Greetings from The Lady Mage!
Welcome to chapter 20! We're moving right along, eh? LOL Hope you enjoy!
~Lady Mage
Disclaimer: I wouldn't be $500+ in the hole right now if I got paid for this... Don't own it... Yet.
FERITY: (fehr-ih-tee) - noun - 1. The state of being wild or untamed. 2. Savagery; ferocity.
-*Kiss me- K-k-kiss me- Infect me with your loving- Fill me with your poison- Touch me- T-t-touch me-*-
"Where is your phone?" Jubilation asked, peering around the edge of the bed to the nightstand where the ringtone seemed to be coming from.
"Is that him?" asked Jean.
Zoe nodded, standing to walk to the bedside. She reached back in behind the nightstand, fishing out the little blue phone she'd tossed carelessly there earlier. She pushed the button to answer, holding it to her ear. "Bonjour?"
"Zee?"
"Oui. Je suis ici." (Yes. I'm here.)
"Where's the cub?"
"She's here, too." Zoe scowled. "What do you care?" she half-hissed. "I thought you said she was my cub."
"Wherer the fuck did that come from?"
"Perler en francais. Je suis trop occupe pour tenir le satophone just pour toi." The feral mother laid the phone, on speaker, on the side table beside her rocking chair. Turning back to the bed, she retrieved her daughter from Marie's careful arms. "You can hold her later, Marie." she said to the teen, settling back into the rocking chair. (Speak in French. I'm too busy to hold the satophone just for you.)
"Qui est Marie?" Victor's voice growled from the table. "Et pourqoi est-elle tenant le cub?" (Who is Marie? And why is she holding the cub?)
"Why can't you teach me French, too?" Marie asked quietly, a remark more to herself than to the feral mother.
"Je lui fais confiance." Zoe said, her attention directed on Sari in the crook of her arm. "Elle ne blesserait pas Sari." (I trust her. She wouldn't hurt Sari.)
"You better be damn sure, Katze!"
"I'm in the fucking room with her, Herz!"
"Now what's wrong?" Jean asked, leaning over to whisper it in Ororo's ear.
"He'd apparently mad that she let Rogue touch Sari." Ororo informed her.
"Wait a fuckin' minute!" Victor's voice boomed from the phone. "Marie is the fuckin' Rogue? You're letting that poison-skinned brat touch my cub?!"
"Demi." Zoe corrected hautily. "Rappelez-vous?" (Half. Remember?)
"Well, if I own your ass, then that means I own both her halves!"
"You carry my mark, too, Victor!" hissed the smaller feral. "For everything you own of me, I own of you!"
"Hey, who wears the pants in this operation here?"
"Who carried your cub?"
"Who's the one that asked to do so?"
"Who is the one who fuckin' agreed?"
Victor spoke through clenched fangs. "I don't know what the hell has gotten into you lately-"
"Sure as fuck hasn't been you."
Jean snorted, then clamped a hand over her mouth to silence herself.
"HOW MANY FUCKIN PEOPLE DO YOU HAVE IN THERE?!" Victor yelled.
Against her mother's chest, Sari jerked in surprise at the sudden loud voice. Crumpling her face, she began to cry. Zoe deepened her scowl, feeling her eyes bleed black. She pulled Sari up onto her shoulder, rocking in the chair angrily as she tried to soothe Sari back to sleep. "You ASS!" she hissed towards the phone.
"Hey, CUBS CRY! I told you this when you came fucking begging for one!"
"You prefer I take what I want without thought for your feelings- you prefer I act like YOU?" Zoe growled. "I can remember more than once you taking-"
"Fuck you!"
"No, Vic, fuck YOU! You're the one who agreed- you didn't say no!"
"Because for some damn reason I can't deny you a fucking thing, you evil temptress!"
"Puisque je vous rends faible. Dites-le." She grit her teeth. "Heaven forbid anything should rest on your head. (Because I make you weak. Say it.)
"Vous avez avancé à moi." (You came on to me.)
"J'étais dedans heat!" (I was in heat!)
"That's no excuse! You were battin' those big doe-eyes at me for fucking months!"
"Are you saying I planned this shit? For us to be separated? For Warts to die?"
"I'm not giving you that much credit!"
Zoe growled. "Well then how much are you giving me, Vic? Dites-moi ce que vous pensez est mon défaut!" (Tell me what you think is my fault!)
Victor growled right back at her, a deep furious rumbling. "I think it's your fault our cub is about to go deaf because you're yelling in her ear! If you hadn't been so fuckin' hellbent on havin' her, you would've been on tha fuckin' statue with us, fightin' at my side! Those fuckin' X-Geeks wouldn't have made it past us! I wouldn't'of had ta swim with the fuckin' fishes in fuckin minus thirty-five degree currents!" He nearly panted with the effort of his confession, his growl still rumbling in his chest.
Sobered by his words, Zoe didn't immediatly resond. She pulled her legs up beneath her in the chair. "Vous me préférez vous accompagnez? Mourez peut-être comme notre frère ? Vous risqueriez ma vie pour avoir raison? Vous donneriez notre dos de fille comme elle ne se produisait jamais?" She asked quietly, putting her thumbclaw self-consciously between her teeth. "I don't want to watch you die, Victor... but you would so easily toss us to the wolves?" (You prefer I go with you? Maybe die like our brother did? You would risk my life to be right? You would give Sari back like she never happened?)
"I would not let you die, Zee!" he hissed back. His tone of voice was much softer, but the anger was still there. "Stupid, baby cat! Christ in fuckin' Heaven help anyone who would try to hurt you or the cub!"
"Zee, do you want us to go?" Marie asked softly, eyeing the door.
The redheaded feral shook her head. She kept her blackened eyes on Sari. "No. You don't have to go."
"Je n'ai aucune idée pourquoi vous m'appelez, criant comme une fichue dame blanche! Avez-vous une idée combien de temps j'avais fait ceci?" he growled. "If I ain't been caught yet, I ain't gettin' caught, Katze!" (I have no idea why you are calling me yelling like a damn banshee! Do you have any idea how long I've been doing this?)
"You don't know that!" Zoe turned bodily towards the phone.
"ZOSIA!" he half-barked, cutting her off before she could speak. "Stoppe se traveiller vers le haut!" (Quit working yourself up!)
"What else am I supposed to do?!"
"Je ne sais pas, mais stoppe s'inquieter!" (I don't know but quit worrying!)
"You may as well ask me to quit breathing while you're at it!"
"... Okay, fucking quit breathing!"
"Jerk!"
"Heifer!"
"Jackass!"
"Trollop!"
"Beast!" The feral mother set her jaw.
"Bitch!"
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Nag!"
"Geezer!"
"I don't have time for this, Zee!"
Zoe snatched the phone from the desk, taking it off speaker and holding it to her ear. "You called me!" She ignored the girls watching her continue to bicker with her mate across the phone over her daughter's head. Sari was beginning to pass out again- tired far past the point of being bothered. "No!... Fick dich!... Well, then you can turn around and kiss mine because you own me big time for leaving me here!... No, I am most certainly not kidding!... The fuck?" She pulled the phone away from her. "FINE!" With a dark glare, she clicked the 'End Call' button, effectively hanging up on the blonde feral. "There." she hissed to herself, standing. "Let's see how you like it, you big tomcat!"
Before she could set the phone down again, it rang again. With a sigh, she answered. "Now what?"
