Greetings from The Lady Mage! Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!

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Disclaimer: After this one, I don't want him anymore... LOL You'll see.

FERITY: (fehr-iht-ee) - n.- 1.) The state of being wild or untamed. 2.) The state of being savage; ferocity.

Lunchtime had come and gone, and after two cans of cooked salmon, and two boxes of saltines to go with it for his dinner, he was still hungry. It had taken more out of him than he had expected to unload the cabin, and to rip up all the boards that would need to be replaced. He'd gone up to the roof and pulled away the rotted shingles, and then tossed a tarp over the holes. He'd walked to the stream with a five gallon bucket, and brought back enough water to clean the dust away from the stove and table, as well as from the shelves within the cabinet so that when he went to town the next day, he'd have room to put the provisions he would buy. He'd also brought another bucket of water up to clean out the dirty bathtub, and check the drain. Happily, he saw that despite the length of time he had been away from the cabin, that the pipe had not become clogged - at least not enough that the tub wouldn't drain; he was looking forward to getting good and clean before going to bed that night.

Pausing for a short break, he reached into his pocket for his trusty phone, taking a seat on the edge of the kitchen table and clicking out a message.

*-Kiss me, k-k-kiss me- Infect me with your lovin, fill me with you poison-*

Zoe snatched her phone from the desktop before Jubilation could grab it, and looked at its screen. '-I see how it is: you don't even MISS me.-' The redheaded feral scowled. "Ass."

Jubilation, having watched with rapt attention since she'd heard the shiny phone ring, raised an eyebrow. She and Rogue were sprawled across the floor with their math and biology books open, working on their homework under the close eye of both the feral in the rocking chair and the windrider grading papers at the desk. "You, like, okay?"

"Fine." Zoe returned cooly, rocking gently with her cub asleep at her breast. With one hand, she clicked back a message.

*-Ride- Dirty, sweet, and filthy- Ride-*

'-What. The. Fuck.-' Victor snorted as he read his message, then chuckled.

'-You didn't text me back for like four hours, frail.-'

"Frail, huh?" Zoe raised one eyebrow, then tossed her phone onto the side table next to her rocking chair.

"Who is it?" Ororo paused her grading to meet the feral's eyes.

"Vic."

"Oh. Worth telling about?"

"Not really, mon moka." returned the feral. "Nothing unusual."

*-Kiss me, k-k-kiss me- Infect me with your lovin, fill me with your poison- Take me, t-t-take me-*

Zoe picked the little phone back up, watching the winged envelope deliver its message. It scrolled across her screen: '-What are you wearing?-'

'-Seriously?-'

'-Yes, seriously.-'

'-NOTHING-' The feral chuckled, clicking send with a delicately clawed thumb.

"Nothing, huh?" Victor raised an eyebrow before clicking back his answer and tucking away the phone.

'-Pics?-'

The redheaded feral snorted, regathering the attention of her comrades.

"What'cha doin?" asked Rogue, closing her math workbook and tucking it into a binder.

"Nothing, Marie. Just playing around."

*-Ride- Dirty, sweet, and filthy- Ride- Beat your hands on me- Ri-*

'-JK, Lion. Jeans and one of your old t's.-'

The blonde behemoth scowled again. '-Which shirt?-'

'-LOL Guess.-'

'-Minx. Which?-'

'-Black security. Your name.-'

Being a mere half hour until midnight, the carnival swiftly dwindled down from its hearty throng until there were only a handful of patrons left. Where an hour earlier it had been difficult to move from one attraction to the next, now the thoroughfares were nearly deserted. The grass, trampled between the booths and littered with empty popcorn bags, soda cups, and cotton candy cones, gleamed with dew in the light of the strung lanterns above the thoroughfare.

The couple walked together, hand in hand, their attention on each other as they passed by the closing attractions and carnival games. Wearing blue jeans and dark hoodies, the two staved off the rising chill in the air. He towered over her, holding her protectively to his side as they meandered, his hand resting on the side of her swollen belly.

"Guess the little lady's weight, win a prize!" offered one carnie as they moved past his booth. He gestured to his large scale and makeshift wall of stuffed prizes. "Within two pounds wins the big prize!"

