as the English say, bugger off!" Steph snapped.

"If you knew her before she won't 'member you," Remy said, leaning on the table and giving Creed an unfriendly look. "An' de chere ain't so patient, so I'd answer quick."

"Whoa," Creed said, head turning slightly as he stared at Steph. "Yeh lost yer memory?"

"So?" Steph grumbled, hitting her fifth beer across the table. "Wanna make something of it, Fuzzy?"

Creed slapped his forehead.

"How did yeh remember that & name? How did yeh make it up again?" he growled. "#, yeh really don't remember?"

"Don't make me hurt ya f'r saying that again," Steph growled back.

"It's me kid, Sabertooth, the guy who's saved your skinny & a couple more times then I should 'a," Creed said, groaning. "How am I ever gonna make Blue believe I didn't make yeh lose your mind?"

"He's talkin' 'bout stuff I should know but don't again," Steph informed Remy moodily.

"Who's he?" Creed asked suspiciously, sniffing the air around Remy, who was not very happy about having the large man so close to him.

"Who're you?" Steph replied.

Suddenly Creed chuckled.

"Now that's the old Steph. Ever since yeh married that blue lump yeh stopped being as much like Logan," he said, grinning and revealing sharp fangs. "Guess that was just 'cause yeh hung 'round Beast 'n his # pansy way 'a talkin' too much."

"That's it, sit down you n' tell me everythin' ya know 'bout me," Steph said, punching an empty bottle.

"Why should I?" Creed's eyes narrowed.

"'Cause if ya don't I'll make ya," she replied.

"One time deal, you buy me drinks," Creed said.

Steph took out the money she had left and tossed it at him.

"Get drunk, fine, just start talking," she said.

(2 Nights Later)

Steph growled and pushed the beer bottle aside, looking at Remy as he finished his third.

"I thought they came here often," she said, looking around the bar in disgust.

Remy shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "De man said off an' on," he replied casually. "Dis mus' be an off time."

"Oh shut up," Steph growled, making him chuckle. He opened his mouth to say something else when the bar door flew open and a police officer was literally thrown through the entryway. Steph and Remy looked up, shocked, as the officer grunted, his lean face pale and sweating, eyes wide with shock and pain as his hands tried to load his gun. Through the doorway stalked a man, bigger than anyone else in the bar, whose heavy facial hair, lengthened face, and large pointed ears made him vaguely resemble a wolf as he hunched through the doorway, walking right past the officer without a second glance.

Creed, who had been napping on a chair nearby, twitched slightly, the only sign that he was awake. He'd decided to remain with Steph and Remy 'Cause yer the only way I'm gettin' outta this damn country.' Though he was willing enough to talk about Steph's past, or what he knew of it, Creed was very reluctant to tell them anything about himself and his prior association with Steph and the other X Men, or why he was in England himself.

The wolf man sat down at a booth as a few men, also clearly mutants, came in after him. All of a sudden most of the men in the bar found that facing the police on the streets would be loads of fun, getting up and leaving as the bartender looked over at the newcomers crossly.

"You need anything?" he asked carefully.

The wolf man nodded at a tall brown haired man, and he put a finger on the policeman's forehead. Suddenly the human screamed out in pain, making Steph sit up straight in her chair and Remy inhale sharply as the officer toppled to the floor, dead before he hit it. The rest of the men in the bar left.

"Yeah," the wolf man said, his voice barely more than a growl. "Clean that up n' git me a drink."

The bartender shook his head.

"Sorry, I can get you all the free drinks you need, but that mess is your own," he said, nodding at the dead man. Though he was working to keep his face calm and neutral the bartender was clearly shaking as another mutant with black hair snapped his fingers and the body disappeared completely. The bartender brought the mutants large bottles of beer, then excused himself and walked out of the room into the back, leaving Steph, Remy, and Creed alone in the room with the other mutants.

"So what do we have here? Three newcomers?" the wolf man called across the room to Steph, who had her head turned away from him, while Remy gazed back and Creed stretched as though just waking up from his sleep.

"What?" he said, looking over his shoulder at the Members. "Gutter trash came in while I was out?"

The wolf man laughed. "Good to see you too Sabertooth."

"Sabertooth," Steph murmured, rolling her eyes.

"A woman? No…mutie, like the boys," the brown haired man said, his husky voice oddly high pitched.

"'Course she's a mutie!" The wolf man roared, laughing. "Why else would she be in this bar? No human woman would ever come in here."

Steph turned and looked at him, arching an eyebrow as she summed up the group of five.

"I'm not impressed," she said, turning her head again.

Suddenly the wolf man was in front of her, stinking strongly of sewage and filth as he leaned down close, grabbing her chin and making her look him in the eyes. He burst out laughing, his foul breath sweeping over Steph's face as Remy stood up quickly, one hand reaching towards his pocket, though a quick glance from Steph made him slowly sink back down.

"Well lookit here," the wolf man boomed, rearing up to full height and looking down at Steph, who gazed back, unafraid. "It's the speaker from America. The mutie girl who wants nothing but peace between us and the filthy humans."

Steph didn't bat an eyelash.

"I wouldn't be calling anyone filthy if I was walking around smelling and looking like trash myself," she said.

