Greeting from The Lady Mage! Another shorter chapter, but I figure shorter chapters more often were just as good as long chapters every couple of weeks. IDK, you tell me.
Ready, enjoy, review!
~The Lady Mage
FERITY: (fehr-ih-tee) - (noun) - 1.) The state of being wild or untamed. 2.) Savagery; Ferocity.
The night was slowly ticking away to the tune of the grandfather clock across the room, chiming that the hour was now seven o'clock in the evening. The sky had darkened a good hour earlier, and the chill from outside had painted little pictures of snowflakes on all the window panes. For a Friday night, the mansion was quite quiet- the only noise after dinner being the oohs and ahhs of the many students sitting in the rec room down the hall. It was movie night at Xavier's School for the Gifted.
Earlier in the day, Jean and Ororo had left the mansion to retrieve two movies and enough pizza to feed a small army. They'd returned with the pizza and a PG movie for the younger students and a PG-13 for the other ones. Dinner had been taken at six o'clock, and forty minutes later all the children in the mansion were settled to watch their movies, lounged on the couches and in the chairs that Jean had moved around the big screen tv.
"Come on, Miss Grey! Can we start the movie now?" Artie jumped up and down in front of the red-headed doctor. "Please? Please?"
"She'll start it in a minute, Artie. Settle down." Kitty laughed, taking a seat between Piotr and Flea.
You young mutant ceased his jumping, turning to her before sticking his black forked tongue in her direction. When she merely squinted an eye at him, he resumed his jumping. "Please-please-please?"
Scott, standing beside Jean, gave the boy a chastising expression. "Alright, Artie," he said, catching the young boy mid-jump. With a strong arm, he supported the boy, then placed him down on the floor beside a few other boys his age. "We will start the movie just as soon as everyone is here and being quiet."
With his words, the younger children sat still, straight-faced as possible, and turned their attention to the blue screen in front of them. The older students quickly followed suit as the professor entered the room to take his place beside the couch where Jean, Scott, Ororo, and Zoe were to sit.
What did you pick out?" asked Ororo, crossing her legs at the knee from her seat on the couch. "Not another dirty film, I hope."
Scott flushed. "I tell you now like I have told you a thousand times over: They put the wrong disc in the case at the rental store!"
Zosia smirked, looking him up and down, but it was Ororo who spoke. "Sure they did, Scott."
"Keep telling yourself that, hon." teased Jean, playfully pinching his cheek.
"You're so mean to that boy." Rogue said to the telekine, settling down between Bobby and John.
"They deserve it." Jubilee commented, picking at a bowl of popcorn beside them.
"Anyway," the professor cut in, "What did you get?"
"Shrek III." answered the Cyclops. "Everybody ready?"
"Well, I'm out." said Zosia, hopping up from the couch. She gently lifted Sari from Ororo's lap. "I'm taking up residence in the library."
"You're not gonna watch?" asked Jean.
"If I wanted to watch a big, green, foul-smelling ogre traipse about the countryside, I'd make a return visit to Ireland to see Blob." she answered. "And if I needed a walking, talking, purring kitten for a companion, I'd go find my mate." She turned and began walking towards the doorway into the hall. "And as for the talking donkey- there are more than enough jackasses walking around here as it is."
She looked to Rogue. "Want to join me while the children watch their movie?" The teen glanced back at Bobby and John. They were whispering around her conspiratorially. Without a word to them, she stood up to join the feral at the door. "Mon moka?"
"I think that a book would be more interesting." said the windrider. "Can the two of you handle it alone for the night?" she asked Jean and Scott.
"Sure." Jean said, taking her seat. "Go ahead."
In the library, Zosia lay settled on the couch, supporting Sari to sit on her stomach. The baby, awake and alert, grinned a toothless smile at her mother. Beside her, Rogue sat with the remote, changing the channels on the smaller media television in front of them. On the far end of the couch, Ororo was curled up with a novel. They'd turned the lights on, keeping the room bright, and enjoyed the quiet as they listened to the children laugh down the hallway.