The blonde feral paused his step with a sly smirk.

His mate gave his chest a hard slap, stepping ahead of him. "Don't you dare, Victor!"

Victor chuckled, pulling her back beside him. "Calm down, Zoe, calm down." he murmured gently, placing his arm back around her body.

"I AM calm." she returned, poking him in the ribs. The feral allowed him to steer them towards the far end of the thoroughfare. "I believe our evening is drawing to a close, mein lieb. Everyone is leaving."

"Perhaps." he shrugged, walking past a large booth full of souvenirs.

"Wait."

The souvenir booth was packed full with tables of jewelry, watches, and sunglasses. Racks of shirts hung packed tight together in every color of the rainbow. Glass mugs and cups sat on shelves alongside shot glasses and trucker hats. A sign along the back wall announced: "5-Minute Screen Printing! C$17.99 with purchase!" A lone worker sat in a folding chair beside the screen printing machine, sipping on a large soda from the food stands nearby, uninterested in customers.

"Come on." Zoe pulled Victor gently by the hand into the crowded booth. The blonde behemoth let himself be pulled, turning sideways to fit through the tiny aisle between the tables and the hanging shirts. "Let's get a souvenir."

-'The one from the fair?'-

-'You remembered. :)'-

Victor snorted. -'Bitch. Stole my shirt?'-

-'Among other things...'-

-'Pic'-

-'Can't.'-

A scowl. -'Why not?'-

-'Sari's nursing.'-

-'PIC, Woman.'-

-'LOL, FINE.'-

All he had left to do was check the damned chimney flue for any clogs. He had better hurry, too, because it was getting dark fast outside, and the heat was leaving just as quickly as the light. Victor set the phone down on the kitchen table, leaving his perch to run out to the truck for a flashlight. When he came back inside, the phone was chiming out, announcing a new email. The red Maglite was set down and the phone picked up.

Someone must have been in the room with Zoe; the picture was a closeup of her and the cub. Sari was at her mother's breast, and Zee's head was turned down to face her. His mate's auburn curls fell down over her arm, a waterfall of flame covering his cub's tiny legs. Zee work his black shirt- several sizes too big for her- and had fixed it so he could see where she'd had his name printed on the black fabric above the strip of flesh over Sari's head. His tag hung around Zoe's neck, but his ring was on her finger, cupped around his cub's body. The only thing that could have made the picture any more perfect was if his hand had been cupped over her's- his arm thrown around them both, holding Zee while she fed their daughter.

The blonde feral sighed, cutting it off with a grunt, and saved the picture to his phone. As soon as it saved, she sent him another picture. This one was a closeup of Sari. The tiny cub was still nursing, but he could see most of her face. From this angle, he could see her little hand with her little claws, curled up under her chin. Her eyes were open, deep amber, staring contentedly towards the camera with a sleepy expression. It had only been a week, but he could swear she was getting bigger. With a quick click of claws, he saved Sari's picture, too.

Jubilee gave Rogue's shoulder a sharp poke with a neon yellow fingernail, gathering her roommate's attention. The skunk-striped girl turned to look at her, laying her notes in her lap. Having her attention, Jubilee discreetly gestured to where the feral mother sat across the room. She had been playing with the little phone in her lap for the better part of the last half hour, curled up in the rocking chair with Sari. The feral had Ororo come and take two pictures about ten minutes ago, but hadn't said why or what she was doing with them.

"What?" Rogue mouthed to Jubilee.

"Like, who is she talking to?" whispered Jubes, eyeing the little turquoise phone resting on Zoe's knee. Jubilation had never seen a phone quite like it before so it must be either really old or very new. Either way, she was dying to see it. Zoe had a lot of interesting things- clothes, shoes, jewelry- the phone was just part of it. She had helped the feral to unpack it, after all. The feline didn't own a stitch of clothing that wasn't name brand, now a pair of shoes that didn't cost an arm and a leg to the middle class. She didn't act like a snooty rich person, so where had she come from?

"I don't know." whispered Marie, poking Jubilee back in the ribs. "Mind your own beeswax, Jubes." she teased.

"What kind of a phone is that?"

