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

Reviews and constructive criticism welcome.

It had been six months minus two weeks since Victor was banned from flying and the time he spent in the house was wearing all three of its occupants thin. The pregnancy had terminated itself almost without pain the month before, leaving him crankier than was normal, but this would pass, as it always did. Emma bore it well, she had learned – they both did, not to get attached. She had bounced back by giving him a hair cut and a shave. He indulged her so long as it stopped before a manicure or giving him a fashion make over.

Instead she focused more in the kitchen. Her coffee improved and he had had beef bourguignon for the first time since the seventies. Tonight's dinner was a different matter and he wasn't quite sure what was sitting in front of him.

"What exactly is a 'falafel'?" He grumbled as he sunk a claw into the ball made of chickpeas and raised it up to eye level.

"Just put it back into the pita and eat your dinner." Emma served Birdy then sat at her end of the table.

"Where's the meat?" Creed's brow furrowed when he realized there were no other components of the meal being served.

"It's in your head." Birdy snorted her milk at Emma's comment. She knew this wouldn't go over well with him but decided to suit herself and make a meal she wanted to eat instead of catering to him for once.

Creed stood up and left the kitchen table through the swinging door. Emma called after him asking where he was going. He replied, "Out! Don't expect me back 'til there's meat in my dinner!" The front door slammed, shaking the front of the house.

"He took that rather well, I think." Birdy commented and bit into her own dinner.

Emma suddenly had a pull to follow her husband out, usually this happened, like a premonition, if there was trouble. She couldn't explain why it happened or whether it was actually anything more than a keen sense of intuition, but she had learned long ago to trust it. She got up from the table and made her way out to the garage via the front door.

Victor lay in the driveway having what looked to be a seizure. Emma yelled through the house at Birdy to call an ambulance before running to him. Her knee hit a puddle of his urine as she knelt beside him. She couldn't remember what do to in such a case so hoping she was right, she tried to stabilize his head and make sure he didn't hurt himself.

Birdy came tearing out of the house with a phone in hand, she was talking a mile a minute in her high pitched anxious voice, standing over them both until the call ended. Emma asked her to get a bag ready for him to take to the hospital to occupy her before the ambulance got there. She complied and opened the gate to the driveway as she ran upstairs.

When he came out of it, he was going to be rather embarrassed at pissing himself.

ooooooo

The emergency room was loud and over crowded. There were too many crying kids and not enough air circulation. They waited like everyone else while Victor was seen behind some curtain. The magazines left out for patrons where either nearly destroyed, or older than 1988.

"I'm going to get a soda, want one?" Emma stood up and cracked her back. It had been almost two hours and no one could be found to get an update on his condition. Birdy shook her head no, the bag of Creed's clothes at her feet and a book in her hand. "Alright, I'll be back shortly."

Emma wandered down a hall that was emptier than the waiting room, not sure where to go to find something to eat but wanting to get away from the chaos. She found herself down a hallway where a nurse or orderly popped into rooms now and again but was generally deserted. There were no patients down this wing, only offices and file rooms. She found the pharmacy as she made her way slowly. The end of the hallway held no vending machines but there was a bank of chairs so she sat.

Eventually she was found by a doctor in her mid-thirties, Birdy had sent her a mental warning that someone was looking for her. Emma stood up but the doctor came to her.

"Mrs. Creed?" Emma nodded, not bothering to correct the fact that she always went by her maiden name. It was trivial at the moment. "I can take you to your husband in a minute. We're still not sure what caused his seizure and he's being less than cooperative."

"I imagine you're trying to be polite."

"We gave him a shot of Haldol to calm him down but it didn't work. My colleague wants you to sign a waiver to give him something stronger but I wanted to see if maybe you could calm him down first." Her badge read Dr. Armend.

"I'll see what I can do." Emma smirked. "Did he tell you about his headaches and the nose bleeds?" They walked together slowly back down the hall, past the waiting room and Birdy, and down a busier corridor. Armend stopped at this.

"No…but as I said, he hasn't been particularly helpful." She took out a beat up note pad from a pocket of her scrubs and started asking Emma questions about the incidents.

"Emma? EMMA!" They were only three feet from Victor's room. Armend motioned for her to enter even as she continued to write on her note pad. Emma had to dodge a flying bedpan to the head as she passed the doorway. Victor's left arm was quickly put into restraints by three orderlies and two security guards. The rest of him had already been strapped down before she got there.

"This is about as cooperative as he gets." Emma confided to the doctor. It was true. Creed could easily break through the heavy duty Velcro straps used to secure dangerous patients. The fact that he didn't, though he was clearly seething in anger, led her to believe he was going to comply with treatment.

"You dirty bitch!" He snarled.

"Can we have a minute?" Emma asked the room. Everyone looked at each other, all hesitant to leave her alone with a clearly pissed off spouse, but finally Dr. Armend agreed and asked everyone to leave. "Thanks." She waved.

"I'm gonna rip out yer throat with my TEETH!" Creed's eyes were completely white from his anger boiling over. Calming him down would be tricky.

She sat on his bedside, out of reach of his claws, and put a hand on his abdomen while watching him. For about fifteen minutes he growled and cursed at her until finally he lay still, his green eyes returning, and only glared at her.

"You had a seizure. I didn't know what else to do."

"I have a healing factor that's jacked up like crazy –"

"I don't want you to die!"

"I ain't dyin' over a headache!"

"So what the hell is going on?" Emma's voice was just below a yell of frustration. Victor had no response for her.

"Yer still a dirty bitch." He muttered, agreeing to stay in the hospital a bit longer for tests.

"Fine, let's just get you better." Emma replied exasperated.