Sari cooed, shaking her arms up and down. Rogue settled her remote down between herself and Ororo, and turned her attention to the cub. "Are you in a good mood tonight, Cub?" she asked, wiggling her gloved fingers to catch the baby's attention. The cub turned her head to see the teenager, opening her mouth in a wide, toothless grin. "Aww, babydoll, aren't you sweet tonight."
"Oh yeah, she's an angel today because she got all her aggression out last night." commented the weather witch with a chuckle.
Zosia smirked, amused. "Babies cry." she said simply, turning Sari so that the baby faced Rogue. "She's just going through a growth spurt. She's hungry."
"Come on, Sari." Rogue said to the baby, holding Sari's hands in her own. "I know there's another smile in there somewhere. Where'd you hide it, hmm?" Sari cooed again. "Come on- you get to keep your Mommy and Storm awake aaaaaall night! That's worth a smile!" The baby seemed to smirk, but didn't smile.
"We'll have to catch her in a good humor and take another picture." said Zoe. "I haven't sent Victor a pic in a few days now." The feral sat forward, settling Sari into her lap. "Anyway, I am quite thirsty. Anyone want anything while I'm up? Marie?"
"No thanks." said the teen, still playing with the cub.
"Okay then, do me a favor instead?"
"Hm?" Marie almost frowned. "What favor?"
Without answering, Zoe pulled the sling from around her body, wrapped it around Sari, and gently settled the baby into Marie's lap. The teen stiffened, and Zoe left her hand on her cub's back. "Can you hold her?"
"I-but.." Marie gave the feral a wild look. "My skin- Zoe, you know about.. I-she.."
"She's wrapped up."Zoe said soothingly, reaching out with a gentle hand to tug on Marie's shirt sleeve. "And you are all covered up." She met Rogue's eyes. "I know you won't hurt her."
"I'm right here." Ororo said, setting her book down. "If you get uncomfortable, I can take her."
After a few seconds, Marie nodded, ever-so-carefully lifting Sari up to rest in her arms. "Okay."
The feral mother watched for a second or so longer, then stood up and slipped from the room. She lurked outside the doorway for a few seconds, listening to make sure her cub didn't cry before heading to the kitchen for a drink.
When she returned with a can of soda, Ororo and Marie were sitting side-by-side, giving their full attention to a now grumpy Sari. The cub rested in the crook of Marie's arms, fussing in displeasure. Zoe settled her soda on the side-table before taking her cub back into her arms.
"She's getting sleepy, I think." said Marie.
"Maybe." said Zoe softly, taking her seat back on the couch. The babe let out a whimper, scrunching her face. "Now, now." Zoe clucked her tongue at her cub, letting out a soft purr to soothe her.
With the baby quieted, the three women relaxed back into the couch cushions, turning their attention to the television while Zoe's purring lulled Sari to sleep. Ororo had the remote, and lifted it up to change the channel. Before the button was pressed, a news flash broke into the commercials.
"WE NOW INTERRUPT YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING TO BRING YOU THIS, STRAIGHT FROM ACTION NEWS CHANNEL FOUR." A blonde reporter came on the screen, sitting at a desk with a stack of papers in her hands. "We're bringing you breaking news on last month's Mutant Terrorist Attacks on Liberty Island. As you may know, the mutant terrorist, Erik Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto, was captured on the night of the attacks. Also found on the scene was one Mortimer Toynbee, also known as the mutant Toad, dead on the scene, but the mutants known as Mystique and Sabretooth are still at large." Surveillance video shorts came across the screen, cycling from a grainy picture of Warts to Mystique to Victor.
Zoe scowled. Rogue sucked in a breath, reaching out a compassionate gloved hand and putting it on Zoe's thigh. The feral didn't pay her any mind, too distracted by the television screen.
