Ria was nervous. She was excited to be seeing Tim and Mary again, but this time she had Victor, and she had been away for much longer than anyone could have expected. How could she tell them where she had been all those years? Would they even understand? They definitely wouldn't understand Victor, she knew that much. They were so very…well, they were nuclear. Tim worked all day. Mary stayed home to take care of the house and kids. Danny was thirteen and Ellen was ten.

She frowned as she pulled her pants on. No, they were older than that now. It had been...oh god, five years. Five fucking years that she spent in that prison. Five years without the sun, without a bed, without warmth. Five years in a cage. What had happened in all that time? Were they even still in the same house? What did they all look like? The kids had to be in high school. She had missed seeing them growing up. They were her friends, and she was going back to them after disappearing without a trace. What were they going to think?

With a smile, she pulled a shirt on. Danny probably had a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. No, probably a girlfriend. Ria was pretty sure the kid had a crush on her when she had lived with them. She couldn't blame him, though. Ferals were alluring to humans, and besides that, she was well aware of her looks.

It took her a long time to learn how to keep her hair and makeup the way she wanted, but as a leopard, it was a predatory and defensive mechanism. Looking healthy meant that people were less likely to mess with her, and appearing beautiful made it easier to seduce and catch her prey. Ria had always heard that beauty was just a natural feral trait, but she assumed that it was moreso a female characteristic. Victor was handsome and definitely sexy, but he didn't have the delicate grace that she did. He was rough and tough, and for him, his natural defenses came in the form of his size and strength.

Victor came out of the bathroom completely naked and she felt her face flush involuntarily. He was freshly showered, having decided to wash again after the second round of sex that had spontaneously occurred when they both woke up a few hours prior. Ria found that she could just stare at him forever, running her eyes back and forth over his form, following the lines of his muscles, the slope of his shoulders...she could watch him move and flex and breathe for days without getting bored. Every time her eyes fell on him, she found something new-a new line, new curvature, new sizzling energy balling up as his muscles bunched and released. She could almost see his power flowing through him, swirling and clenching and exploding in everything that he did.

He was so big, and so wild, and so dangerous.

Oh god, what were Tim and Mary and the kids going to think?

They both finished getting dressed and left the motel, driving in silence after they slipped into the truck and out onto the road without incident. Ria kept expecting to find that someone was after her-after all, she was valuable to the assholes that were trying to breed her-but she kept finding that they were safe, and it was putting her on edge.

"Victor?" she asked nervously. When he grunted, she continued. "Is this actually working?"

"Is what workin', frail?" he spared her a glance.

"This trip. All of this."

"Throwin' 'em off?" he thought for a second before nodding.

"Don't they have trackers, or something? I mean, they were good enough that they caught me in the first place…"

"We've only been in quiet areas. No big cities, no crowded subways. We would've smelled somethin' if it was close."

"So what are they doing? They're not going to just let me go."

"They're stayin' quiet to try an' figure it out. Nobody knew that was my territory, I made sure of it. They've got no reason to be suspicious 'bout us." he looked over at her. "I'm keepin' you safe, Ria."

She frowned. "I know. Thanks."

As she turned her head to look out the window, Victor watched her. She was hiding her anxiety well. She had to be beyond worried about everything, and he had to admit that he was, too. The concept of someone trying to take her away angered him so much that his best defense was to just not think about it, but even that didn't always work, and even in that moment he found his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel. His claws cut into the bottom edges of his palms, and as the wounds continued to heal back up, he only clenched his muscles harder.

How dare anyone want to take something so beautiful away from him? She was perfect, and she was his, and he wasn't good at sharing. He would kill for her, and he would die for her, and there was absolutely no way in hell that some lab coat was going to slice her open to mess with her.

"Fuckin' humans," he snarled to himself.

Ria jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. "What about them?"

"What they did to you."

She hissed. "You don't know what it was like. I hate them. I hate what they're capable of."

"Never said I knew. But I've seen what they do." Victor said as he turned off the highway. They were getting close now. "Used to work for a man named Stryker. He had us do...shit."