"..." (click)
The feline almost dropped her jaw, staring down at her phone like it had grown arms. "What the bloody fuck . . ?"
"Did-um . . ." Marie began, fighting back a giggle. "Did he just . . call you back . . . to hang up on you?" Jubilee let out a high-pitched giggle, and quickly covered it with her hand. Behind her, Ororo and Jean were battling smiles.
"That son of a bitch . . ." Zoe snapped the phone shut, tossing it onto the bed with the girls. "I swear to the stars, Vic! Very fucking mature for a 178 year old!"
"178?" Ororo's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
Zee nodded, gently laying Sari in the bassinet. "Yes. Mein Herz is an old Tomcat." She covered her cub's little legs with a receiving blanket, and then lovingly ran her knuckles down the curve of Sari's cheek.
"Good grief, Zoe," said Jean. "The man just called you a nag, and you're calling him your heart?" She crossed her arms.
"Du sprichst Deutsches, Jean?" Zoe asked, mildly surprised. (You speak German?)
"Ein wenig." Jean answered. "Not much- but I know what Herz means, and mein is possessive." (A little.)
"Ja. Victor is mein Herz." murmured the feral, walking back to the chair. She settled back down in it, curling up sideways to rock. "I didn't say he wasn't an asshole." She let out a tired sigh, tucked her hair back from her face. "A really big, stubborn, malicious, mean, arrogant, self-obliging, son of a bitch asshole." She smirked. "But, damn, is he good in bed."
"Oh, Zee- there you go with that TMI stuff again!" Jubilee covered her ears as they flushed red. "Come on! Young cubs, remember?"
"A little inappropriate in the presence of students." Jean chided softly, but smirked none-the-less. Ororo shook her head in amusement as she leaned back against the headboard.
"Can't help it- it almost makes it worth the trouble he gives me. . . But, my apologies." mumbled the feral. Her arms crossed, she blinked the black away from her eyes, popping her jaw as her fangs receded back into her gums.
"Zee, do you just want to go to bed so you don't have to think about it?" Ororo asked.
"I'm not tired."
"Want to go down to the pool for a late swim?" Marie asked, her face brightening for a moment. The pool was one area that she didn't have to worry about touching anyone. She stayed in her lane to do her laps, and if you crossed into her lane, it was your funeral- so to speak.
-There was water- cold as ice- all around her- in her nose, in her mouth, in her lungs- suffocating her without letting her die, burning her without melting her skin, the cold freezing up her damaged muscles so that she couldn't gather enough strength to move-
"No!" Zoe sat up straight, eyes wide and black again. Jean jumped with her movement, as did Jubilee at the feral's feet.
"What was that?" Jean asked, her hands shooting up to her temples.
"What was what?" Zoe hissed, her black, feline eyes glaring at the telekine.
"Are you two okay?" Jubilee and Marie said in unison.
"The water." Jean asked, panting out her breath. "You were projecting- hard."
"Jean, you're bleeding." Ororo leaned over, pulling a baby-wipe from the box beside the bed. She dabbed at the line of blood coming from the telekine's nose until Jean took it from her to finish the job. "That must have hurt."
The parking lot of the little apartment building said it all- this place was cheap, ugly, and dirty. More likely than not, only cheap, ugly, dirty people lived here. Not that he was too sweet about her, but what the fuck was Mystique doing here? He pulled the truck up in front of the seventh door down, and shut off the ignition before waiting on Myst to come out.
"Damnit, Vic, you're late!" Mystique hissed, holding the door to the little apartment open for him. "I said seven- not ten thirty!"
"Yeah, yeah." He climbed out of the truck, tucking his phone in his back pocket. "Now, what the hell is this all about?"
She couldn't sit still; she couldn't stand to pace. It was annoying to lay down; it was painful to try. She went from the bed to the carpet, to the chair, to the desk, to the window, and back again. Over and over. Ororo watched her, sometimes laying down, sometimes sitting in the rocking chair by the bassinet, but remaining quiet to let the feral work whatever was needed out of her system. Zosia felt bad, guilty, knowing that she was interrupting her adopted sister's sleep, but she couldn't settle herself.
It was torture waiting to crash- knowing that she was awake on adrenaline alone. Her scent kept changing as she rolled back and forth between anger, fear, apathy, and the beginnings of a feral bloodlust. One second she felt like crying, the next it was all she could do not to jump out the window again- to go tear another something to shreds. Her head ached with the chemical warfare going on within it, and it only muddled the emotions together, making it harder for her to analyze.
"Zee?"
She cut off the surprised growl in her throat, crossing her arms under her bust as she glanced at Ororo in the chair beside Sari. "Hmm?"
"Wearing a hole in the rug is not going to keep him any safer." Ororo said softly, her voice showing her growing fatigue. "He's a big boy. He can take care of himself without you having to kill yourself with worry."
Zosia sighed softly. "I know, mon moka." murmured the feral. "I can't help it."
"Are you tired at all?"
"Un peu... I'm so pissed off that I'm calm. If I lay down now, the calm will leave." (A little.)
"Give it a try." Ororo said, her voice warm and motherly. "Come on. Lay down. I'll pet your hair like a kitten."
The feral jerked to a pause. "Wait- what?" She shook her head. "That came with a strange mental image."
Ororo couldn't help but smirk. "Oh?"
"Um... no thanks, love." Both women shared a small chuckle.
"Still mad?"
"Very." Zoe nodded. "Very, very mad."
The sat at a wobbly, scarred kitchen table, looking over the papers Mystique had brought. Most of the papers were about their attack at the statue. Some were about Erik's trial and recent sentencing. She had also collected a little stack about Warts- how it said he died and what had happened to his body afterwards. The shapeshifter had kept certain news clippings about all of it, but compared to the files she'd stolen, they told two very different stories.
"Ya think they really buried him?" Victor asked, looking at a mock-up obituary in the spread of paper on the tabletop.
Mystique shook her head, pulling open the grungy, old fridge. She pulled out two bottles of water, tossing one at his head. He caught it without looking at it, setting it on the table in front of him. "To be honest, no." said Myst, reclaiming her chair. "The humans probably said that to sound like they give a shit, but I wouldn't doubt they shipped his body to some lab somewhere- I just haven't found that paper trail yet." She set her water down on the side of the table, drumming her fingers on it. "Don't want to think much on it, really."
He shook his head in agreement, turning the clipping over and picking up a new page. "So, this is where they've got ol' bucket-head locked up, eh?"
"They built it just for him. It's made entirely out of plastic, and it's suspended inside of a huge, ceramic room. They must be pumping some kind of sense-dulling agent into him somehow- either through the air or in his food and drink." she replied, showing him the schematic she had found. "He's hanging not two hundred feet from a wall of computers that control the entire room, separated by a wall of glass- with more than enough copper wire to aid his escape- yet he's been there for a month and hasn't been able to do anything."
"Not surprised. Who came up with this thing?"
"A man by the name of William Stryker."
"Stryker?" Victor jerked, then growled.
"You know him?"
"Worked with him. Horrible fuckin' human." He didn't elaborate. "So what's your plan then? We can't just-"
-*Ride- Dirty, sweet, and filthy- Ride- Beat your hands on me- Ride- Dirty, sweet, and filthy- Ride-*-
"Shit." Victor pulled out his phone. "I'll take this outside. She doesn't need to know about this- or about our meeting. The less she knows, they safer she and Sari are."