"I don't know."

"Well, like, what kind do you think?"

Marie rolled her eyes with a smirk. "The cellular kind? If you're so curious, go ask her."

Jubilee stuck her tongue out at the smirking girl before turning to see Zoe. "Who are you talking to, Zoe?" she asked innocently.

"Pardun?" The feral glanced at then teen.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Victor."

"Oh." Jubilee scowled. "Who's that?"

The feral watched her curiously. "Sari's father... Why?"

"Just curious. What kind of a phone is that?"

"The cellular kind." Zoe said with a chuckle. "If you were half as interested in that science book in your lap as you are with the things in this room, you wouldn't have a C in geology." Ororo laughed softly, watching the feral move to lay the cub in her bassinet.

"Oh, I just asked!" Jubilee laughed, throwing her hands up. "It was an innocent question."

"Nosy, innocent question." amended Marie.

Zoe settled Sari under a plush pink blanket in her bassinet, patting her little back until she was sure the cub was asleep. "Questions are nosy things." said the feral with a shrug. "It's a satellite phone, Jubilee. Like the kind mountain climbers use."

"Huh?"

"It gets its signal from satellites instead of from towers. I have signal everywhere in the world- from the snowy cliffs of Mount Everest to the depths of Jean's medical bay."

"Cool! Never heard of it."

"Mountain climbers take them with them so that they have signal in case something happens." Zoe returned to her rocking chair. "I think that is what they were designed for anyways."

"Now that the baby is asleep," Ororo began, straightening her stack of graded homework, "Will you help me carry all this to my office?" The weather witch gestured to the two big baskets of paperwork and books at her feet. "I think I'm finally caught up."

"Sure." The feral lifted the heavier basket onto her shoulder while Ororo hefted the other onto her arm and opened the door. Zoe glanced at Marie. "Please don't wake the cub."

"We won't."

With the flashlight from the truck, he crouched down on the hearth, laying out a dirty piece of linen from the bedroom to lie on - soot was so hard to get out of leather and hair. He peered up into the pitch black of the chimney, and flipped on the flashlight. The second the beam came on, the light bulb burst, settling him back into darkness.

*-Kiss me, k-k-kiss me- Infect me with your lovin, fill me with you poison-*

The two teens jumped as Zoe's phone vibrated to life on the desk. Jubilee was the first to react, and hopped over to the rocking chair. As she sat down she lifted the little blue phone into her hands, looking it over before focusing on the screen. "Ooooh, a text message." she chirped, clicking the screen.

"Jubes, put it down!" Rogue hissed. "Zoe's gonna-"

"Oh, come on! I'm not hurting anything!" Jubilee cut her off with a wave of her hand. "Hmm... -'Remind me to kill whoever invented the Maglite.'-... Weird." She typed out a reply. "Okay... What's his, like, name again?"

"Jubes, put the phone down!" Marie demanded.

"Ooops- sent it." The Chinese girl winced, looking guilty. "I was just playing- I didn't really mean to-" She was about to set the phone back down when it vibrated in her hand. Guilt suddenly forgotten, she looked back at the screen. "Hmm: -'Who is with you?'-"

"Jubes!"

"What? Come on, Rogue! He won't even know!" Her fingers flew across the screen's keyboard again. "There: -'Just my friends.'-" She looked at Rogue. "Innocent enough?"

"You're going to get us killed! Zoe will not like that you-" Rogue was cut off by the sound of another text message. "Jubilation..."

"Friends who?... Hmm, let's see: Rogue, and Jub-"

The older teen reached out, snatching the phone away from the younger girl. "Don't give him our names! Zoe's husband is a mercenary!" hissed the girl, glancing at the phone as the 'Message Sent' banner crossed the screen. "Oh, crap."

"What?" Jubilee leaned forward to see. "Uh-oh, Chika- you done sent that one!"

"Tell me you didn't have my name in it."