"Why'd you work for him if he was human?"

Victor was quiet for a few moments. "Jimmy an' I were in military custody when we wouldn't die."

"Why…?"

"Firing squad didn't work." he smirked. "Thought they could execute us back in Vietnam."

"Jimmy's your brother, right?" Ria asked. Victor had mentioned him a few times, but never in any length or detail. She found it hard to believe that he had any family, just based on the way he acted, but if he did, she wanted to meet them.

He nodded once. "Little brother. We stuck together through a few wars...it was just me an' him for a long time." a shadow crossed through his features. "He was the only one who could keep me under control sometimes."

A small twinge of fear struck Ria. "What does that mean?"

He looked at her. "Let's just say that I did a lot of shit to a lot of people that I'll never do to you."

Ria forced the fear back down. There was some sincerity in his eyes, and she just nodded, not wanting to pursue the topic when they were so close to meeting her humans. "Let's talk about something else then."

Victor swallowed and looked back at the road. They were entering the city, and as Ria directed him towards the suburbs, he noticed how nervous she was getting.

"Doin' okay, frail?"

She nodded a little too quickly.

"Liar."

"Okay, fine!" she burst out. "I haven't seen them in over five fucking years. Are they even going to remember me? What if my shit's not there anymore? What if they moved?"

He growled. "I hope for your sake they didn't, darlin'. I didn't drive you this far to turn around again."

She made a whining noise. "I have to tell them so much…"

"How much?"

"They obviously know some," she said, flexing her claws. "Hard to hide some of this...I never told them how old I am, or that I heal, or that I'm so rare, or-or anything about anyone else. I don't know what they'll think of you. I don't know what they'll think of any of it."

"Plannin' on comin' clean about all of it?" he grinned. "They'll love me."

"They thought of me as their own child. They acted like my own parents. They're a very traditional family with old values and all that. They're not going to be thrilled with the whole mate concept."

"But you still wanna tell 'em?"

She sighed. "I'll...tell them some. To protect them. But they have to know why I was gone. But if they went through any of my things, they'll know a lot more than they did." she looked out the window. "Left here. It's at the end of the street."

Victor grimaced. The neighborhood was a subdivision, with neatly trimmed lawns and small yards. The houses were big and uniform, all very clean, and as they drove past, he saw children playing outside and sports moms loading up their minivans. Maybe Ria was right to be nervous.

He groaned. This place wasn't at all like anywhere he had ever lived or been very comfortable in. He was a beast of war and the wild, not this...upper middle class domesticity. He hunted his own food and killed for money when it pleased him, and he had never, ever felt the need to enter a place like this. Cities sure-had had spent time in a few tiny apartments while staking out hits-but this was something else entirely.

They pulled up to the house and he noticed Ria running her fingers through her hair nervously. She gave him a quick, uneasy smile and unbuckled her seatbelt with shaky hands before leaving the truck and walking around the Chrysler that sat in the driveway. Victor followed her, more grouchy than nervous now as he passed the small flower beds. What if Ria wanted this more than his cabin? Was he willing to make that kind of sacrifice for his mate?

As he stepped up onto the porch, his head bumped into the wind chime hanging down in front of the door and he growled. He was going to have a concussion if everything in the house was this low hanging.

"Shut up," Ria hissed.

He only growled more in response as he heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the door. He could smell humans, two adolescent and two adult. No pets, which was good. They were always afraid of him. The only animal that wasn't was a kodiak bear he had encountered during a trip north, and he highly doubted that there would be any of those nearby right now.

Ria's entire body was shaking, and just as the door opened, he put a clawed hand on her shoulder to steady her. "It's fine, frail."

A woman stood before them, and just as suddenly as the door had opened, she burst into tears. "Ria?"

She pulled Ria away into a hug and Victor snorted in annoyance while she just squeezed his mate and repeated her name over and over as she sobbed. He didn't like this. When he finally snarled, the woman jumped and pulled back, wiping tears away from her eyes.

