X-Men 1. The Finding

(A/N) Hello hello hello... er, that was a little Count Olaf-ish... creepy. Anyways. This is the brand spanking new edited version of Unique Torture. This will officially be the third time I've edited it. I hope you enjoy the changes and bear with me while I fix up the whole story before moving on to it's sequal, Fireworks and White Tigers. Look for this signal:

**Officially edited**

To find out if the chapter has been edited or not. Please.. enjoy!

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_Blood was everywhere. He looked around and all he could see was that terrifying red. It was all over him, the snow, and the man laying on the ground before him. His lips curled into a snarl as he watched the Wolverine rise from the ground, crouching low to attack. The primal look in Wolverine's eyes should've tipped him off, but he was not paying attention enough. Pain shot through his mid section as Wolverine sunk his claws into his stomach, making more and more of that crimson stain bleed across him and the snow. He felt himself falling, falling far where he could not stand back up. His eyes widened as he saw the Wolverine leap at him again, clawing for his face..._

Dezra Backdraft bolt up into a sitting position; cold sweat dripping down her body. Her breaths where coming in fast pants; she rubbed her face with sweaty palms and tried to wish away the nightmare. Taking a deep breath she went over that terrifying nightmare. Who were the men in her nightmare? They both looked unfamiliar. Dezra suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to get some fresh air. She lept out of her bed, pausing only at her closet to grab a body length coat to fight against the cold.

As she emerged outside she took long, deep breaths to calm her frenzied senses. Her nerves were frazzled and made her muscles jump sporadically. She could still taste the blood lust from her dream. She bit her tongue and tried to force away the unfamiliar and frightening sensation. She stood there for several long moments, just taking it all in and pushing down her fear. Feeling calmness once again claim her, she turned to go back inside. As her hand touched the door knob, she heard a deafening roar. Dezra's head snapped towards the sound, senses at full attention. She heard loud ripping noises and the screeching sound of an animal in horrendous pain and then... all was silent. Knowing something was terribly wrong, she headed towards the strange noises.

Dezra quickly and silently sped through the trees, leaping over logs and bushes. As she reached the small clearing where the noises came from, she stopped dead in her tracks. Her nightmare came flooding back in 3-D. Blood was everywhere, the snow was blanketed in the crimson stains. In the midst of it all, she saw two men. A large man with blonde, yet bloodied, hair lay on the ground, his stomach torn open. Dezra felt the disgusting need to puke as she gazed upon his wounds. Her sight was then drawn to the smaller man standing next to him; his dark black hair was coated in blood as well. Six sharp knives stuck out of his hands, dripping of the larger man's blood. She gave out a startled gasp at the frightening sight. The dark haired man turned quickly at the sound of her gasp and stared deep into her golden eyes. Suddenly, the smaller man ran towards the woods on the opposite side of the woods. She continued to stare after him even after he was long gone from her sight. Then, she turned back to the bleeding man on the ground. Dezra knew she couldn't leave the man to lay in the woods and bleed to death, so she approached him and began to asses his wounds.

She realized that there was a high potential that he could die if he remained in the cold, but she watched in shocked amazement as his wounds healed before her very eyes. She realized with a jolt that the injured man was a mutant. She spread her hyper consciousness out towards him, letting her senses envelop him in a wrap of heat. Dezra placed a hand on his bloodied blond hair and stroked a strand from his face. She wiped away a blood smear and made a silent promise to protect the man, regardless of personal cost.


	2. Pride

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Victor Creed slowly awoke to the sound of running water. He cracked one eye open and then the other and was curious at what he found. He was propped up against a pale pink wall in a sitting position, with his legs straight out in front of him. A woman was kneeling next to him with a wet cloth gently wiping at the blood on his left arm. She seemed to notice he was awake, because she looked up and caught his gaze. Her gold eyes surprised him for a moment and he naturally cocked an eyebrow at her ministrations. Her smile spread some illumination. Two white fangs peeked out from her lips, further increasing his curiosity. He watched as she slowly washed her way up his arm until she reached his chest. He grabbed her wrist and smirked at her startled expression. Pulling her close to him, he pressed his lips hard against hers. Victor felt a sharp pain shoot across his whole body that never seemed to stop. He waited until the pain was unbearable before he threw her from his grasp. He gasped and clutched at his stomach that was still trying to heal.

"I am willing to take care of your needs, but I will not hesitate to blast you as far as Florida if you so much as touch me in an innapropriate manner." Her hardened voice snapped Victor's attention away from his pain. The red headed woman with golden eyes smirked as he growled at her.

"I don't take orders from frails." He said low pitched, his eyes narrowed and he glared at her.

"Well then you're just going to have to suffer then now aren't you." Even though her voice was lower this time, it was still laced with ice. The mysterious woman in front of him was not amused. "Now, what is your name stranger?"

"Sabretooth." Was all he offered, he was peeved that a frail would even think of ordering him around. He would not be denied what he wanted.

"Very well then Mr. Sabretooth, I must take care of some chores. Feel free to shower, and please, do." With that the curvy yet cold woman stood up and left the room. Victor grumbled an obscenity but closed the door and shed his clothes, very willing to take the offered shower.