"No, just the first-"

*-Kiss me- k-k-kiss me, Infect me with your lovin, Fill me with your poison- Take me- t-t-take me, Wanna be a victim, Ready for abduction- Boy, you're an alien, You touch so foreign, It's supernatural- Extraterrestrial... Kiss me- k-k-kiss me-*

"Shit, Jubes! He's CALLING!" the girl exclaimed. "He must have known it wasn't Zoe!" She glared at Jubilee, and the girl sat solemnly, staring wide-eyed at the phone in Rogue's hands. "What do I do?"

"Answer it." Jubes said. "If you don't, it'll just make him mad, won't it?"

"I don't care!" Rogue hissed, holding her hand over the speaker on the back of the phone, muffling the ring tone. "I'm not talking to him!"

"Oh, come on." Jubes rolled her eyes. After a few seconds, the ringing stopped, and the tone sounded to signal another message. "What did he say?"

Rogue glanced down at the screen. "It says, 'Answer the fucking phone.'"

"Well, text him back before he calls again!"

"What do I say?" Rogue hissed, looking at the screen. After a few seconds, she shoved it back to Jubes. "You do it!"

The petite girl shrugged, taking the phone back into her lap, and tapped out a message with the comfort of someone who was used to the action. "There: -'I can't answer the phone. People here. Don't want them to hear you.'-" The girl typed out another message. "Okay- ='Of course I'm not ashamed of you. I was J/K.'-" When Rogue nodded, she sent it on, waiting for the next.

"Um . . . -'What is Warts' middle name?'-" She gave Rogue a nervous look. "Um . . . who is Warts?"

"Toad . . . Crap . . . I should know this one . . . " Rogue scratched her head, trying to draw up any knowledge of the mutant she received from Magneto. "It's either Stanley . . or Seamus." She smirked. "Ask him why he wants to know!"

"Okay." Jubes said, sending the message. A good two minutes passed before the phone chimed again. Jubes smirked at her friend's cleverness, before she looked at the screen. The expression drained from her, turning into a worried frown. "Problem . . . "

"Hmm?" Rogue asked. "What?"

"Any chance you sucked up any German on Liberty Island?" She held out the phone for Rogue to see. "What the heck does that mean?"

"-'Welche Farbe ist mein Haar?'- . . . Which . . colour is my . . hair. What colour is his hair." Rogue translated from the unknown depths of her mind. "He knows it isn't Zoe."

"Pishaw- how do you know this isn't some kind of code they just use? Or a game." Jubes asked with a smirk. "What colour is his hair?"

"Well, he's blonde." answered the older teen. "But you have to say it like Zoe."

"And that would be . . ?"

"Honey. Honey coloured . . . Um- Honig. H-O-N-I-G." Instead of letting Jubes text it back, she snatched the phone and did it herself, waiting for a reply. After a few seconds, the phone chimed. "Says: -'Close- no cigar.'-" She rolled her eyes.

Jubes stood from the chair, coming around to lie on the bed behind Rogue where she could see the phone. -'Best 3/5?'-

-'Cute. Where was Eric born?'-

-'Poland.'-

-'I also would have accepted the bowels of Hell. Too easy. What is Sari's middle name?'-

-'Victoria, of course.'-

-'Ja. What is Myst's fave colour?'-

-'Blue.'- There was a pause that lasted for a handful of minutes. Rogue gave a worried look up to Jubilee, and the younger girl mirrored it.

-'Nope. Not blue. Thanks for the laugh, tho.'-

-'Then what is it?'- Rogue scowled.

-'Alright now, little girl, give the phone back to Zoe before I activate the GPS.'-

"J'ai besoin de quelque chose tuer . . . . (I need something to kill . . .)" he growled to himself, rolling his eyes. "Fucking badgers . . " He paused, scowled. "Fucking raccoons." He tossed the satophone to his feet, and reached a blind hand up to see if he could feel the flue to open it. He lifted up to feel higher until his hand hit a piece of metal about four feet up from the hearth. "There we go . . " He felt for the little latch, and turned the flue open.