"We now have reason to believe that the mutant terrorist, Victor Creed, also known as Sabretooth, has been hiding out in upstate New York, and we have video surveillance footage of the suspect from three separate towns in Franklin County. It is believed that he is moving north, and police, along with Border Security, have stationed all available officers at all tollbooths along Franklin, St. Lawrence, and Clinton counties..."
The redheaded feral visibly jerked, her heart lurching in her chest, watching as a map of New York flashed on the screen. Three little yellow stars showed where her mate had been spotted before the screen panned back to the anchorwoman.
"...believed he is looking for a place to cross the Canadian border. Police say that they are confident that this time he will be caught, and brought in for prosecution. He was last seen in Clinton county, as seen in this surveillance video footage from..."
A grainy black and white gas station surveillance video showed on the screen without sound. Zoe immediately recognized her mate, standing in line at the register, waiting impatiently to pay for whatever was in his hands, behind two burly truck drivers and a young teenage girl. Zoe almost couldn't believe her eyes. She would know his face anywhere. He'd pulled his long hair back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and trimmed his brows down the tiniest bit. His beard was gone, but growing back, and he'd donned a pair of blue jeans with his yellow AC/DC shirt and jean jacket.
The picture was terrible, but his 7'2 frame stood out like a sore thumb as he shifted his weight and checked his watch. Even without his height- or the shot of his face- the way he walked, carried himself, the way he shifted his weight without moving his hips, was a dead giveaway. That was her Victor on the screen; there was no doubt about it.
He had been seen.
Now the police for damn sure knew he had survived the fall from the statue's head! He hadn't broken his neck or drowned in the water- he hadn't been eaten by a shark or swept out to sea. He was alive and well- healthy, kicking, buying three boxes of fucking Twinkies at a ShortStop in Clinton County!
Zoe's lungs were burning, and she realized she had been holding in her breath. She quickly sucked in a lungful of air. "Oh my goddess..."
Hearing the feral's voice, Ororo suddenly remembered she was there. "Zee, it's-"
"How could- how the hell?" Zoe shook her head, pulling Sari up onto her shoulder, cuddling her little piece of Victor. "He's supposed to be up in Canada right now!"
"Zee, don't worry about it." Ororo said softly.
"Don't worry about it?" Zosia half-heartedly hissed. "What about this isn't worth worrying about?"
"You don't think he'll be caught do you?" asked Marie, watching the screen.
"What if he is?" Zoe sighed. "What will happen to him if they catch him? Would they even try to catch him or would they just try to shoot to kill?"
"Doesn't he heal like Logan?" Marie mumbled.
"The healing factor-" Ororo said, putting her hand on Zoe's shoulder. "Don't you both heal very quickly?"
"We can still bleed to death!" Zoe shrugged the windrider's hand off her shoulder, standing up with Sari in her arms. The movement re-awoke the baby, and Sari let out a tired cry. Her attention turned to her cub. "What will happen to us if he is caught?"
"Nothing is going to happen to you or Sari!" Ororo hopped off the couch. "You two are safe here- you know that the professor would never send you away."
"We don't belong here, Ororo." Zoe half-growled. "I'm not an X-Man; I belong with the Brotherhood! I belong with Victor!"
Jean sprinted into the room with Scott at her heals. Charles was not far behind. The three came to a halt just inside the library, eyes turning from Zoe to the television. Scott relaxed his stance, walking up to the back of the couch.
"What is going on?" asked Charles.
"They've spotted Sabretooth." Marie answered in a soft voice, giving Zoe another worried look. "In Clinton county yesterday."
"What's the problem?" asked Scott, taking the remote from the couch. He rewound the DVR to watch the newsflash from its beginning.
"The problem?" Zoe hissed. Her tone of voice made the baby in her arms jump and let out a frightened cry. "What if he is caught?"
"He did the crime, he should-"
"Scott!" Charles cut him off, rolling his chair next to the fearless leader. "We should have a little compassion."
"Compassion? For what? The man is a savage criminal- he gives mutants a bad name! He deserves nothing less than to be caught and tried for his crimes- period, end of story." returned the man.