"Victor," Ria warned.

"Come in, come in!" the woman said, ignoring them as she continued crying. "Come in and sit down. What can I get you? Coffee? Black still?"

"Yes please," Ria said as she grabbed Victor's hand and pulled him into the house and then into the kitchen. The scent of a pot roast filled the air. "Mary, this is Victor."

As Mary started a pot of coffee, she finally looked at them again, watching Victor warily. "Tim will be home any minute now. We've both been worried sick, Ria. You can tell us everything when he gets back from work."

"What about Danny? And Ellen?" Ria asked as she sat down at the island, letting go of Victor's hand.

"Oh my goodness, I forgot to call for them!" Mary exclaimed, running around the island to stand in the doorway. "Danny? Ellen!" she shouted.

Footsteps sounded upstairs and within a few moments, two well dressed and polite looking teenagers walked in. The girl's face lit up when she saw Ria, running over to embrace her when she stood from the chair.

"Where have you been?" she asked, her face covered in smiles.

"Canada, most recently," Ria answered. She looked past Ellen and towards the boy. He was tall and gangly, with dark brown hair and glasses. Victor assumed he looked more like his father.

The boy smiled at Ria, but his eyes kept nervously shifting back to the big male mutant. "Who's he?"

"This is Victor, my-"

She was interrupted by the front door opening. A man walked in briskly, probably wondering who exactly had left a truck with a Canada plate outside his house. "Mary?" he called.

"Yes, Tim!" his wife answered. "Tim, it's-it's Ria!"

"What?" he came into the kitchen, revealing that he wore a business suit and carried a briefcase. "Oh my god." He dropped the briefcase and crossed the room to sweep Ria into a hug. "We had half the city looking for you! Where have you been?"

Victor growled as they embraced and Tim pulled away to look at him as he stood there, flexing his claws. "Who's this?"

"Ellen, help me set the table," Mary said as a timer dinged to signal that the roast was finished. Victor wondered if he would ever get Ria to cook him any kind of dinner. Probably not.

Tim led the way to the dining room as Ellen began setting out plates in front of them. A few minutes later Mary brought the food out, and Victor sat down awkwardly next to Ria. She was surprised that he had stayed quiet for so long, but she could feel how tense he was, and part of her was thankful for his silence.

"We gave up hope of seeing you again," Mary said as she finally sat down. "We were so afraid…."

"We thought you died!" Ellen blurted out.

"Ellen," Tim warned. "We were worried sick, kiddo. No note, your room intact…"

"I was...taken," Ria said slowly, trying to choose her words carefully.

Mary gasped and put a hand over her heart.

"What's he got to do with it?" Danny asked, jerking his head towards Victor.

"Watch yourself, kid." Victor growled.

"I escaped in his territory," Ria explained.

"...Territory?" Tim asked skeptically.

"I...haven't told you guys that much."

"About what? Your condition?"

"It ain't a condition, human." Victor said coldly. "Ria's a mutant."

"Right," Tim said, eyes narrowed.

"We've always been very accepting of Ria and her mutation," Ellen said curtly. So far, Victor liked her the best, even if she seemed like a perfect church girl.

He snorted.

"I'm...kind of rare." Ria, looking around. "And that makes me valuable. There are people-people with power-who want to use mutants."

"Use how?" Mary asked, a frightened expression on her face. "Honey, what did they do?"

"I don't know what their end goal was. I just know that they needed me. They threw me in a cage and dressed me in rags. They starved me. They tried to break me. My first day there they strapped me down and operated without anesthesia." she stood and pulled her shirt up to show them the scars on her stomach. Mary gasped yet again, moving her hand to cover her mouth. Tim stifled his own noise of shock, and Ellen's eyes widened. "These won't heal and I don't know why."

Danny crossed his arms. "Were they trying to take out organs or something? See what you can live without?"

"I wish." Ria sat back down. "They wanted...they tried to…" she was suddenly having trouble speaking, a lump in her throat forming.