The man laughed.

"Weren't so smart-mouthed in front 'a those little human spawn were you?" he asked. "Preaching about looks, you looked weak enough up there on that stage, floating around like a bubble."

"You were there?" Steph's eyes narrowed.

"I was," the wolf man replied, grinning at her. "Setting bombs. They worked beautifully didn't they? Though I didn't get the great view you had. I was out of there long before the things went off."

"Some display of power," she retorted, not letting the remarks getting to her. "Setting off a bomb, like a human."

The man suddenly looked angry.

"Like a human?" he replied. "At least I don't fool myself with talk of peace and all that bull. I didn't think anyone would survive an old building falling on them though, guess that redeems you somewhat, eh?"

Steph growled.

"I don't need to be redeemed of anything," she said. "N' I'm tough to kill, so watch it, bub."

The man chuckled and the other Members also laughed.

"Tough gal, wotcha bet she die's quicker'n the 'uman?" asked a short mutant with gray hair and a fat face, yellow eyes gleaming in the dim light.

"Bring it on frog-face," Steph snarled, standing up quickly.

"The runt'd be proud." Creed looked sideways at Remy.

"Steph, I don't t'ink dis is a good idea…" the Cajun whispered.

"Steph, I don't t'ink I can handle de mean muties," the tall brown-haired mutant mimicked in an even higher pitched voice than he already had.

Remy's eyes narrowed and he pulled out a deck of playing cards, casually shuffling them from hand to hand.

"T' whatever happens next, I'm game," he said.

Creed yawned. "This' boring." He grabbed another beer and drank half of it in one gulp.

Steph shook her head at him then looked at the wolf man.

"Ya do know that right now yer th' only thing standin' between me n' a ride home?"

The man smiled. "I don't care little miss. And there isn't much you can do about it either."

"I could turn ya inta the feds n' get myself on a plane outta here," she said, smiling.

"I'd like to see you try," he laughed and turned to walk away.

Swiftly Steph stuck out her foot and the unprepared mutant tripped, crashing forward into a table and breaking it as he roared out in surprise. Creed jumped out of the way with a startled snarl as the wolf man sprang to his feet, spinning around to face Steph, who was looking at him unconcernedly.

"See puppy…I don't scare easy, so threats ain't gonna work," she said, shrugging. "Now ya can sit yer & down again n' wait 'till I call the police like a good little boy, or they can take ya in unconscious or dead, it's really yer choice."

The man's face had turned bright red and he snarled at her.

"Maybe they'll just find you dead tomorrow," he replied, and faster than the eye could follow his fist came out and hit Steph in the stomach, sending her flying above the table and into the wall.

Remy cried out in anger as the other Members jumped up, suddenly one of the playing cards in his hand glowed bright pink as he flung it at them, blowing them backwards.

"Cover yer ears!" Steph yelled at him as the wolf man jumped up on the booth and grabbed her by the throat.

"What?" Remy said, getting ready to grab the wolf man when Creed roughly grabbed him and started to carry him out of the room, into the back where the bartender had escaped to.

"Let go a me!" Remy bellowed, struggling.

Creed pushed him in front. "Your brain'll be blown t' bits like the others if ya don't put in some distance between your ears n' her scream, cover 'em now!" he snapped.

Steph choked slightly as her hands beat at the wolf man's arms, but to no avail.

"You've pushed your luck too far missy," he hissed. Steph's vision started to swarm as the lack of oxygen started to get to her, but then the wolf man made the mistake of throwing her down to the floor roughly, where his men grabbed her. Gasping for breath and wincing as her broken arm was jostled she looked up at him with a glare.

"And your luck's run out," she snapped, her words vibrating through the air. The wolf man and the men holding her gasped and the frog faced man tripped, falling flat on his face as Steph closed her eyes and screamed.

"YER LUCK RAN OUT WHEN YA STOLE MY MEMORIES!" she bellowed, her mutation knocking everyone around her flat on their backs. She watched as the wolf man's eyes reeled into the back of his head, and then he toppled, crashing to the floor and breaking a few chairs.

Steph knelt, panting slightly as she clutched her blazing arm to her and looked around worriedly. Where was Remy? And Creed? Had she hit them too? Struggling to her feet she looked around, heart jumping to her throat.

Creed appeared in the back door, stumbling slightly as he dragged the unconscious Remy behind him.

Steph gasped and hurried over. "Oh crap- did I kill 'im?."

Creed sat down heavily and shook his head.

"No luck, just out cold. They're probably all toast." He nodded at the others and Steph blinked.

"As long as one's alive t' tell the story, I couldn't care less," she said.

"Short fight," he remarked, belching suddenly. "Short n' sweet. Yer one crazy kid, talking to the leader o' the Members like that, n' tripping him. Crazy like the runt, but without the ability to heal, so not so smart huh?"

"I wouldn't know," Steph said sourly. "T' judge my behavior would need more examples, n' I can't remember any o' them."

"Then take my word if ya ever trusted it," Creed grunted. "Ya wouldn't though."

"Sure, whatever, how'd ya know these thugs anyway?" Steph demanded.

"My business, not yours," Creed growled. "I ain't in cahoots with 'em though. Let's go alert the blue coats."