Myst only nodded, watching the feral stand up and walk out the front door.
He answered her on the seventh ring. "Yeah?"
"Merci tellement tres foutu beaucoup d'accrocher vers le haut sur moi plus tot." (Thank you so very fucking much for hanging up on me earlier.)
"God damnit, Zee! What the fuck?"
The feral paced across the bedroom. "Je baisais me suis inquiété de toi! Vous étiez sur les nouvelles! Ils savent que vous êtes dans NewYork!" she hissed quietly, knotting her free hand in her hair in frustration. (I was fucking worried about you! You were on the news! They know you're in New York!)
"Ainsi? Wui donne une bause sanglante? Si vous bausant pour obtenie outre du telephone, je pourrais obtenir ce demier travail fait et obtenir l'enfer hors de New York!" (So? Who gives a bloody fuck? If you'd fucking get off the phone, I could get this last job done and get the hell out of New York!)
Zoe glanced to where Ororo was curled up asleep with Sari on the bed, reigning in her mix of emotions to be as quiet as possible. "Look, I'm just scared for you. I want to know you're okay, and I can't for sure because I'm so far away from you." she said, her voice defeated, tired. "I don't want to fight- I don't want to yell. I just want you safe."
He snorted. "I'm as safe as I ever was. I've been doin' shit like this since before the Civil-fuckin-War!" he said, his voice still gruff. "I know what I'm doin here. If I didn't, I'd be rotting in a prison in Virginia for the past hundred plus years."
"I miss you."
"I know you do."
"Why here, Vic? Why must I stay here? Why not one of your other-"
"That is the safest place for you and the cub. Right now, any of my holes are unsecured deathtraps. One turn of the leaf and the cops will start raiding them. If you were there when they came, then what? The only people- and I hate to say this- the only people that I know will not hurt you or Sari are the fuckin X-Men. You're going to have to put on your big-girl pants and tough this one out! Quit buggin' me!" He'd hung up then, and when she tried to call him back, it wen to voicemail. He'd turned his phone off.
She sat in the rocking chair, her hand clenched around the trinkets and tags around her neck. Pulling the necklace over her head, she pulled her wedding band from it, turning the white gold and diamond band over in her fingers. After a few contemplative moments, she slipped the ring into place on her left hand. It was as close as she could get to him or to her old life.
In the month that she'd known Zosia Creed, Ororo had never seen her so sad. She'd seen her in a good mood, she'd seen her in a silly, playful mood- she'd seen her so angry she'd had to kill. But never sad. Not like this, at least.
It was Saturday, nearing noon, and all the girls were downstairs in the pool area for their required P.E. course for the week. The long, underground room held an olympic-sized swimming pool with a giant, blue 'X' painted in it's center. To the right were the girls' locker rooms and a small sauna. To the left were the boys' locker rooms and a row of deck chairs and tables. The deep end of the pool held the most activity as teenage girls all swam, dove, and splashed about. Jean and Ororo sat on the edge of the deep end, both in dark blue one-piece bathing suits with white X's on the hips. The two teachers kept watch over their students, enjoying the atmosphere.
Zoe sat alone with Sari at the far end of the pool, perched on the cement steps. She was dressed in a pale blue bikini halter top and a pair of skimpy white short-shorts over her blue bikini bottoms. Sari was held protectively in her lap, naked as the day she was born. Sari kicked her little feet, shook her fists, and every now and then Zoe worked up a smile for her. Mostly Zoe just stared down into the water, or at the little blue phone beside her on the dry concrete.
There had been little sleep for either the feral or the weather witch that morning. Zoe had been back and forth from the bed to pacing and back. When she had laid down, she seemed needier than usual, cuddling up to Ororo's back until she was almost atop her. Sari had been in the bed all night, and Zoe had fed her there instead of the rocking chair. When she had managed sleep, the feral had been wracked with nightmare after nightmare.
"I'm keeping you awake... you should go back to your own room..." The feral had whispered against her shoulder blade.
But she hadn't left. She didn't want to leave the poor feral to her loneliness, so she'd let Zoe cling behind her, and had helped her with Sari until the wee hours of the morning when they had finally all managed some sleep.
'-She's really depressed.-' Jean's voice was soft behind Ororo's eyes, bringing the brown-skinned woman back to reality. '-I've never seen her this way, either.-'
"Snoop." Ororo managed a small smile, hiding a yawn behind her hand.
"You were projecting pretty hard." returned the telekine. "Sorry."
Ororo just waved a hand at her. "It's okay. The poor thing was up until four this morning."
"Four?" Jean looked concerned. "Wow."
"Yeah, wow." Ororo laid back on the concrete beside the pool, resting her head on a folded towel. Jean looked down at her, keeping her legs in the warmed water. "I am so dead on my feet today. I'm useless." Jean chuckled.
"Are you alright, Miss Munroe?" Kitty asked, padding over to where the two teachers sat. She squatted down next to Ororo, giving her a smile. "You look tired. Did the baby keep you up?"
"No- her mother did." Jean answered for her.
"Is something up?" asked Kitty. "Some of the other students said she like broke up with her boyfriend or whatever. We could hear some of the commotion from downstairs last night. Rogue and Jubilee aren't saying anything." She glanced over to the teens.
The two girls were uncharacteristically sullen, sitting off on their own, out of the pool. Jubilee picked at the white X on her swimsuit, talking quietly with Marie. Marie, wearing tight, stretchy blue biking pants and shirt, water-shoes, and plastic gloves under her blue swimsuit, watched the feral mother while she listened to Jubilee talk.
"It's not your concern." Jean said to Kitty in a gentle voice. "Don't worry about it."
"Well, I can't help it." said Kitty, looking to the sullen feral. "I mean, yeah, Rogue and Jubes kinda spazzed on us when Zoe started hanging around with them, but still... She looks so upset- like someone just ran over her new puppy or something."
"She'll be fine." Ororo said, sitting back up. "Don't go bothering her about it- she's upset enough already."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Kitty smiled.
Zosia looked up as the group of girls surrounded her. She stifled a growl, tightening her arms around Sari. Kitty, Wanda, Theresa, Kelley, Money, and Paige had snuck up on her because she hadn't been paying attention. She was not happy about it. This particular clique of girls were not her favorite company, and neither was she their's.
"Why don't you come swim with us, Zosia?" Paige asked, her voice friendly.
"Yeah, let Ororo and Jean take the baby." said Monet. "She should have a nanny anyway."
"We're not all rich, M." said Wanda, rolling her eyes at the blonde girl.
"Well, she is." said Monet, gesturing to the feral. "That's a $300 bikini she's wearing. I'd know that anywhere. She could afford a nanny."
"I will take care of my own cub." Zoe said, her tone neutral.
"Well, that's fine." said Kitty, walking up to the feral and sitting on the concrete a few feet from her. "But why don't you let Storm hold her while you swim with us. It'd be fun!"
"Yeah," said Kelley, running her hand through her short purple hair. "Come on- you should cheer up!"
"No, thank you."
Theresa frowned. "Why not? How come you never try to hang out with anyone but Miss Munroe?"
Monet rolled her eyes. "Seriously, the whole unwed teen mother angst is getting a little stale. Obviously you know how to have a good time, so why not toss the tot to someone else, and come have a little fun?"