Victor took her hand, surprising her with how gentle he was. She seemed adamant about telling this humans what had happened, and he wanted the chance to express his anger if she wasn't going to be able to. "The lab coats tried breedin' her."

"Oh my god," Mary gasped (again) and Tim muttered in disbelief. Ellen paled.

"What the fuck," Danny commented.

"Daniel!" Mary halfheartedly scolded, glancing at him. She looked back at Victor, daring to meet his gaze. "But why?"

Ria still looked too uncomfortable to talk, her eyes trained on her hands in her lap, so Victor answered. "There ain't many female ferals out there. I've only heard of a few others an' never met any. They always have somethin' up their sleeve. This time, they wanted cubs."

"I heard one of them say something about soldiers." Ria spoke up finally. "He said they wanted more like the ones they had."

Now it was Victor's turn to look uncomfortable. That had to mean him and the runt.

"They use mutants for war?" Danny asked.

"Damn right they do." Victor growled.

"Why? Because you're...enhanced?"

"Because I can't be killed," Victor snapped.

"So you were one of them?"

He made a noise of irritation in the back of his throat. "I've been in more wars than you know about, kid. Ever been to Gettysburg?"

Danny nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah, well, me too."

"There's no way you're that old!" Ellen said, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"We'll talk about how old Mr...Victor is in a minute, dear." Mary said, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I want to know if Ria has anything else to say."

"You just wanna know if she popped anything out." Danny grumbled.

Mary pretended she didn't hear him, but Ria looked at him in annoyance. "No. I miscarried every single time."

"Oh, darling," Mary said sadly.

Ria wrinkled her nose. "I didn't want them. Especially in a place like that. It was dirty and dark. I didn't see the sun until...well, until they tried moving me. That's when I left." she glanced up at Victor with a tiny smile. "They wanted to take me to another compound. I guess it was pretty remote, based on where I ended up."

Tim crossed his arms. "And where was that?"

"The woods. Canadian wilderness. It was Victor's territory, and he found me just in time. He killed them, and then he took me in."

"Well." Tim sighed. "I suppose this explains why they couldn't find a trace of you."

"We had missing ads everywhere," Mary said. "All over the city. Even on the news...eventually, they said there was no point anymore, but we always hoped you would come back…"

Ria cracked a smile. "Come on. It's harder than that to get rid of me."

"We're just glad you're safe," Tim said. He looked at Victor. "Thank you for taking care of her."

"I have to." he replied. "She's my mate."

"I-it's a feral thing," Ria said quickly.

"What exactly does that entail?" Mary asked, seeming concerned. Victor tried not to grin. She seemed like the kind of person who disapproved greatly of sex outside of wedlock, and if she only knew what they would be doing once that sweet, sweet heat kicked in…

"It's just...you know, the uh, feral equivalent of marriage." Ria answered. "It's ancient. Probably older than the entire concept of marriage. Just a feral thing."

Victor smirked.

"Are there any other 'feral things' we should know about?" Tim asked as the atmosphere finally lifted enough to start dinner. He reached for a knife and began cutting the roast.

"Well...there's a lot," Ria said.

"How old is Victor?" Ellen asked hopefully, glancing back and forth between the two mutants.

Victor was finding her amusing. "I was born in 1830."

"What about you?" she looked at Ria.

"Can't remember exactly." she carved her own slice of the roast and began eating.

"Have you danced your whole life?" Tim asked. Things were getting extremely polite.

"When I left home I ended up learning. In the 40s I got a bit famous."

"How come you never told us any of this?" Ellen asked.

Ria shrugged. "I got used to people dying on me. Makes you stay distant, you know?"

She frowned. "Yeah, I guess…."

There was silence for a few awkward minutes before Mary finally spoke up. "So, how long will you be staying?"

"Just a few days. We really just came to let you know I'm okay and to grab a few things."

The woman's face fell a bit at that. "And then it's back to...to Canada?"

"Yeah. We've got some more business we have to take care of."