In the months following the escape, things had gone back to normal more quickly than Ororo had anticipated. It was hard to even say that they were worse off than they had been before. Just as always, the team busied themselves trying to protect mutants from crazed non-mutants, and to protect non-mutants from crazed mutants, all the while running a boarding school for high school children. What a curious life we lead.

One thing that had changed was Ororo's desire to take breaks from the school campus. They had increased dramatically. Her periodic "walks" in the woods became weekly weekend rituals, sometimes even brief mid-week respites when she couldn't sleep. She had never been a brooder by nature, but found that being away from the school, away from people in general, seemed to be the only thing preventing her from becoming so now.

That morning, she had woken feeling more chipper than at any time since before the incident, and yet contradictorily, as she headed to the forest, she found it was a cloudy, drizzly day. Well, here's to contradictions, she thought as she made her way towards one of her favorite trails. It was remote from park entrances and the smattering of designated picnic areas that dotted the major thoroughfares, and thus few people bothered to hike it. Ororo, not limited by walking speed or access roads, loved this quietest of places, and so it was with disappointment that she read the sign blocking the way.

"Lanyard Trail closed for repairs. Use detour." The detour pointed up a steep hill bearing only a vague and overgrown path. She smirked. I'm getting muddy today. But it was fun, she decided, perhaps better than usual, scrabbling through the underbrush, occasionally sliding back down a few feet. Before long, she found herself laughing out loud. Why do I hike on trails at all?

The mud would cake onto her lower legs and hands when she put them down to support herself, but the light drizzle and wet leaves slapping at her as she crashed through the brush would wash it off again. She felt invigorated.

With a push through a particularly thick assemblage of vines, she found herself in a clearing. In the center was a small cabin. It wasn't dilapidated, but she could tell it received little use. The grass was high around it, and leaves lay thick on the roof and small front porch. A little sign in the window read, "EMERGENCY RANGER STATION 3." She shrugged to herself, and then looked around for the detour signs that were guiding her back to the main trail.

It was then that she saw the hulking shadow of someone just beyond the line of trees. A gasp of surprise escaped her lips. I guess someone else is hiking the detour trail today. She waited for the person to emerge into the clearing, thinking to exchange information about trail conditions, but when the individual emerged, she completely lost her breath. It was Sabretooth.

She could have taken to the air immediately, should have taken to the air, but a strange curiousity crept over her. Against her better judgment, she waited for him to draw near, which he did in a few giant strides. He really is a big man. He planted himself before her wordlessly, standing like a forest sentinel intent on blocking her path.

"Sabertooth," she breathed.

"Ororo," he replied with mysterious urgency in his eyes. "The name's Victor, remember?"

She supposed she should be afraid, or angry, or ramped for a fight. And in fact, she was all of those things. She contemplated the ways in which she could subdue him long enough to alert either the authorities or Professor X. And yet, almost beside herself, she found herself nodding and asking, "Victor, what are you doing here?"

He stared at her just long enough to make her skin start to crawl. It was a mistake to stay. I must depart immediately. As she rallied the winds to carry her off, however, he spoke, the sound of his voice as raw as his eyes were intense. "Ororo, I need to show you something." He began walking toward the cabin. "It's over here." Reaching the door, he immediately disappeared inside.

This must be Magneto's doing. Ororo could think of no logical reason for Magneto to orchestrate a meeting like this with Sabretooth unless he had discovered something that would benefit the Brotherhood, something he needed X-Men help to obtain. She knew that following Sabretooth without backup, without the rest of the team even knowing where she was, was a bad idea. Nevertheless, if Magneto had wanted her dead or captured, he would have acted already, she thought. Saying a quick prayer to the Goddess, she followed Sabretooth inside.

Upon entering the cabin, she saw nothing exceptional. There was a small table and chairs, a cabinet marked with a first-aid cross, a bed, a door that presumably led to a small bathroom, and a wood stove. The wood stove already had a fire burning inside of it. That's curious. Turning to question Sabretooth about the purpose of the meeting location, she had time enough to look up at him, before he barreled into her.

She gasped as one massive arm encircled her waist while the other scooped under her buttocks lifting her up. In an instant, he had her to the wall, his body pressed almost crushingly against her. Her arms free, she tried uselessly to push him back at the shoulders. "Victor, what..." And then his mouth was upon hers. In contrast to his arms, which held her in a vice grip, his lips were...gentle. Gentle, but hungry, and insistent.

At first she tried to turn her head away to escape, but his lips pursued hers. When they finally caught them, it was like a burst of electricity coarsing through her body. In fact, she wasn't sure that she hadn't unconsciously drawn down lightning from the sky, until she realized his kisses had continued unabated. She felt herself kissing him back, the sensations amplifying dizzyingly.

It felt so good. Better than anything she had ever felt. But, her mind reminded her, this was Victor Creed. Sabertooth. Her brain fought for control. He is a killer. He is a sociopath. His life revolves around doing the dirty work of others. You must stop. With an effort like Atlas lifting the world, she managed to pull her lips away, finally catching her breath. "Victor, I don't..." He moved back in to swallow her words. "Victor..." Her arms were ineffectual against him, so she began to twist, hoping to slide her knee up against his chest in order to gain some leverage. They struggled for a moment but instead of Ororo breaking free, Sabretooth managed to force his knee between her legs, and now had his groin pinned against hers. He had also grabbed her wrists with one of his hands and clamped them to the wall abover her head.

"Victor, I'll bring lightning down. You know I will."

"Ororo," he said steadily. "This cabin has several high capacity lightning rods. I know. I installed them myself."

Ororo swallowed. How long has he been planning this? And what exactly is he planning? She hated to show fear, but she couldn't control the shiver that ran through her. Sabretooth felt it, too, and his eyes glittered. "It doesn't matter, Victor. I can make it exceedingly cold in here. I can..."

"It doesn't matter what you do. I'm not letting go of you." He grinned unsettlingly. "Go ahead. Try something." His grin dropped away and he leaned down again to kiss her. It was as soft as a ripe plum, and Ororo shivered again. He pulled back to say something but seemed suddenly to falter. "I..." He looked at her with his painful intensity. "I nee...." Stopping, he grimaced as if trying to swallow a bitter pill. Finally, he clenched his jaws and growled between his teeth. "I will have you." And once again his lips were upon her. This time, he ground his hips slowly against her, and Ororo found herself releasing a low moan.

Sabretooth's response to Ororo's moan was a rumbling growl that emitted from deep within his chest. The vibrations of his chest, the slow grind of his hips, and the penetration of his tongue into her mouth were almost too much for her to bear. She felt herself swoon, and found herself gripping his restraining hand with her own, holding on for dear life.