Here's the next chapter!

Victor squeezed her hands.

"I. . .I don't know, Victor. What if he comes after me?"

"Then I'll protect ya," he told Anna, tilting her chin up some. "Yer my mate, I'd do anythin' to protect ya, darlin'."

"Really?" she asked.

"Really," he smiled. "Yer the best thin' that had ever happened to me, darlin'."

Anna gave a sigh. "Okay, Victor, I trust you." She gave him a hug.

Victor hugged her tightly, then picked her up. He carried her out the door and folloewd Logan out to the door they came in. Everyone was waiting for them. Victor then led the way out, but his eyes widened when he caught a scent and a gun cocked. William Stryker was at least a hundred feet away, a large pistol pointed at them, smirking.

"Hello, Victor, Logan," he chuckled darkly. "My, my, my, look at all the mutants, it will be great for experimenting on."

Victor and Logan glared darkly. Victor gave his brother his mate to carry. Victor took a step forward, snarling some.

"This is between you and me, Stryker." Victor extracted his claws. "You tore apart my family, ou took away my mate, you took away my cub's mother! You son of a bitch! You'll pay!" he glared.

"I did what I had to do. I would have been able to keep that little bastard if it wasn't for Anna's soft heart. You know how rare half ferals are?! Very rare. I wanted to make him more invincible! Give him the adamantium bones, but he was too weak!"

"Shut the fuck up!" he snarled. "You almost killed my son!"

Stryker just snorted. "If I really wanted to kill him, I would have already done it. But I need him for future experiments. So If you want to life, leave the boy."

"I ain't leavin' my son with a sick bastard like you!" He got into a stance and started charging at him.

He aimed the gun at Victor's heart. "Ah-ah-ah. I wouldn't do that if I were you. These bullets are made with one substance that will kill you. Carbonadium."

Logan glared darkly. "How the fuck did you obtain that!?" he demanded

"That's for me to know," he laughed evilly. "One wrong move, and you and Victor are both dead, for a while anyway. What the fuck, I'll just kill you anyway. Who goes first? Victor? Logan? Or the brat?"

"Mr. Stryker, please don't!"

"Shut up, bitch!" he glared. "You have been nothing but trouble and you have cost me a lot of money when you gave that brat away to his father! The only way you can learn is if that child doesn't exist anymore!"

Stryker skillfully fired the gun at Vincent, who was still being carried by Scott.

"NO!" Anna's eyes went wide.

Victor leaped in front of the his son, trying to take the bullet for him. Victor went donw, hitting the ground hard, wincing deeply, groaning in pain. Stryker smirked.

"Even better, the only person you've loved most will die because of you, Anna," he laughed evilly.

"NO! VICTOR!" she got out of Logan's arms and hurried to her lover. She bent down at his side and checked him over. Her hands went to her mouth, her eyes wide. A large blood spot was seeping through his shirt where his heart was. "He's been shot!" she tore off part of his shirt and rolled it into a ball, pressing it hard.

Scott shot a laser at Stryker, throwing him back hard and far. He, Logan, Jean hurried over. Logan crouched down, his own eyes wide with worry. He put his hand on Victor's shoulder. Victor coughed up blood, his teeth stained with it, and the blood dribbled down his chin, he was wincing in pain, groaning louder.

"Oh God, it hurts. . . . ." he groaned louder.

"Don't talk," Logan said, trying to stay calm. "Just save yer energy."

He took his belt off and wrapped it around Victor's torso, right over his cloth covered wound. He tightened the belt, trying to keep the pressure on his heart. Logan then picked up his older brother, holding him in a fireman's carry, hurrying to the Jet. Everyone hurried after him.

"We gotta hurry and get this bullet out of his heart. Or else his healing won't ever work again. He will die if it ain't taken out."

"What about Vincent?" Jubilee frowned. "He's getting paler than he was before!"

"We'll get both of them taken care of, Jubilee," Jean said.

Soon they all arrived at the jet. Hank was waiting for them inside. Logan carried his brother on and set him on a gurney in the medical room of the jet. Hank's eyes were wide as he put on rubber gloves.

"My God, what happened?!" he got the belt and cloth off Victor's chest.

"He took a bullet for his son. A carbonadium bullet," Logan said.

"That blocks the healing factor," he sighed and got his surgery tools.

Victor was wincing even more, as if he could feel the bullet sinking deeper and deeper. He groaned louder in pain. Anna was soon by his side, taking a hankercheif from her packet, dabbing the sweat from his face and forehead. She also wiped the blood from his lips and chin. Jean helped with getting Hank the supplies he needed, assisting him. Hank shined a light over the wound, and grabbed his tools to dig out the bullet.

"Victor, this will most likely hurt very badly since I cannot give you anything for the pain."

Victor was unresponsive, feeling very lightheaded. Jean hooked Victor up to a heat moniter. Hank then used his tools to open the wound more and dug his way in. Victor started howling in pain as Hank made his way deeper and deeper into his torso, trying to not pierce the heart anymore than it's already been pierced. Victor started thrashing. Jean and Anna held him down the best they could while Hank worked, trying to ignore Victor's screams of agony. It was sheer hell as Hank raced against the clock to get this man well again. The bullet was lodged in deep.

The heart monitor was starting to lower and lower, the numbers getting smaller and smaller, It beeped repeatidly, his heart rate lowering and lowering by the minute. Hank was sweating and swearing as he tried and tried and tried to get a hold of that damned bullet. His own heart racing as he kept glancing at the heart monitor. He growled as he lost hold of the bullet. Jean quickly put a breathing mask on Victor.

"Come on, you son of a bitch!" He tried grabbing at the bullet again. "I'm not going to let this man die! C'mon! C'MON!"

Victor was soon starting to thrash more and more, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as his eye lids started closing, the heart monitor now getting slower and slower. . . . . .It then flat lined. . . . . . . .

HOLY SHIT! NO! VICTOR! CLIFFHANGER! Had to do a cliffhanger!