disclaimer: All recognizable characters are owned by Marvel and I expect to make no money off them. Damn it.

No Place Like Home
by Dizi

Chapter 10: Worries

Victor was gone for two days.

Jubilee had been right about old business, but it was not unfinished business. It was refused business. He hadn't accepted any jobs in a long time and they hadn't been happy about his rejection of their offer. Now they were dead. Some people just couldn't take rejection.

As he slid into bed and wrapped himself around Jessie, he fervently hoped they were the only ones who had found out about her. If others had learned of her importance to him she'd be in constant danger, her and the baby -little Vic Jr., already better known as Billy.

There were too many people out there who would like to get a hold on him. If there were others after Jessie to use her as leverage against him then the odds were against him being able to protect her forever. He just didn't know yet and it troubled him. How to protect her and the baby if that were the case...

"Victor?" Jessie murmured in her sleep, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah, little girl, it's me." He nuzzled his face into her hair and breathed in her scent, reassurring himself that she'd been well during his absence.

"Missed you." Snuggling up against him, she was already asleep again.

Watching him over the next two weeks, Jessie knew something was wrong. She was the first to admit she didn't understand everything that went on around her, but she wasn't stupid. She knew something had happened at the department store. She just trusted others to take care of the problems. When they said nothing was wrong and not to worry, she believed nothing was wrong and didn't worry.

But Victor had never been like this before. He was worried about something and that made her nervous. Victor never worried, he took care of it, whatever it was. He didn't worry about it. If Victor was worried, something had to be very wrong but everyone still told her not to worry.

She knew when he went away from her he did things that she couldn't really understand. Victor never talked about it, but she knew. It didn't matter to her. He loved her and that was all that was important.

Jessie knew Victor was overprotective, but she liked that and it kept her safe. But if there was something wrong, shouldn't she know? Jessie didn't want to be strong, she liked being protected, but she also didn't want to be the only one surprised when something bad happened.

Times like this, when they were outside sitting under the tree, were the only times when Victor's mind seemed to be at peace lately. Jessie didn't want to bring up his troubles and ruin that peace, but she sensed the other side of him was stronger in other settings.

"Victor?" she asked cautiously.

His hand, as usual, was rubbing her belly and his chest vibrated with his contented purring. "Hmmm?"

"What's wrong?"

"Everything's fine, baby." He lied softly, never pausing in his actions.

Reaching back she caressed the side of his face. "You've been different since you came back last time."

Instantly his purring stopped. "Jessie, you know I don't like to talk about my work. It has nothing to do with you."

"I'm not asking about your work, I'm asking about you. I don't have to know everything, or even anything really, but..." she bit her lip. She knew he didn't like the conversation and she didn't like asking, but she had to know. "Victor what's wrong?"

"It's nothing for you to worry about, Jessie." he said quietly. "I promise I'll tell you if it becomes more. I just may not be finished is all."

Nodding, Jessie mulled over his words briefly and decided it was enough. He was taking care of it and would tell her when there was trouble. All was normal.

Problem settled, Victor relaxed again.

But as with so many things in life, it didn't last. A few minutes later, the scent of guns and men came to him from the woods.

Immediately, Victor's hand stilled and his body stiffened before he could stop it, making Jessie's eyes fly open and she twisted around to look at him. The look in his eyes made her still the question she was about to ask.

Trying to act normally, he again nuzzled her neck so he could whisper in her ear, "When I tell you, I want you to get up and walk like normal to the house. Go to Wolverine and stay with him. Tell him there's someone out here. Nod if you understand."

Closing her eyes and reminding herself Victor would always take care of her, Jessie nodded.

He kissed her deeply, trying to reassure her, then reached into his pocket and lit a cigar. He wanted it to look like he was staying for one last smoke before going in.

Giving her belly one last pat, he whispered to her, "Don't worry, little girl. Do as I say and everything will be fine, just like always. Now, go."

With a little help getting to her feet, Jessie followed his instructions without looking back. She didn't need to look to know he'd gone into what she thought of as his 'work mode'. The other side of him.

Walking as casually as she could, Jessie sped up about halfway there at the sound of gunfire. She was glad she didn't have her glasses on. It seemed awfully close.

Sabretooth kept his eyes closed and enjoyed the cigar while listening for the men coming toward him and also keeping track of Jessie going to safety at the same time. He heard her change direction as she followed the path and that's when he heard another group start in her direction.

Rage filled him as he realized they weren't after him, at least for the moment. Too late, he understood the men he had originally heard were a distraction and another team was there as well. They were trying to get Jessie.

Leaping to his feet, he gave up on his ruse -it was a stupid idea anyway. With a roar he ran for the group going after his woman. The other team was in his way though and he had to take precious time going through them first.

Hearing gunfire, Victor paused briefly to look in Jessie's direction. Heart in his throat, he watched helplessly as Jessie ignored the warning shots, which landed within feet of her and the men shouting for her to stop and she wouldn't get hurt, as she continued steadily to the mansion's backdoor.

Forcing himself to look away, Sabretooth ripped and tore his way through the expendables - the only thing you could call the first group - sent to block and distract him. He ignored the bullets that ripped through his body. He embraced the pain, letting it fuel the beast inside, while the man gave it a single warning. He needed one alive for answers.

Otherwise, they would all pay in blood for going after his mate, and when he got his answers the last one would die too. How quickly would be his only choice.

Despite the calm on her face, Jessie's hands were shaking as she opened the door.

Almost as soon as she entered, various X-Men started running past her on their way to defend the grounds. As Logan started to go by, she latched onto his arm.