"That was mean, M!" Kelley said, poking the other girl in the arm. "Do you have to be so snotty all the time?"
"You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar, you know." said Paige, giving Monet a smack to the back of the head.
"It's funny how you young things can see one thing and interpret it as something entirely different." said Zoe, not bothering to look at the girls. Instead, she kept her attention on Sari in her lap. "You assume that because I am here with my daughter that I am an unwed teen? Or that because I have a daughter, that I have slept around with a plethora of men?"
"Yes." Monet shrugged. Paige gave her another slap. "Ow! Hey!" Kelley and Theresa copied Paige's motion. "You guys!"
Zosia cracked a smirking smile. "And we wonder why your generation is doomed."
"Well what's the deal then?" Kitty asked. "You haven't told anyone anything about where you come from."
"I don't need to tell anyone where I come from." returned the feral. "My daughter, myself, my husband- there's nothing I care to tell anyone. It isn't important."
"Husband?" Monet raised an eyebrow. "Where's your ring, then? I mean, if you really are married, you'd have a ring, right?"'
With a roll of her eyes, Zoe lifted her left hand, showing them the band she'd put there. "Is there something the lot of you wanted? I'm no babysitter- I've my own cub to deal with."
Kitty frowned. "Well, we just wanted to try to cheer you up- to be nice." she said, "You know, cause boys can be such jerks."
Zoe held in a snort, keeping up the neutral expression. "Your friend's done a bang-up job so far." she returned, pulling Sari to stand in her lap. The six week old locked her knees, shaking her arms as she looked out at the new view presented to her.
"So, how far along were you when you got married?" asked Monet. Paige smacked her again. "Ow! What?!"
"I was married for a year and a half before I got pregnant, thank you."
"So you've been married two years already?" Paige ticked numbers off her fingers. "So, how old were you? Fifteen?"
Thinking quickly, Zoe shook her head. "Eighteen."
"Eighteen?" Monet asked. "You mean you're twenty? You look younger than me, and I'm seventeen!"
"Good genes, I guess." Zoe shrugged. 'I wonder how old I really am.'
"...What's it like?" Kitty asked, intrigued. She took a seat on the cement step near Zoe's feet.
"What do you mean?"
"Like.. having to share everything with someone else.. your time- you stuff-"
"Your bed?" Kelley finished.
"It takes some getting used to, I suppose." she said quietly, shrugging. "Once our roles were set, we co-habitated fairly well."
"What is.. um.. what's sex like?" Kitty blushed again.
"You're much too young, cub." Zoe smirked. "Come and ask again when you're old enough. You have years before you have to worry about that sort of thing."
"So you have to be eighteen to understand?" asked Monet, hand on hip. "It's not that big of a deal, now, is it?"
"One day, maybe, if you learn when to button your lips, you'll understand." returned the feral.
In her mother's arms, Sari whimpered, giving warning to the cry to come. When she was only bounced once, she whimpered again. It was almost lunchtime. Zoe pulled the baby up onto her shoulder, and grabbed the clean diaper from beneath the phone. "Oh, Sari.." she murmured, quickly diapering her. The baby whimpered again.
"Hungry, little cub?" Rogue asked the baby, coming and settling down beside Zee. "It's almost time for the lunch bell; ready to go dry off and change?"
"We were in the middle of a conversation." Paige said, crossing her arms.
"About what, Hayseed?" Jubilee asked Paige, settling between Zoe and the other girl. "How to milk cows?.. Or people?" She poked Zoe's shoulder with a laugh. "I bet Scott would really appreciate that."
"Scott can bite my ass." Zoe hissed. "Prick." Jubilee laughed. "I'm in no mood to remain down here. Sari is hungry, and my nose is beginning to burn from all the chlorine."
"You sure it isn't M?" Marie asked with a smirk, shaking Sari's little fist. The cub cooed at her.
"You wretched little-" Monet cut herself off, ducking as Paige raised a hand to smack her again. "Damn it, Paige!"
"Monet! Language!" Jean called across the pool.
"Paige hit me!" the girl yelled back. "I'm going to say something!"
"Are you five?" Paige hissed to Monet. "Tattle-tell!"
"Fifteen minutes until lunchtime, girls." Storm stood up, then held her hand down to help Jean stand. "Everyone out of the pool and into the locker room."
Zoe, Marie, and Jubilee had the good sense to get out of the way as a flood of wet girls suddenly rushed out of the pool through the steps they had been sitting upon. The majority of the girls headed straight to the lockers and the showers within; the two teachers, plus the feral mother and her teenage friends, stayed behind. Zosia tucked her phone into her shorts pocket, and turned towards the doorways to the hall.
"Where are you going?" Jean asked, walking with Ororo to their side of the pool.
"To change." answered Zee. "In the locker rooms by the medlab."
"Why not in here? We're all girls." Jubilee said with a shrug.
"Doesn't mean I feel a deep need to see the lot of you naked."
'-Zosia, when you have changed, I would like to see you in my office.-'
The feral mother audibly growled, turning her face to glare at the ceiling. "Out of my head, telepath!"
"What?" Jean scowled.
"Charles- not you." hissed Zosia. "I don't care if he is in a wheelchair or not, he can learn to quit calling me telepathically if I have to kill him to teach him!"
'-My apologies, Zosia. It is easier to communicate this way.-'
"Do it the hard way, Charles." said the feral, storming out of the room and down the hallway. Dry but for her legs, she decided to forgo the change of clothes, and stomped into the elevator. When she hit the first floor, she walked down the hall and through the rec room in her bikini and shorts, ignoring the sudden silence from the teenage boys inside. She glared at Bobby and John as she passed by them on the way to the library and Charles's office beside it.
Opening the door, she slipped inside, pulling it shut behind her. Charles sat at his desk, a stack of physics tests in his hands. Scott was sitting, perched on the edge of the small leather couch. He watched her enter and approach the desk.
Charles gave the feral a soft smile, settling the tests in a drawer to be dealt with later. "I know you don't like to be spoken to telepathically, Zoe." He said. "You must understand, though, that it is a method that comes quite naturally to me."
"Well, walking around naked and stalking deer come naturally to me but you don't see me doing it every ten minutes." said the feral with a smirking smile, settling Sari into the crook of her arm.
"You're coming pretty close in that get-up." said Scott neutrally.
"I was just in the pool." Zoe was in no mood to argue, so her tone was even and calm. "I came up here as soon as I was summoned." Mustering all the good will in her little black soul, she sighed. "Hey.. about last night, Scoot... Sorry for the noise. And the whole 'put you in the morgue' thing."
"Pardon?" Scott asked, a little stunned.
"Yeah, you're never gonna get another sorry out of me again." The younger man half-snorted, amused. Zoe turned back to Charles. "With that out of the way, what was it you needed to see me for?"
"After lunch, I would like you to go and get ready to leave the mansion for the afternoon." answered Charles.
She scowled, "For the afternoon? Where am I going?"
"We are going on a little trip."
"We?"
"Yourself, Sari, Scott, and I."
"Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise." he answered. "You've moped around all morning- and most of the night. I think this will cheer you up." When she only scowled again, he smiled. "Trust me, Zoe. We will leave after lunch."
She sat in the tub of hot water, shivering.