*Swoosh*

Coughing, sputtering, spitting, hissing, cursing, raging, Victor stormed out the back door, shaking the last 100 years of soot from his hair, rubbing it out of his eyes, spitting it from his mouth, and blowing it out of his nose. "MOTHERFUCKING, GOD-DAMNED, FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT FUCKING CABIN!" he yelled, stalking to the nearest tree and raking his claws down its bark, nearly slicing it in two. "FUCKING BURNING THIS SON OF A BITCH DOWN TO THE GROUND! FUCKING CHIMNEY! FUCKING OLD-ASS SHIT! FUCKING ERIC! FUCKING X-MEN!" The tree fell, and he moved to the next one. "FUCKING STATUE OF FUCKING LIBERTY! FUCKING GONNA KILL THE FUCKING RUNT- KILL HIS FUCKING REDHEAD GIRLFRIEND- KILL HIS FUCKING KID! FUCKING USELESS FBI! WHY THE FUCK AM I HERE AND FUCKING ZEE AND CUB ARE WITH THE FUCKING X-MEN? WHY THE FUCK DO THEY CALL THEMSELVES FUCKING X-MEN? TWO OF THEM ARE FUCKING FRAILS!"

He paused, breathing heavily, and leaned against the tree he'd just about felled, his eyes looking at the cloud of black dust settling down on the front porch, following his black footprints from the back door. He looked down at the tree he'd cut down next to the one he leaned on, glancing at all the big pieces of wood splintered around him. "Well," he murmured, going to get the five gallon bucket from the kitchen. "At least I don't have to go chop fucking firewood."

With a tired sigh, he began the walk down to the stream for more water. By God, he was taking a bath.

Before either girl could move from their spot to either put the phone back, or give it to the feral mother, the bedroom door swung open. Zoe and Ororo stepped back inside. The redhead immediately spotted her phone in Rogue's hands, and growled at her. "What are you doing?"

"The phone rang." Jubilee answered, scooting to the far side of the bed. "It was Victor- we were about to bring you-"

"Enough, Jubilee. I can smell you lying to me." half-hissed the feral, eyes darkening and claws slowly extending. She held one hand out to Rogue. "Hand it. Now." The phone was tossed, and the feral snatched it from the air. She glanced at the screen, reading the last message from Victor, and almost smiled. "I don't mind you being in here- I enjoy the company- and I don't mind you looking at anything in here, but the next time you decide to snoop on my phone, it will be your last."

"I'm sorry." Marie mumbled, chastised.

"Zee, calm down." Ororo said, gently, putting a tentative hand on the feral's shoulder. She looked at the girls. "Perhaps you two should finish your studying downstairs."

"No, they're fine." Zoe said, taking a calming breath before looking at her lengthened claws with a sour expression. "Damnit." She headed into the little bathroom, "Excuse me." She slammed the door shut behind her.

Ororo watched the door slam, then moved to check on the cub in the bassinet. The slamming door hadn't woken her.

"She looked really mad." Jubilee said softly.

"Because I am." Zoe's voice rang from the bathroom, the tone still dark. They heard the sink running, and the loud thump of something hitting the wall hard.

Inside the bathroom, the feral mother looked at the shampoo bottle sticking into the sheetrock above the toilet. "Shit." She hurried to pull it from the wall, and settled it back onto the side of the bathtub. Going back to the sink, she splashed cold water onto her face to calm her down, feeling her claws begin to shorten themselves without her needing to cut them off. Her vision seemed determined to stay dark, though her anger was quickly fleeing her body.

She was going to have to go hunting soon. It had been months since she'd been able to drain her aggression, and watching Victor slaughter deer just wasn't enough. If she didn't hunt- fight, dominate, rend- soon, she might end up hurting someone she really had no reason to hurt. More importantly, she had to calm down now before she hurt anyone in the next room.

Ororo grounded her- made her feel more at ease. The woman had given up her own bed to help her sleep. The nature of her mutation was so wild that it seemed the weather witch could read feral body language, and she'd been easy to be around. Marie was an endearing girl, and the imprint of Eric reminded the feral so much of her pseudo father. And Jubilee? The girl was nosy but in an innocent way, and was fun to be around. Zoe liked to listen to Jubilee and Marie chatter on with their senseless girl-talk. She couldn't do without them.

"I need Victor here..."