"Go stay with Chuck, Jessie." Wolverine ordered, trying to shake off her gripping hands.

"No." Her voice was steady and implacable. "Victor said to stay with you."

"Jessie, I gotta-" he started half-heartedly, though he knew better. Jessie did what Victor told her to.

Tightening her hold, Jessie repeated, "Victor said to stay with you."

"For God's sake, Wolvie, just stay with her." Jubilee ordered on her way out, not understanding why he had tried to argue with Jessie. They had all tried to make Jessie more independent and failed. This was not the time to try again.

Logan growled and watched his mate run out into an unknown danger. "Anythin' happens ta her, I'm gonna kill Vic. Warnin' ya now, Jessie."

Jessie just nodded and let him lead her out of the kitchen to sit down. She wasn't worried. Logan and Victor said that all the time.

Sabretooth was seeing red. Literally. It started with blood and ended with the beams from Cyclops's eyes.

One second he was tearing into the body of a soldier, reveling in his warm blood, and the next thing he knew he was slammed against a tree by a red beam of light with enough force to loose his senses. He wasn't out for long, but it was long enough for the X-men to take control of the situation and keep him from the soldiers.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" Cyclops demanded looking at the carnage. He'd been against keeping Creed at the mansion from the beginning and wasn't surprised the man had lost control.

"Protecting my woman!" Victor snarled.

Storm looked at him with disapproval. "We do not kill here."

"I was supposed to let them take or kill Jessie?" he asked incredulously. "They were shooting at her! I ain't one of you, I'll do whatever I have to to protect her."

"They shot at Jessie?" Cyclops was shocked. Creed he could understand, but Jessie?

Seeing Jubilee, Victor looked to her. She was reasonable, mostly. "Is Jessie alright? When they started shooting I lost it, and then I couldn't see her."

"She's fine, Vic. Jessie made it inside and stuck to Wolvie like glue." She was quick to reassure him. The panicked look in his eyes tore at her heart. In many ways he reminded her of Wolverine and he was so tender with Jessie, she often forgot what he was like in the past. He was a different person almost. Almost being the key word, and the dead surrounding her was a good reminder. Yet, she knew Wolverine would do as much or more if she were in danger. If she got hurt, God help them all.

"Is this related to the mall incident and your disappearance?" Ororo asked, holding up a hand to stop an irate comment from Scott.

"If you losers hadn't let the walking dead get away, I'd know by now." Victor snarled at her.

Again stalling comments from others, Storm replied. "We could not allow you to kill them."

"They would have killed all of you, and maybe Jessie too. These are not the kind of people who live by your ideals, and they weren't too smart or they wouldn't have shot at their target - not to mention, PISSING ME OFF!" He took a deep breath before repeating. "I will do whatever I have to. Jessie will be safe. Now, I'm gonna have to do this the hard way to find out what's going on."

Before they could say anything else, he started searching the dead bodies.

There wasn't much information. Just enough to give him a start. Just enough to let him know his fears were grounded in reality. Jessie was in danger and it was because of him. Because there were people who knew they could use her against him, to control him.

He didn't know what he was going to do to protect her. They couldn't just go into hiding. He was too noticeable even if he was on good behavior. It had been killing him just this long, even with the training sessions. If he were able to blend in - which hecouldn't do anyway -he couldn't do it for the rest of his life. Jessie wouldn't expect that of him either, she understood him too well.

Something would turn up. It always had before. Unfortunately the only thing he could think of was worse than dying and he didn't know if he could do it. He knew he didn't want to and he would try everything he could before he did it.

Now, it was time to keep his promise. He had to let her know, prepare her for the worst.

She was waiting for him in their room and ran to him as fast as her awkward body would let her. Her arms wrapped around him tightly and she didn't seem to want to let go. Victor returned the embrace, feeling the same way.

Finally, he set her away from him. "Jessie, we have to talk..."

A short while later, the entire mansion heard Jessie's anguished cry.

"Noooooo!"

to be continued.

note:
draelyn - No she doesn't, but if Victor wanted her to she would. Now that you say that about Harry's I can see it too! But then as long as they could pay for the damages Harry wouldn't care.
Elizabeth Robbins - Poor little Hershell. Glad you liked it! I laughed the whole way.
TricaLee - Did I imply these men were smart? Only stupid people would go anywhere near these people in the first place! But I think this ch explains it better for ya.
CaptainTish - I actually don't get to watch 'Enterprise' because there was no UPN in the town I just moved from. I actually had something like this happen when I was a kid. Whole household trying to get hold of the cat and my dad comes home from work and just picks it up.
Rogue14 - Okay, I'm horrible I know. I just couldn't decide who all the bad guys should be since there were so many choices. So I just didn't show it because Jessie would never really know anyway.
Beany - I stole the name. I couldn't think of one for a bunny so I took it from a Linda Lael Miller book. I'm so ashamed sob .
Jinxeh - Can't you just picture them wedged under a bed so that they would be stuck if they couldn't tear the thing apart? I got that picture in my head and ran with it.
Crazed Fuzzle - Not Mags, but could be just about anyone else you can think of who has stupid goons. You know, cannon fodder? Okay she didn't confront him about leaving but she did talk to him. Have you been looking at my computer again? That's not nice, you know. Totally uncool to look at someone else's computer! LOL, how do you guess these things?

Next chapter! So what are they going to do? How can Victor keep Jessie safe from all the people after him? Wait and see! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha ! evil cackle>

By the way, I obviously finished moving and have almost finished unpacking. Which leaves my schedule open for plenty of writing! Or that's the theory anyway. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for reading and the support,
Dizi