She was so grateful for Ororo. The woman had been a god-send, taking Sari for a little while so that Zoe could try to relax and take a bath. Upstairs, she had bathed her cub, and given her a feed before rocking her to sleep. Ororo had come to ask if she was hungry for lunch, but she'd shaken her head. A bath would calm her, and rid her body of the chlorine smell, so the wind-rider had offered to take the cub in her bassinet downstairs with her. The feral had told Ro that she was going somewhere with Charles and Scott, so her surrogate sister had not stayed long.
Feelings were not terribly foreign to her, but this helplessness, confusion, depression, was. She had argued with him before- she had crashed in Myst's room, Warts' room- even Eric's room- because of their fighting. There had even been three times when she had thrown him out to sleep on the couch. Fighting was not new. They had fought, they had made-up, and then fought again the next night. It was simply their nature to be aggressive.
But last night had been different. His words had cut her, and left big, bleeding gashes across her heart. She wanted to sob so hard that she shook the whole mansion down, and scream loud enough to wake the dead. Did he really not want their cub? Did he really blame her for all his troubles?
She'd brought her phone into the bathroom with her, and perched it on the edge of the tub on a rag, though she wasn't sure why. Victor had left his off all night- apparently, he didn't care to speak to her. Had she chased him away? Would he ever come back for her now?
With a calming breath, she lifted her phone and clicked her claws across the screen. Did he hate her now? She quickly punched in a number, and pushed send, then calmed away her crying while she listened to it ring.
After a handful of rings, Mystique's voice came over the phone. "Hello?"
"Myst..." Zoe held back a whimper. "Myst, I think I've lost him."
"You what?"
"I think I've lost him. Victor."
"Have you lost your mind?"
"No, but I think I've lost my mate."
Senator Kelley's voice suddenly came over the phone, yelling out. "Not now! This is an important call, Gable!" There was a pause, and the soft, almost inaudible response of some human somewhere. Finally, Mystique's voice came back. "Sorry, Soeur. . . Now, tell me what happened. Why do you think you've lost ol' Snaggletooth?"
"We had a big argument last night." Zoe answered, controlling her voice, keeping the emotions back as much as she could. "On the phone. And he yelled at me."
"Pishaw, Zee." Mystique murmured. "You had a fight. Big deal. The two of you have knock-down, drag-out, paint the walls red fights all the time! I've enjoyed stitching your tomcat up afterwards on more than one occasion."
"Yeah, but he was really mad at me! He was on the news- did you see? And he-"
"Zee, give me something other than that." Myst sounded slightly annoyed. "Otherwise, I'm going to go impersonate a senator, plan a jail break, and try to find out what is going on with this new mutant project that fuck-up over in defense is all on about."
She couldn't help it- a choked sob escaped her. "No, Myst, please wait!"
"...Zee?" The shapeshifter's voice was concerned.
"Myst, we... I saw him last night on the news," She gave up trying to mask her tone, letting her sister hear her crying, hear her fear. "I c-called him, and told him to be more careful! I thought he was going to be caught!"
"Yeah- they spotted him up in Clinton County."
"I was crying on the phone to him, Myst! I was scared for him!" She pulled her knees up to her chest in the bathtub, resting her forehead on them while she spoke.
"What did you say to him, soeur?"
"That I was scared for him! If he got caught, what would he do? What would we do? What would Sari do?"
"And what did he say?"
"To not worry about it."
Myst sighed. "The idiot... Well, this definitely isn't his first rodeo. What did you say?"
"That I couldn't not worry about it! He's my mate, Mystique! I love him! Sari and I need him. How could he forget about that so easily, Mystique?" She choked on another sob, coughing once before letting out another jerking whimper. "He said it like it was my fault- everything was my fault."
"That son of a bitch." growled the shapeshifter.
"He told me that it was my fault I was here at this school- that it was because I wanted to have a cub... like Sari was the mistake..." She sobbed again, "That if I hadn't begged him to have her, I could have fought with you at the statue... and he wouldn't have gotten hurt- you wouldn't have gotten hurt... that Warts would not have died!"
"Are you serious? Oh, I'm going to kill that son of a bitch..."
"He didn't care."
"You know, I told you about this before you started fucking him behind my back." Mystique said with another sigh.
"I wasn't fucking him behind your back- you were with Erik!"
"That's not what I meant, Zosia Panthera Creed, and you know it."
"I went into heat, not-"
"Yes, but you loved him before that! You told me all about it!"
".. Yes, I know."
"And I warned you, Zosia! I told you that he was a fucking asshole- he just wanted to fuck you over, then leave you for dead!"
"I know you did."
"Well, you let him fuck you-"
"Myst!" Zee wiped her eyes. "He yelled at me for something that wasn't my fault. He's blaming me for everything now."
"How is it your fault? You didn't know anything about the Statue or the Machine."
"Exactly. I didn't know anything." Zoe balled her hand into a fist under the water. "It can't be my fault! How can he blame me? And Sari! She's just a baby! It's not her fault, either!"
"Of course not, Zoe." Mystique said, her voice angry. "How fucking stupid is that tomcat?"
"He can pick at me all he wants, but if he wants to start picking on MY daughter, he's got a surprise coming!" Zoe splashed the water, bringing her arm up to grab a handful of her wet hair. "He might can take care of himself, but she's just a cub. He promised me when she was born that he was going to take care of us, Myst!"
"He lied to you."
"Now I don't know if he's ever coming back."
"Do you want him to?"
"... I don't know!" She wanted to scream. It was unclear whether or not she should be angry or sad. Then, like a flash, her emotions calmed. "Myst?"
"Yeah? I'm here."
"Is there a place... where I can hide from him?"
"Hide from him?"
"Where he couldn't find us- Sari or I."
"Like... you mean like to leave him?"
"He left me, Myst. He left me here."
"Are you really going to leave him?"
"...I don't know..."
"Have you thought this through, Zee? Do you know what you're doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"Zoe, honey, lieb, you aren't thinking. He won't let you leave him."
Zoe scowled. "Like hell, Myst!"
"No, listen to me!" Mystique's voice was sharp and serious. "Is this seriously something you want to do? Could you live with it?"
"...God, Mystique, I don't know! I don't know what to do!"
"If you leave him, he's going to hunt you down- you and Sari. He won't stop for anything, Zee- you'll be running, looking over your shoulder, for the rest of your lives." She paused, letting the words sink in. "Is that what you want for Sari? To constantly run? To be afraid that everyone is a spy for her father- that he will take her away from you when he finds you?"
"T-take her away?"
"Yes, take her away! God-damn-it, Zee! You are his. Sari is his. He may let you go- he may even let you live- but he would take Sari. He won't let you get away with stealing his cub."
The dam broke again, and she shivered in the cooling bathwater as she sobbed. "I don't know what to do, Myst! I don't have anything- anywhere to go! I don't know... help me- tell me what to do, Souer."
"I can't tell you what to do, Zee. It's not my life. It's your life." the shapeshifter said, her voice a little softer. "Look... Do you really love him?"
"Yes. Completely."
"Do you think he loves you?"
"Up until last night."
"Do you really want to leave him? Can you stand to never see him again if you love him?"
"...No."
"Then you have to make things right."
"How?"
"I'm not sure. Let me try to talk to him- maybe I can figure out what's wrong."
"He's turned his phone off."
"... I know. I know where he's at. Don't worry about it anymore, Zee. I'll beat some sense into him for you."
"A-allright, Myst."
"Oh, and Zee?"
"Yes?"
"If it doesn't work... and you do leave him..."
"Yeah?"