Her thoughts shifted over to the little knotted leather bracelet he'd shown her how to make. Maybe it would smell like him enough to calm her nerves? Calm her rage? It was nothing special - just some bits of leather strips, half woven, half knotted into a circle with a tie. She'd watched him make it, show her the weave. He'd made dozens of them - put rabbit fur or deer fur into the braid so that if he was upwind of his prey, they would smell the fur on his neck, and not be alerted to their danger before he got close enough.

"Zee?"

"Yes, mon moka?"

"Are you okay?" Ororo asked through the wood panel.

"Yes." answered the feral. That necklace was in her pack - she'd asked him to put it there for her with the other pieces of jewelry she'd taken. "Is Sari still asleep?"

"Yes."

"Do you want us to leave?" Marie's voice sounded from the room.

"No." The calmer feral returned to the bedroom. "I'm sorry I became so angry. Jubilee, where did you put my leather bag?"

"The Gucci or the-"

"The homemade one."

"Oh, it's under the bed." answered the teen.

"Thanks." said the feral, crouching down to pull the large leather duffel bag from its hiding spot. She pulled it open, digging through its now meager contents. The leather shirt and pants were laid on the bed, followed by a handful of Sari's cloth diapers, her bag of spare toiletries, and the little hand-carved jewelry box she'd tucked in the bag before she'd left their last home. The box was opened, and Zoe settled down on the bed on her side, putting her back to her headboard.

"What's that?" Ororo asked.

"Swear you won't tell Scooter?" the feral smirked, lifting the little wooden lid off her box. Ororo only rolled her eyes, sitting beside the feral. "It's a jewelry box."

Ororo looked as surprised as she felt, seeing the contents of the small box. If that was all real, that girl was holding thousands of dollars in her hands. She was about to ask if it, in fact, was, but reconsidered. She'd been through Zoe's closet, too, helping her to hang her clothes; she had taken Zoe shopping right after she arrived. Save for a handful of plain cotton tees, the girl didn't own much of anything that wasn't name-brand. Designer jeans, designer tops - some from across the world - filled the wardrobe, and the feral acted as though everyone should have a good pair of three-hundred dollar jeans. She wondered suddenly just HOW much money the girl had on that ATM card of hers. When she'd said 'five-hundred' on their last shopping trip . . . was that five-hundred period? Or five-hundred-thousand? Million? "Did Erik buy you that?" she asked instead, watching Zee pick through the box.

"No." Zee laughed. "Why should Erik buy me jewelry?"

"I don't know."

"Victor bought it for me." Zoe said, putting down the box, and checking the bottom of her satchel, coming up empty. She paused to gesture at the box. "Most of that, I picked out myself, thank you very much." She turned back to her satchel, holding it upside down and giving it a good shake. It was empty. She scowled. Where was her necklace? "He promised me that he put that necklace in here . . ." She tuned the bag inside out. "Gods and goddesses, I swear-" She eyed a strange bulge in the lining of the leather bag.

"What is that?" Jubilee asked, from the floor.

"Oh my God, if a human heart falls out of that, I'm going to throw up." Rogue commented.

Zoe chuckled. "My, my, whatever made you think of that?"

"As if you didn't know." she returned, watching Zoe lengthen one claw, and draw it down the line of stitches.

The feral parted the lining from the bag, and reached into the slit she'd made. She scowled, pulling out an old leather cinch-sack. At the sight of it, she smiled. "Victor." she murmured, dropping the satchel in front of her to concentrate on her new find. "What in the world. . . "

"What is it?" asked Ororo.

"It's Vic's bag." she answered, running a hand over the old, smooth leather before untying the cinch. "He's had it for years - made it himself." She gently dumped the contents down on the bed in front of her, and then broke into a smile at what was inside.

"My dear," she murmured, pulling out a stack of polaroid pictures. "I thought he'd burned these!"

Ororo leaned over to see Zoe's hands, and Zoe held the top photo out to her.

"Warts took these- he was ALWAYS taking pictures. He was quite good with a camera, but enjoyed taking pictures he knew would bring on someone's ire."

"What?" Ororo looked down at the picture in her hands in mild surprise.

