CHAPTER FIVE:

Professor Xavier Lays Down the Law

"I am afraid I owe you an apology, Victor." Professor Xavier said calmly infront of the still-frozen feral. "I had feared that you were intentionally hurting that young woman, but now I see that that is not the case.

The telekinetic telepath took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "She is safe, Victor, she will not be harmed, and you will see her again soon, but you must calm your mind. Try to remember your knowledge of civilization. Do not fear for her safety.

She does not understand that she is your mate. You must give her time to learn."

A deep growl rumbled in Sabretooths chest, a primal warning.

Charles Xavier continued speaking as though he had not heard the growl. "You will come to my school is Westchester with us and come to know your mate properly. I can help you recover your abilities of conversation, but you will NOT simply drag her off and expect her to mindlessly obey like a caveman."

Then the Professor turned his gaze to the other feral. "Logan, as I have already apologized to Victor, you must realize that Victor did NOT set out to purposely harm or kill that young woman, so there is no need for retribution. I suggest you control this ridiculous anger of yours before you ruin any chance of reconciliation with your brother who has done more for you than you can remember at the moment.

Now, we are all going to go back to the school and work things out. Victor, I will release your mind as soon as I find that you are capable of mastering yourself. That being said, the sooner you calm down, the sooner you see your mate."

IN THE CAR:

"Did he hurt you?"

The womans soft, velvety voice snapped her out of the haze her mind was in and she looked up into worried grey eyes.

"What?"

"I asked whether or not he hurt you."

She shook her head and let out a morbid laugh. "No, not really. Just a few bruises." She cautiously touched the dark purplish marks of her fingerprints of the fingerprints on her arms where Victor had shaken her. "And….."

"And?" the woman prodded gently, her touch as light as silk, reassuring and kind.

"And he shook me….." she tossed her head a little to herself. "Granted, though, he had just saved me from a mountain lion."

"He WHAT!?"

The womans shock was so plain it was comical, even cartoonish.

She just HAD to smile a little at that. "Yeah. When he was hunting, I decided to try to escape, but when I ran off, a mountain lion decided to have me for lunch. I screamed and then he was there." She shrugged. "He killed the mountain lion and took me back to the cabin." She bit anxiously at the skin around her thumb nail, her eyes glazing over.

Unknowingly, tears began to build in the corners of her eyes, overflowing and spilling down her cheeks. "It's weird, you know? He CAN talk, but he seems to like to stick to one-word orders; sleep, eat, stay. Oh, and don't stare at him, he doesn't like it."

The tears came faster and, suddenly, she was bawling her eyes out, sobs shaking her frame. This time, though, it wasn't strong, muscled arms that pulled her against a chiseled chest in a warm lap, but willowy arms that wrapped around in a maternal hug, and the scent of gardenias.

…

SABRETOOTH:

Trapped inside his own now-puppet-like body, Sabretooth could do nothing but scream and rage within his own mind.

WHERE was his MATE!?

He knew where she WASN'T. She WASN'T in his arms safe and quiet and resting like he wanted. But she hadn't gone far, he could still scent her and…..he sniffed again (apparently the bald-headed professor wasn't worried about controlling such mundane things as sniffing) and he scented salt-water.

Tears.

HER tears.

The warning growl rumbled from his throat.

"We are not hurting her, Victor." The Professor soothed. "She is understandably upset, but she is in no danger."

Oh, he could show this stupid professor danger. If he found even so much as ONE scratch on his frail, mind control or no mind control, he would make the professor eat his own entrails (and he knew how to do it, too.)

The Professor sighed. "You must learn to curb your anger, Victor. You have already frightened your mate enough with your mannerisms."

And why should his mate be afraid of HIM!? He was her PROTECTOR! Hadn't he made sure she was warm and fed despite her best efforts to get herself killed running off?

"In her mind, Victor, you were not protecting her, you were holding her captive. Undressing her like that terrified her!" the Professor pointed out.