"Hurt him real good, first."
She had taken a long bath, sitting there until the water had grown cold, thinking over her conversation with Mystique. Surely this could be worked out between them. Surely it was only feral temper creating this discord. It wasn't the first time their wires had been crossed, but would it be the last? He loved her, didn't he? Didn't he love Sari? He was her Daddy; he was supposed to love her and protect her and be there for her.
'Goddess, Victor, hurt me all you want, but don't do anything to our cub. Whatever you do to me, don't hurt her...'
While the tub drained, she dried her body, and pulled her hair up into a messy bun, ignoring the many strands that never stayed up. Zee picked out a fitted, red t-shirt and a pair of dark bluejeans from her closet, and quickly pulled them on along with a pair of black sneakers. Dressed, she stuffed a handful of diapers, a baby blanket, and a clean onesie into the little black bag she used as a diaperbag. When she had her sling from its place on the bedpost, she started to the door. There, she paused, and turned to the desk.
The phone sat next to her nightshirt on the top of the desk, turned on, available. She started to turn to retrieve it- to tuck it away in the diaper bag- but hesitated again.
'He doesn't want to talk to you... or else he would have called by now... Leave it. Leave it so you don't have to look at it- think about it.'
With a wince at her own thoughts, she turned on her heel, and stalked downstairs.
Sari was fast asleep in her in her basket at Ororo's feet, surrounded by a crowd of teenage girls cooing over how darling she was. The feral mother almost smiled at the attention her daughter gathered as she stalked up to the back of the couch.
Jean and Ororo were looking at the TV Guide, scanning it for something worth watching. Rogue, Jubilee, Kitty, and Kelley were sitting on the floor in front of the couch, beside Sari's basket, looking at a handful of teen magazines. Zoe put her hands on the back of the couch, reading over Ororo's head until a piece of her hair loosened and fell down onto Ororo's shoulder.
The wind-rider glanced at her shoulder, feeling the movement, then did a double take at the strand of vibrant red against her snow white hair. She looked up behind her with an amused smile. "You startled me." she said, smiling. "Feeling better?"
The chuckle died, but the feral nodded anyway. "Une goutte." (A little.)
"The Professor sent Scott looking for you." Jean said, looking up.
"I will find them." said Zoe, rounding the couch. "I've come for my cub." She gently lifted Sari from the basket without waking her, and tucked her gently into the sling. A tiny tweak of fabric, and the cub was secure and warm, and hidden from view.
"There you are." The gaggle of girls looked up as Charles and Scott entered the room. "Are you ready to go?" the professor asked pleasantly.
"Yes." Zoe nodded, following the two men back into the long hallway. "Where, may I ask, are we going, Professeur?"
"To visit your Vater." answered Charles.
Zoe came to an abrupt halt. Scott and Charles turned back to her. She stared at Charles with wide eyes. "Mein Leher? Mein Vater?" Zoe asked, surprised. "You know where he is?"
"Yes, I do." said the elder with a pleased smile. "Shall we?"
The feral only nodded, quickly following behind the two. They said nothing as they entered the garage, or strapped Sari in her carseat, or even when they were going down the road. Zoe was afraid to say anything that might make Charles change his mind about allowing her to go with him. She hadn't seen Erik in weeks; she absolutely ached to see him.
The car ride was uneventful. So lost in her thoughts, she hardly paid attention to where they were going. Her eyes were on Sari, watching the cub sleep, picking out the tiny differences between her face and her daughter's. She had her Papa's chin, her Papa's striking brown eyes, her Papa's ears... his stubborn attitude- especially when it was time to eat.
"Here we are." Charles announced from his seat in the front beside Scott. The X-Team's leader parked the Rolls Royce in front of a plain red brick building, and cut the ignition. "Are you ready to go in, Zoe?"
"Yes." answered the feral, unbuckling the sleeping cub.
"Leave her in the carrier." Scott said, opening the car door. "We'll carry it in, too." He handed her a pair of white lace lady's gloves. "Here, put these on so they don't see your nails." When she took them, he held out another pair of tiny baby mittens. "And Sari's."
Without questioning him, she gently put the little white mittens over Sari's tiny hands, then slipped the lace gloves onto her own hands. She pulled the infant carrier out of the car while Scott readied the professor's wheelchair. Once he was seated comfortably, the professor led them into the building. Directly inside the single glass door was a reception room with a row of three empty chairs and one little receptionist's desk in front of a large wooden door. After Charles spoke to the young woman sitting there, they were allowed to enter the door and walk down a long and dimly lit hallway. At the end of the hall was a small white room with three more chairs and three uniformed police guards waiting.
"Good afternoon." Charles greeted them, rolling up to the first of the guards. "And how are you today?"
"Fine, thank you, sir." answered the guard. "They're bringing your chair in right now."
"Professor?" Zoe murmured, holding Sari's carrier close to her.
"These guards are going to check up over before we can go to the observation deck." Scott said to her, giving her one of his concerned expressions. He could tell she was suddenly nervous. "Do you want me to carry the baby carrier?"
After a moment's hesitation, the feral nodded, holding it out to him. When he took it into the crook of his arm, she stepped up close beside him. She stood with her shoulder touching his, as close to Sari as she could get. She was terribly uncomfortable, watching the guards as they watched her. They stood in a line, their posture and stance so familiar to her... She'd seen similar visions in her nightmares- right down to the line of patches along their breast pockets and the black cadet berets. Rows of guards- just like these three- wearing their military flack and black combat boots, cheering, jeering, leering down at her as she fought for her life in the ring. As she was locked in the cold regen tank.
In her quiet panic, she did something she thought she'd never do: she turned to the one X-Men who criticised her, vexed her, most, and leaned against him. She pressed herself against his side, and it made her feel better- almost as if it were Warts or Mystique she were standing beside. The fearless leader looked over at her, questioning, but didn't move to stop her, nor did he shove her off. If something bad were to happen- and in this place, for some reason she felt possible- she was confident that he would at least try to keep the cub safe. If Sari was protected, she could live with it, and considering how much Jean seemed to drool over the cub, Scott probably didn't want his name on her death.
The door across the room opened, and two guards- a male and female- entered, pushing a fully plastic wheelchair in front of them. Zosia held onto the arm of Scott's jacket with one hand and Sari's carrier with the other. The female guard smiled at her, patting a little stack of white scrubs laid over her arm.
"I have to help the professor into the chair." Scott said gently, ignoring Zoe's soft jump. He gave her as reassuring an expression as he could muster, gesturing to the chairs. "Have a seat with the baby for a second." He set the carrier down in one, and she obediently moved to sit beside her sleeping cub, quickly lifting the baby out of the carrier to cradle her in her arms.
The feral watched Scott and the other guard help Charles into the new plastic chair, watching peripherally as the three original guards whispered among themselves.
-The ring was cold as death itself. They stood around the metal cage, laughing, pointing, yelling, whispering to each other about her. The sounds all melded into one rushing roar in her ears as he stepped over her. His stature blocked the single light hanging over them, creating a halo effect around his blonde head. He was going to kill her- she wasn't worth keeping around anymore. Finally, she'd met her match. He was growling at her now, the sound resonating down her head and to her toes. She hurt- everywhere, she hurt- but she pulled enough strength up to move her head, and felt her hair fall away from her neck.