It was a candid shot, the camera pointed through a potted plant of some sort, and directed into a small kitchen. At the counter, Zosia sat, perched on a stool, very pregnant, wearing a pale blue tee over a filmy white skirt. Standing behind her, with his bare stomach against her back, was Victor, with his face turned down to see Zoe's eyes looking up at him. Perched on either side of her rounded belly, were his hands, and her own covered his.

"Coffee?"

" . . No."

"Ice tea?"

" . . No."

Victor rolled his eyes, looking into the little icebox. "You want a bowl of cream?" he asked sarcastically, playfully, turning to look over his shoulder.

Zosia only smiled at him from her seat at the island, shaking her head.

"We don't have much else." he said, standing upright. "Water, milk, or that nasty blue koolaid crap Warts likes so damn much."

"I'll pass." she murmured to him, crossing her arms on the countertop. "Do we have any teabags?"

"There's tea in the fridge."

She shook her head again. "I don't want ice tea - I want hot tea. Maybe it will help . . ." She sighed, laying her head down on her crossed arms. "Will you come lay with me? Nap with me?"

He rounded the counter, coming to stand behind her, and put his hands on either side of her waist. "Still hurt?" he asked, using his thumbs to feel along her spine beneath her shirt.

"Sore." she answered, purring as he gently rubbed the aches from her back. "That's so much betterrrr . . . " She sighed contentedly, enjoying the little pampering massage.

"I'll heat that tea for you." he offered quietly, moving his hands up to her shoulders. He kneaded the skin there for a few moments, listening to her purr.

"It's okay, Victor." she answered, sitting up straight. "It's moving." she said softly, looking up at him with a proud, pleased smile. His hands slid down to rest on either side of her stomach. "Here." Her hands topped his, moving them to the top of her stomach until he could feel the little movements beneath the skin there. "It's been active today, mon Lion."

He leaned down, nuzzling the top of her head with his cheek, scenting her. "Running out of room." he said, straightening. "I'd be fighting for space, too." She only smiled.

"Victor would kill." Zoe chuckled, taking the picture back, flashing another one- herself and her mate, curled up asleep in their bed. She lay on her stomach, and he lay with most of his chest and his arm over top of her, holding her in place with him. "Nearly did, too. If we had a dime for every camera he has destroyed . . ." There was another polaroid picture in the stack that she showed to the windrider, and let the two girls see, too, when they came to her bedside, curious. "This is the only one he let Warts take."

The room was shady, and a lamplight next to the leather armchair was the only light showing. Sitting in the armchair, was the blonde feral himself, his hunter green shirt unbuttoned down to his waist out of the frame. Lying on his bare chest was a very freshly born Sari, wearing only a diaper, fast asleep. The large man seemed to almost be smiling, his eyes turned down to the newborn in his arms.

"Wow." Rogue whispered, looking at the picture in surprise.

"Awww . . . " Jubilee smiled. "Like, that is so cute! Is that your husband?"

"Mate." Zoe corrected with a nod. "That is Victor."

"Wow- that's a solid hunk of man."

Marie and Ororo snorted; Zee chuckled. "He's solid, alright." said the feral mother. "A real lady-killer, my Victor." She smirked, her eyes glinting briefly.

"And man-killer." Ororo said flatly.

"Give a little, take a little." Zoe shrugged, dropping the pictures to reach back into the bag. What she pulled out may not have looked like much to her companions, but to her meant the world. He had made her another necklace- woven it with a dark strip of leather, and a light piece of leather. What was so special, though, was that he had taken a lock of his long, blonde hair, and woven it into the braid instead of using rabbit's fur. She brought it to her nose, smiling when it smelled like him.

"What is that?" Ororo asked.

"He made me a new one." Zoe said, letting her see the leather in her hands. "He put his hair in it so it would smell like him . . . for me." Her smile turned into a smirk. "We think terribly alike, he and I." She laughed. "I stuck one with my hair in it down into his bag, too."

There he stood, in the cabin's drafty kitchen, shivering like a leaf in a hurricane. God damnit- he had slipped on an ice-covered rock by the stream on his last trip for water. He'd reached out, and taken a handhold on a sapling before falling in, but just as he was about to pull himself back up onto the dirt, the weak baby oak snapped in two. Healing factor or no, his head still ached where he'd cracked the sapling over it as he fell into the freezing water. Luckily for him, the last pot of water he'd left on the wood stove was boiling when he came back in. He poured his bucket of cold water into the warm water in the antique bathtub, then poured the boiling water in after it. By no means would it be warm long enough to soak in, but it would be warm enough to get cleaned up with.