"This is a time, Scott," said the elder, his tone of voice gaining the full attention of his oldest student. "Where everything is not as black and white as it would seem. Think of Sari- of Zosia. That is her mate on the screen there. That is Sari's father. What of them?"
"But what of him? Of Victor?" the feral asked, rubbing Sari's back to soothe her. "What would happen to him? I don't think even he has enough money to buy all the lawyers and judges it would take to have him acquitted."
"I don't know, Zoe." said Charles.
"And that's even should they give him a trial. It would be easy for them to just take him out in the woods somewhere and behead him." Zoe's eyes hardened as she moved to pace like a caged lion along the far wall. Sari continued her whimpers and fussing, slowly calming down. "And we would never know! The don't and won't know about us, and for damn sure wouldn't go public with his execution."
"Zosia, my dear," the Professor said, using Erik's endearment in an attempt to calm the feral. "A mutant with Sabretooth's reputation... if they caught him, with all the recent events, the anti-mutant groups would turn his arrest into a media circus. He would be the ideal candidate to rally their troops for the registration of mutants- for the legalization of experimentation on dangerous mutants. In this case, no news is good news."
With a sound between a growl and a roar, Zoe's eyes bled of color, darkness inking them black. She paused her step, glaring daggers at the professor. "So you are saying that I would have to watch his arrest- his disgrace, his humiliation- and then his execution? That I will one day have to tell my daughter that her father died like a fucking dog in front of the entire fucking world?"
"Who says you'd have to tell her anything? Jean asked, watching on the other side of Scott. "She could read about it in her history book at school if he is caught. The professor is right- bringing him in, or bringing Mystique in, would be huge."
"So help me, Jean..." Zoe's voice was a low, rumbling growl. "If you don't shut your mouth..."
Jean's eyes widened. "No, I didn't mean it like it sounded! I just meant like the professor said... Sorry."
"No matter, telekine." hissed the feral. "Maybe if Scott's dick spent as much time in your mouth as you fucking foot does, he'd be a hell of a lot nicer to be around." With an angry snort in the telekine's direction, the feral spun and fled the room.
The mark had gone down quickly- too quickly. Stupid, frail things these human beings were. He had slit the human's windpipe open, and then watched as it had choked on its own blood. Not nearly as messy as he liked, the corpse had slumped down to the kitchen floor like a discarded rag doll. That was just as well, he guessed, as he really only had to wash the blood from his hands. He rather liked this particular Zepplin shirt, and would have been very pissed to lose it.
He carefully washed all the blood away in the kitchen's stainless steel sink, watching the blood make pretty swirling patterns as it was rinsed from his clawed hands. Satisfied they were clean, he dried his hands on a paper towel, then stuck it in the back pocket of his jeans. Grabbing up the bottle of industrial strength acetone, he covered his nose with a silk handkerchief before dumping half the bottle down the sink's drain. He didn't give two shits if they police recovered his DNA from this small-time hit or not, but it brought the feral some sense of pleasure to know that he made it as fucking hard as possible on them.
Victor glanced back at the corpse cooling on the cheap linoleum floor. The brown eyes stared up at him as they glassed over in death, the last of their moisture evaporating away. With a grunt, he screwed the cap back on the acetone bottle, backing a few feet away from the strong chemical smell. "That ten grand better hit my bank account before the morning." he growled to himself, "This shit offends." Moving to straddle the corpse, getting a better look at his mark, Victor smirked darkly. "Should have kept your ass alive long enough to spoon-feed you this shit. We could of had some fun, eh, Judge?" A small amount of blood dribbled down the man's neck from the wound- deep, dark arterial blood. "If your wife is anything like mine is, she's going to be very fucking pissed off that you're getting blood everywhere, Judge."
*~Kiss me, k-k-kiss me- Infect me with your lovin'- Fill me with your poison- Take me, t-t-take-~*
He pulled his phone from his back pocket. "Hello? Zee?"
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~The Lady Mage :)