"Zee..." Her eyes blinked open, looking up at him. His body above her's blocked the light from the ceiling fan above their bed, silhoetting his face in a semi-etheral light. His hair, long, wavy, and blonde, hung around her head like a halo, tickling her chin and the lobes of her ears. His amber eyes stared down at her, his eyes drawn into a curious scowl. "Wake up. I'm not leaving..."-
"Zosia?"
The feral snapped out of her thoughts, looking to the Professor in his chair. Scott stood over her again, and she watched him lift Sari's carrier. "Yes?"
"Here, I'll take the diaper bag, too." Scott said, lifting the black bag from her shoulder. "Come on." His voice was soft as he spoke to her, and he even held his hand out to help her stand. She took his hand, and he pulled her up beside him. "You'll have to change."
"Hmm?"
"Miss, you can't have anything metal beyond this room." the female guard said, her voice friendly. "Magneto is a very dangerous mutant- he could take the button from your jeans and kill you with it." She held the white scrubs out to Zoe. "We have these for you to change into. If' you'll come with me, there's a room back this way you can changed in." She glanced to Zoe's hands and the white-gold ring. "Your husband can hold the baby for a minute. He'll have to hold on to your ring as well."
She thought to correct the guard, but changed her mind. Sari was safe with Scott- she was sure of it. "Yes," She said softly, turning to the tall men beside her. "Here, honey. I'll be right back."
Scott looked mildly surprised, almost scowling, but he set the carrier and diaper bag down at his feet. With his hands empty, Zoe carefully transferred Sari up against his chest. Scott put one hand under Sari's bottom, and the other over her back, cradling her carefully so that the baby feral's head rested just over his collarbone. When she was sure her cub was safely held, she followed the guard through the little door back towards the receptionist.
In a sterile, white room, she shed her shoes and jeans, and pulled on the scrub pants. She tucked her bra and her tags, unseen, into her folded jeans. "Scott can hold onto these for me, I'm sure. He didn't care to go in with the Professor and I." she said to the guard, as amiably as she could, as they went down another little hallway into a large observation room.
There were three guards stationed inside the room, two at computers and one standing behind the professor's chair. Scott was talking to a short, stout man with frame-less glasses and a short goatee. Sari was crying against Scott's chest- a tired cry as though she'd been woken up.
"Had two kids of my own, and I got three little grandbabies." said the man, though his voice seemed lacking in care or joy. He smiled at Scott, holding his hands out. "Mind if I quiet the little angel?" The man had a slightly southern accent, and a commanding voice as though he were used to people jumping to do his bidding.
Zoe stopped in her tracks. Something about this man- his voice, the way his lips moved... It was so familiar.
"She's just hungry, I think. Her mama will be back in here to feed her in a few minutes." Scott said, giving the man an almost smile. He turned his head to see Zoe, and bodily turned to her. "There she is."
As soon as the man caught sight of her, he turned to walk down the hallway behind him. "Can't blame a grandfather for offering. Cute little thing!" The stout man said over his should in what should have been a friendly tone, but seemed rather flat.
The voice sent ice water chills down her spine. She had heard that voice before- she just knew she had- but from where?
"She needs her mommy." Scott said, a slight blush covering his face as he held her cub out to her. "I don't have the, uh... hardware for the job."
Forgetting the strange man, Zoe quickly took her cub into her arms, rocking her and patting her back. It didn't take but a few seconds for the baby to calm down at the scent of her mother. "Who was that man?" she asked.
"That's Colonel Stryker, ma'am." answered one of the guards. "He's the boss here."
"Sari will have to stay out here with Scott." Charles said gently. "He'll take good care of her."
"That's what daddies are for!" said the female guard, coming around to get a good look at the baby. "Oh, she's a cutie!"
"Alright." Zoe said to the professor, gently holding the calm Sari out to Scott. He gently took the cub back into his arms, cradling her protectively in his arms. When Sari didn't cry out, the feral mother moved to Charles's side. She rubbed her arms with her hands, brushing the goosebumps away. That name... that face... She shook her head, clearing it.
"Are you ready then?" one guard asked. He gestured to the glass doors Zosia had yet to notice. "Step through the scanner, please. Mr. Laurio will lead you inside Magneto's cell."
Looking through the glass, she could see a plastic box, suspended from the ceiling, with white furniture inside it. Something within it moved, and she instantly recognized her father's figure inside it. She walked to the sliding doors for a closer look, and Charles followed her in his plastic chair. "They locked him in a plastic box?"
"His mutation is that he can control metal. They had to special make this prison just for him." said a guard, stepping up behind them. He was of average height and sported a beer belly large enough to stretch the button holes of his uniformed shirt. Zosia backed a step away before she got a good whiff of what she was sure would not be a clean human scent, and wanted to gag anyway when she could see that he had taken her movement to mean that she was afraid of him. "Hard to keep some mutants locked up, you see." The guard gave her an appraising once-over with his eyes, lingering on her chest before meeting her eyes again.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, I know."
The greasy guard led them down a long plastic tunnel, and then the door to the jail cell was remotely opened for them. It took all she had not to rush to Eric's side and wrap her arms around him. He was sitting silently at the desk now, and looked up to Charles with a neutral expression. When she stepped through, his eyes widened up at her.
"Got the good ol' Professor here to see you, Lehnsherr." Laurio said with mock-cheer, pushing Charles over to the table. "And he brought one of his students with him, too. Ain't that sweet?" He gave Zoe's chest another glance before looking back at Erik, one hand over his sheathed baton. "Any funny business, Lehnsherr..."
"I'm sure we will be fine." Zoe said, her voice a touch dismissive. Laurio only nodded, stalking out of the cell and back down the tunnel. Once he was out of the tunnel, and they were locked in, she turned back to her surrogate father. In a second, she was settled on the floor beside him, sitting on her knees. "Mein Lehrer, mein Vater." she murmured, putting her free hand on his knee where the guards couldn't see her, gently touching him as though to make sure he was really there.
"Zosia." He smiled, patting her hand. "I see your tom took my advice."
She felt tears welling up in her eyes- whether from the relief of seeing her father caged but alive or from the mention of the mate she was fighting with. The feral managed a nod. "Yes, Victor had left us under the safety of the Professeur."
"And the baby?"
"Growing." answered the girl. "She's getting bigger every day."
"Where..?"
"With Scott back there." She gestured to where the tunnel had been atatched to his cell. "Safe."
"If you come back here again," he said gently, taking her hand in his to examine the gloves that cleverly hid her claws. "Keep her far away from here."
"Mein Lehrer?"
"Trust me, my dear. This place is no place for mutants. Especially ones so fragile." He settled her hand back down. "Where is your tom?"
The feral's face fell from its smile back to a slight pout as she turned to look at the floor. "I think he is in New York somewhere... I am not sure anymore..." she murmured.
"Hmm? What is the matter?" Eric scowled.
"Just a fight, Vater... A really bad one."
"I think I lost it in here somewhere last night." Marie mumbled, opening the door to Zoe and Ororo's room. She looked to Jubilee beside her with a playful scowl. "Probably when a certain someone was using my back as a ladder."
"No idea what you're talking about." Jubilee returned with mock-innocence.
Marie rolled her eyes, stepping into the quiet room. She walked to the end of the bed. "I swear... I was going to lend those earrings to Wanda for her date with Piotr tonight..."
"I thought Kitty was dating the metalman?"
"Eh, you snooze, you lose."