After shredding the last bit of leathers from his soaked frame, he slid down into the lukewarm bathwater.

'FUCK!'

Mentally, he added a propane tank and water heater to the list of things to buy, along with a new generator, and some matches- it had taken far too damn long to light the stove with Zee's old flint stones. If he was going to be staying here, he was going to at least be able to take a hot bath- Hell, he'd settle for a WARM bath right about now. With a tired sigh, he slumped over in the tub. He gathered a splash of water into his cupped palms, and brought it to his black-soot covered face. He scrubbed, and watched the water over his legs turn grey as the soot began to come away from his skin. What a sight he must look. One day he's wearing a nice pair of comfortable slacks, and a soft silk button-up, the next day wearing hunting leathers, and now wearing a good hundred years of soot! He grumbled, closing his eyes as he leaned back in the tub. 'Is this because I killed that fuckup preacher last month, because he was fucking a sixteen-year old when I busted through the backdoor . . . If anything, I should be getting a fucking medal- and a new water heater. Fuck, a new cabin.'

His eyes snapped open as he heard the loud creak in the room. He jerked up, throwing one leg up over the edge of the tub to bail, but it was too late. With one last complaining groan, the old boards beneath the tub- and therefore, him- cracked, snapping, dropping the tub like a piece of trash to the dirt sub-floor below. Landing at an angle, he quickly found himself dumped- along with his bathwater- onto the filthy floorboards next to the table.

"ALRIGHT, GOD DAMN IT! WHAT THE BLOODY MOTHER-FUCK-" His rant was cut off, mid- sentence, as the floorboards beneath his knees gave a loud CRACK. "OH, SHIT!" They gave- weakened from the strain the tub was putting on them, and he dropped the three feet down to the dirt-now-mud under his kitchen floor. His elbow gave as he landed, and he rolled onto his side before he could stop himself. For a moment, disbelief overtook anger, and he paused to stare at the hole he sat in. "FUCKING PREACHER! HIS ASS BETTER BE ROTTING IN FUCKING HELL RIGHT FUCKING NOW IF MY ASS HAS TO SIT IN THIS FUCKING MUDHOLE! THE FUCK DID I DO?! HE WAS FUCKING A GODDAMN KID AND I'M GIVEN A MUDBATH? WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BULLSHIT?" He crawled up out of the kitchen's new basement door, and into his cabin-far from the broken boards. He was still covered in sweat and soot, and now with the lovely coating of red-clay, he figured all he needed was a chicken to wander on by, and he'd be as good as tarred and feathered. With a loud, feral roar, he took to his feet, and stalked/sloshed over to his pack that he had- thankfully- left on the kitchen table, looking for something- ANYTHING- to clean himself up with. The pack still smelled so strongly of his mate and cub, but their comforting scents were helping his rage very little at the moment. Unceremoniously, he dumped the entire bag out on the table, and began digging through the contents for something to clean the mud away with. At the bottom of the pile, something small and white caught his attention.

He wiped his hands clean on a t-shirt before picking up the little bundle. It was one of Sari's cloth diapers- clean, and smelling of her- wrapped up in a bundle, and held closed with a diaper pin. With a curious expression, his scowl softening, he undid the pin, and unfolded the diaper. Inside was a strip of leather- one of the woven hunting necklaces he had taught Zee to make. She'd taken a strip of rust-coloured leather, and a strip of honey-coloured leather, and had braided them together with a long lock of her soft, red hair.

He sat down on the chair beside him, his eyes on the diaper and necklace in his hands, cupping them as gently as he had cupped his daughter's little body, and stared down at them. How had she known? How had he not discovered this gift- and it was a gift- sooner? What rose as an impatient whimper, he caught in his throat, and let it out in one long, primal roar of anguish and need. His mate, his cub, were far away from him- long out of his reach- and he NEEDED them.

Well... what did you think? Review! :)