Sabretooth growled again. And what was he supposed to do!? If she had stayed in those wet clothes she would have gotten sick! And he HAD given her the option to undress voluntarily. The stubborn frail had decided not to go with that option so he had done it for her.

Charles Xavier shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

This time, Sabretooth growled low to himself. Why on EARTH did all of this even MATTER to him!? He should just be concentrating on getting to the mind-controller over there and ripping his head off, maybe bashing his brothers head in. Who knew, maybe one more knock to the noggin would give him his memories back.

It had been only ONE and a half days he had spent with the frail and suddenly she was his MATE and Baldy over there KNEW it!

Still…..she was HIS.

This time, the battle in his head was quick, the outcome decisive, his primal nature would allow for nothing else. She was his…..his mate.

It was his job to take care of her needs…..and her job to take care of his. He smirked lustfully. It had been far too long since he had had a frail.

"VICTOR!" the cripple said sharply.

He growled. They had now reached the black car, Logan striding and snarling behind him, having been released from Charles mind control.

"Why didn't you just have someone bring down the Blackbird, Chuck?" the younger feral asked.

Victor rolled his eyes at his younger brothers question. Idiot.

"And land where, Logan?" the Professor asked gently.

"Oh yeah."

Sabretooth snorted.

All three of them stopped at the expensive black car.

"I will give you back control once we are all safely inside the mansion, Victor." A special wheel-chair accessible door opened and the Professor wheeled his chair in.

Mentally, Sabretooth let out a mind-splitting roar as he forced his bulk into the car like a docile pussy-cat.

Then he saw the weather witch with her arms around his frail, his MATE! She should be resting in HIS arms! Safe, where he knew the X-Geeks couldn't get to her.

"I told you, Victor, we will not harm her." The Professor said patiently, then looked over to the young woman who was now clinging to the weather witch in fear, eyes huge behind her glasses.

"Miss. Andrews…..Cassie. I know you are frightened, but I need you to think…..remember how he fed you and tried to keep you warm. In his mind, what this man was doing was taking care of you."

Logan growled low, eyeing the Sabretooth like he was a ticking time bomb. "Do you really think this is the time to talk about this, Chuck? Don't we have some adamantium handcuffs around here somewhere?"

"I have him under control, Logan." Charles Xavier said, using both hands to rub at his temples.

The feral X-man studied the Professors strained visage. "If you're sure, Charles, but it never hurts to be safe."

"Miss. Andrews is very upset." Charles Xavier said and winced. "And the fact that she is upset is driving Mr. Creed to frustration. His every instinct is clamoring to protect her, and that includes taking my head off of my shoulders."

Snickt. Logans adamantium claws came out and Cassie screeched, pushing herself backwards into the seat.

"LOGAN!" Ororo chastised.

Sabretooth chose that time to break free of Xaviers mind control with a great wrench and grabbed ahold of his little brothers wrist. "Put those AWAY Jimmy-boy, you're scare'n the frail!"

All five of them grew completely silent for a few minutes after that order.

"Oh, and you're just a sweet and cuddly teddy-bear, bub." Logan growled. "And who're you calling Jimmy-boy!?"

"I wiped your butt when you were in diapers, Jimmy-boy." Sabretooth growled. "I can call ya what I want."

"LIAR!" Logan shouted.

"LOGAN!" Charlex Xavier demanded. *Unless you want me to take control of you again, you will put those claws away and at least ATTEMPT to be civil!*

Logan snarled, but his adamantium claws slid back into his skin with another snickt.

Charles sighed as the car began to move.

This was going to be a long drive.

VOCABULARY:

Morbid:

1. Having or showing an interest in gloomy or unpleasant things (a morbid imagination)

2. horrible or disgusting (the morbid detals of a murder)

3. caused by a disease (a morbid growth in the body)

Mundane: Everday, ordinary

Civil: Polite