"But... they're already having problems. Now Wanda will make it worse."
"So?"
"Well, I just-"
Marie gave the Chinese girl a dubious look. "Right."
"Well, what would you do if-"
-*Kiss me- K-k-kiss me- Infect me with your loving- Fill me with your poison- Touch me- T-t-touch me-*-
"What the-?" Marie looked up at the desk beside her. Zoe's phone was stuck between a crumpled t-shirt and a clean diaper.
"She left her phone?" Jubilee asked, eyes wide. "She does't leave the room without her phone!"
"I know, right?" The skunk-haired teen lifted the little blue phone before it could vibrate its way off the desktop, reading the blinking screen. "It's Victor."
"Victor- Sari's daddy?" Jubilee crossed her arms. "You gonna answer it?"
"I don't think so."
"Oh, come on! He was such an ass to Zoe last night! She was so depressed this morning! She hardly even smiled at Sari!"
"Yeah, she looked so sad."
"Cause her husband's a no-good ass."
Marie nodded. "Right. You know what... I think someone should tell him just that."
"Righ-!" Jubilee was cut off as Marie shoved the phone into her hands.
"You do it!"
"Me?" Jubes shoved the phone back, shaking her head, "Why me?!"
"Why me?!" returned Marie.
"B...because you picked up the phone!"
"I was your idea to tell him off!"
"Yeah, but you agreed!"
"Because you are right, but it was still your idea!"
"I can't do it!" The Chinese teen pouted.
"Why the heck not?"
"Because... because you do a better Wolverine impersonation!"
Looking at the other girl as though she'd grown another head and six eyes, Marie's eyes widened. "I... what?!"
"You could- like- maybe sound threatening or something!"
"Threatening? Are you daft?"
"No.."
"Then quit acting like it and tell him off."
"You say something!"
"Why do I have to say something? You do it!"
"You do it!"
"You do it!"
"No, you do it!"
"Jubilation Lee, you do it!"
"No, Marie- you do it!"
"Would one of you just fucking shut up and do it?!"
Both girls yelped and fumbled for the phone. Marie looked at the screen and winced. Somehow in their shoving, they'd managed to put it on speakerphone. "Who is this?" she asked.
"Who the fuck is this?"
"Who the heck is this?" asked Marie, scowling.
"...Okay- where is Zee?"
"She's not here. Who is this?"
"Where is Zee? What are you doing with her phone?"
"That's not important. Who is this? Is this Victor?"
"Not important? That's a five-fucking-thousand dollar phone, ya little brat! You-"
"Is this Victor or not?" Marie snapped. Her eyes widened when she caught herself, and she turned to look at Jubilee. Jubilation looked just as surprised.
Victor's voice was almost calm when he answered, but the glint in his eyes was easily read from his voice. "If you must know."
Jubilee scowled, leaning down towards the phone. "You are an asshole! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"Wha-Hey! What the fuck?!"
"Zoe was only worried about you!" yelled Jubilee. "And you yelled at her!"
"Alright, kid, give the phone to Zee- right-fuckin-now!"
"She's not here, you idiot!"
"Well, then-!"
Marie put the phone to her lips. "And even if she was, who says she'd even want to talk to you after you yelled at her like that?"
"You fucking little brat! Just who the hell do you think you are?"
"Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I think I'm going to rip your fucking throat out when I set eyes on you, kid!"
"Yeah, right. Like you ripped Logan's throat out on the statue a month ago, right?"
"Logan? What the fuc-"
"God, you're such a stupid jerk!" Jubilee said dismissively.
Marie smirked. "Yeah!"
"Stupid... Are you retarded?" Victor stammered. He growled over the phone. "I'm fuckin' Sabretooth! I eat little shits like you for breakfast!"
"Am I retarded?" Marie hissed. "You're the moron that couldn't tell up from down!"
"..Up from fuckin' what?"
"Up from fucking down, you flea-bitten, smelly, hairy, mangy, no-good excuse for a mutant! If not for Toad, I'd still be hanging upside down from the Statue of fuckin' Liberty!"
"You'd what?!"
"I bet your brain's no bigger than my pinky finger!"
He sputtered again for a second. "You little... Kid, I'm gonna kill your whole damn family!"
Jubilee hopped up and down, snatching the phone from Marie. "I bet your.. I bet your dick is tiny, too!"
"...What?!"
"Yeah!" Marie smirked. both girls broke into a laugh while big, bad Sabretooth was shocked into a stunned silence. "Like a five-year-old!"
"...How the fuck would you know?!"
"How many times did I have to watch you take a leak over the edge of the boat?" asked Rogue, "Needledick!"
"Boat?.. Statue- who the fuck- You're that god-damned poison girl!"
"Ding, ding, ding! Give the boy a prize!" Marie deadpanned.
"Kid, I don't know what the fuck it is you're smokin' but ya either got ta share it or learn ta shut the fuck up!"
"You know what, Mister Big-shot Murder man?" Marie went on. "Zoe deserves a hundred times better than you could ever dream of being."
Jubilee nodded. "Make it one thousand!" She gave Marie a conspiratorial look. "Oooh, I wonder when Logan's gonna come back? Maybe Zoe will fall in love with him!"
"Yeah, Wolverine is a better man."
"What the fuck?! Logan-Wolver-fuckin-rine?!" Victor's voice yelled across the phone. "Fuck the runt! I take care of what is mine!"
"Yes, Wolverine!" Jubilee continued. "He'll be back here soon, and I bet he'll sweep her off her feet!"
"He's got a thing for redheads, you know." said Marie with a smirk.
"I will fucking kill him..."
"I bet he'd be a better daddy so little Sari, too."
That did it. "I'M GOING TA BURN YOUR FUCKING SCHOOL TA THE GROUND, YOU FUCKING BRATS! THE RUNT BETTER KEEP HIS HANDS TO HIS FUCKIN' SELF OR I'LL RIP HIS CLAWS FROM HIS ARMS ONE BY FUCKIN' ONE!"
"My Gods, man!" Pull your head out of your ass for one freaking minute!" Marie finally hissed. "For some reason- Lord knows what- Zee loves you, you big dumb tom! And you're treating her like shit! She cried like all night because of you- hell, she was crying when she left with the professor this morning!"
"Come on, kid, give me a break."
"No, you give me a break! I'm not playing around!" said Marie. She gave a sigh, sitting in the rocking chair. "She was up all night- Storm said so! She couldn't sleep! All she wanted you to do was tell her you'd be more careful- reassure her that everything would be okay- and you yelled at her like she hurt your freakin' pride because she gives a shit what happens to you!" She slammed a fist down on the arm of the chair. "She was ready to burst into tears when she left this morning!"
"Where did she go?" Victor asked, his voice an irritated growl, but not a yell.
"To visit an old friend."
"...Erik?"
"Bingo. I heard the professor tell her in the hallway that they were going to visit her Vater."
"...Fuck."
At his comment Marie let out a loud laugh. "Oh my God! You are so boned! She's telling Daddy on you!"
"Fuck you, little girl!"
"Oh, and believe me, Snagglepuss, when Erik sees you next, he's gonna rip you a new one!"
"Did you just call me Snagglepuss, bitch?"
"Want worse? And this time it won't be some isolation cell in the middle of an island, either!" And with that, Marie clicked the 'End Call' button, hanging up on him.
What do you think? Tell me in a review!
~The Lady Mage