Marvel owns the rights to Sabretooth & Birdy, all others are my creation.

Reviews and constructive criticism welcome.

The next three days had passed quicker than she would have liked and Emma found herself sitting in the waiting area of the police station where Victor was signing himself out of lock up. It wasn't as busy in the office as TV made things seem. It had not been her first time to this particular station but in every case, it had been rather quiet. Creed looked disheveled with his hair sticking out at odd angles, bags under his eyes, and his button shirt collar pulled open and askew.

He grabbed his bag from off the front desk and glared at her as he approached fast, waving at her to get going ahead of him and start the car. He slammed the car door behind him and Emma could feel the anger rolling off of him. She put it in gear and tore off down the road heading in the general direction of the house but she pulled over to the shoulder once the houses started to become far and fewer in between and were replaced with trees. Emma had barely shut the engine off when Creed pushed himself out of the car. She caught the shirt that he tore open and threw in her direction, followed by his tie. He kicked his shoes off and ripped at his socks.

"Wallet and keys?" Emma snapped her fingers at him and he emptied his pockets for her on top of the car. She approached him and he bowed down a little to let her kiss his cheek. "Now don't bring anything home with you for dinner. I'll take care of that. See you at home."

Creed took off in a shot, running full-barreled into the woods. A cloud of crows took off from within and squawked noisily at being disturbed. She heard a guttural roar from the dark pines a few moments later. Living in the city, this was his only outlet close to home to return to nature and let the beast within him out. He could let his anger flow unguarded, tear out trees, even hunt wolves or if he was lucky, fight bears. His savage romps through the forest had become a county legend among children and adults alike, but unlike Sasquatch, he had yet to be caught on camera traipsing through the woods.

Emma hoped absent mindedly that he wouldn't get too cold out there. Winter was just around the corner and the nights were getting chilly. She started the car and put it in drive.

oooooo

Birdy sat on the couch next to the fire place with a glass of red wine in her hand. The couch was soft and deep. A girl could get lost in it easily, which she was trying her best to do at the moment. She took a deep sip as Emma reached the bottom of the staircase and made her way through the hallway toward the large family room.

"Laundry's in the dryer now. Should we start dinner or wait a bit?" Emma picked up her own glass and moved toward the fire place to set the logs in.

"It's only been an hour, I'm sure he's pretty cranky. Besides, I can't sense him anywhere around here." Birdy sighed content and stretched out along the couch.

"Sounds like a plan." Emma stoked the flames of the kindling and trying to convince the log to ignite. They were quiet for a while, enjoying the fire and the silence. "Birdy?"

"Hmm?" Her eyes fluttered open as though she had been lightly sleeping.

"The next time you give him the glow, could you quietly check him out? See if there's anything that might give him a reason to have these headaches?" What Emma was asking was dangerous. Creed was particularly observant of her actions when inside his head. Being discreet about poking around his thoughts and memories was nearly impossible.

Birdy stared at her incredulously. "I-I can't. I know you've stuck up for me, and kept me from getting ripped in two a million times over, but I can't. He wouldn't let me live if I went snooping in his head."

"I know, you're right. I'm sorry to have asked. I just don't know what to do about all this." Emma sighed and rubbed her forehead against her palm.

After a moment Birdy replied, "Why don't we rule out the physical first, if we're really stumped, maybe I'll take a quick peek next time I'm around?"

"Thanks." She smiled. The fire crackled in the silence that once again surrounded them.

Birdy skimmed Emma's thoughts then, just gently so that it seemed no more than ripple across her mind. She picked up worry, love, frustration and something else, maybe a hint of being tired of her life. "How do you love him?" She asked suddenly.

Emma looked up from her wine. There was a long silence and Birdy could tell she was searching for an answer. "I don't know how to answer that. I just do."

"Sorry, that sounded so rude." The blonde cringed, afraid she might have hurt her friend's feelings.

"It's a valid question." Emma only smiled, looking back into her wine glass. "I should get dinner started." And she made her way softly to the kitchen to leave Birdy alone by the fire.

oooooo

Victor hadn't come home for dinner. His plate sat in the fridge as Birdy slept upstairs and Emma sat at her desk in the lamp light, clicking around the internet. It was close to midnight now and the snow had begun falling an hour earlier. It looked like it might be the kind to stay even though it was only November. It was coming down thick and fluffy, covering everything it touched. The ground had already been frozen for a few weeks and the trees were long bare. Animals had begun to hibernate but Winter never stayed too long in BC.

She heard a soft scraping at the front door and remembered that Victor didn't have his keys. She waiting for him to find the spare but he was taking longer than usual. Emma pushed her chair back and went to unlock the front door. Creed stood on the porch, dry blood pin pricked over his arms, face and chest from the brush and brambles in the woods. His pants were ripped, and he had a fine layer of snow settling in his hair. He was a few feet away from the door, leaning his head into the brick exterior of the house, coming down from his feral evening.

"Hungry?" She stepped out onto the frigid porch and wrapped her hand in his. For a moment, he squeezed back.

"Get back inside, it's freezin' out here." Creed pulled himself together and pushed her back toward the door, shutting it behind them both. They made their way to the kitchen where Emma had left out a fresh zip hoodie for his return, which he donned immediately. The microwave hummed as it warmed up his portion of that night's enchiladas, the spicy smell warming his stomach. "I saw a timbre wolf while I was out there, maybe three miles out west." He mumbled, rubbing the neck of his fork, waiting for his food.

Emma made noises to indicate she was listening. She brought the plate to him at the largish breakfast table by the bay window of the kitchen and sat down beside him. "Did you have a good run?" Creed grunted a response as he ate through his dinner. "Do you want me to run a bath for you?" He grunted in the negative, still eating. "How's your head?" She reached out to touch him at the temple, but he cut her off with a defensive roar and knocked her arm away with his own. "Alright, no need to get pissy." Emma left the table irritated with him and left to go upstairs by herself.

It didn't take long for Victor to finish eating and make his way up after her. He stood in the shower for twenty minutes, letting the water hit him and massage his neck and shoulders. She could hear him cracking various joints as she lay in bed curled up on her side. The noise of him brushing his teeth seemed to last forever until finally he flicked the light off with a clawed finger and crawled into bed beside her. His hands snaked around her frame and pulled her in close to him. He smelled like soap and mint and his body was still hot from the shower. His way of apology was always with these little intimacies and never with words. He breathed into her hair and tightened his arm around her slightly.

"Birdy asked me today how I could love you." Emma confided once her irritation dissipated.

"Oh? I hope it's cuz of my infallible sense of direction." Victor smiled into her hair.

"Why do you love me?" She rolled over and look him in the eye. They generally didn't talk this way, the honeymoon phase long over between them.

Creed stared at her a moment, possibly wondering how she couldn't possibly know by now. "Well, because yer mine."