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Half an hour later Victor emerged from the shower feeling fresh and clean. Glad to be rid of the blood he smiled wide. Wrapping himself in the towel that sat on the toilet, he wondered where his clothes were. He assumed the stubborn red head had taken them while he was in the shower. Grumbling, he dried himself off as best he could and left the bathroom with the towel around his waist. The room connecting to the bathroom appeared to be her bedroom. It was a sparsely decorated room; a single painting in the room, with light blue curtains hanging on a very large window that looked to be taller than Victor's six foot six. A small bed sat across the room from him, it's light blue covers pulled tight. Victor cocked an eyebrow. Strange woman, colder than ice.

Victor's senses went on the alert at the sound of footsteps nearing. He calmed down as he recognized them as belonging to the stubborn frail. A flicker of surprise crossed her face as she entered the room and saw Victor standing there, but it was quickly gone, leaving him to wonder if he imagined it.

"I brought your clothes back, freshly washed and clear of blood." She said, handing him his clothes back. He nearly dropped the towel right there just to see the expression on her face, but he refrained from doing so if only to avoid that unfamiliar burning sensation. He chose instead to head back to the bathroom to get dressed. Once fully dressed he entered the small bedroom again. The frail was sitting on a chair that was next to the window, gazing out over the snowy trees.

"I realize I did not tell you my name, it is Dezra." She didn't even turn to look at him when she said it. Victor walked over to the window, not close enough to alarm her, but enough so he could see what she was looking at. Seeing the clearing with red coating the snow, he wondered at the woman who sat before him. The clearing had to be at least five hundred feet from her house, and she didn't appear to have much strength in her physically. He took a closer look at her however, she had surprised him before and he didn't plan on being surprised again. Her deceptively curvy figure hid a delightful amount of taut muscle. He realized that she was just as tense in his presence as he was in hers. He glanced back at the clearing he had fought the Wolverine in and wondered if she had dragged him the entire distance.

"I carried you here myself. I'm stronger than I appear." He carefully concealed his expression. He observed her in silence as she rose from her seat. His blue eyes followed her, admiring her slim waist yet rounded hips. "Mr. Sabretooth, I am not a woman who appreciates being ogled. Keep your eyes in your skull please."

"I don't take orders well frail." The few words veiled a threat that was as dangerous as the man who backed them up.

"You will get used to it, I'm sure." He snarled before stepping up to her side. She merely held out a hand and he paused. He was not stopped by any force of her will, no he saw the three inch claws that curled from her finger tips and froze.

"Hot damn woman, what the hell kinda animal are you supposed to be?" His question held a note that said it was rhetorical, but she answered nonetheless.

"I am one of a kind Mr. Sabretooth. I am not fashioned over any natural animal." Her gold eyes expressed her imagined superiority.

"Then we got something in common then, 'cause there ain't no sabretooth tiger alive 'cept for me." Victor watched in amusement as her facade cracked briefly, showing a soft, worried woman underneath. He reached out a hand in a non-threatening fashion and brushed a strand of her red hair out of her face.

"Don't touch me." She stepped back and opened the door to leave. "You may feel free to wander the house and the grounds. If a door is locked, please leave it that way. I am not your keeper Mr. Sabretooth, so do what you will and leave when you want, but do not provoke me, my temper is notoriously short."

She left the room without any further words, leaving Victor feel eerily similar to a chastised child.


	3. The Confrontation

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Dezra was glad to be rid of Sabretooth's presence. He was a very intimidating man and just being near him made her feel inferior. She hurried down the stairs, eager to escape his welcoming scent. There was something about him that was undeniably enticing. She knew that unless she treated him coldly, she would cave to his very sensual nature. The way he moved was delightfully feline; he had an unnatural grace. She heard him shifting around in her bedroom. His uncharacteristic loudness told her that he was warning her. He wanted her, she could taste it in the air. She instinctively breathed deeply, her body reacting to his very masculine scent.

Shaking herself out of the trance, Dezra threw open the front door and stepped out into the snow. She had changed when Sabretooth was in the shower, so instead of prancing around outside in her pajamas, she was wearing blue jeans and a black tank top. The frigid temperature froze her for a moment before her internal body temperature regulated again. There were perks to being a mutant.

_"Or something else..." _Her thought trailed off as she started sprinting towards the clearing she had found Sabretooth in. She leaped smoothly over rocks and soared between trees; her instincts commanded her moves before thoughts formed.

She was in the clearing in a few brief moments. The snow was still soaked with blood, but she watched in amusement as curious creatures slipped back into the trees to avoid contact with her. She breathed deeply of the freezing air and felt her lungs choke for a moment. She then crouched down and reached into the bloody snow. Her thoughts directed into the palms of her hands as she pulled warmth from her body and pushed it into the ground. Heat built up until she knew she could set water to boiling in a few brief moments. The snow around her let the heat spread as it began to melt. The bloody water then seeped into the ground and was lost.

She let her thoughts drift away and was consumed by the heat inside her.

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Victor trodded down the stairs of Dezra's house, his long legs taking large strides that helped him reach the bottom floor so he could have a good look around. Her house was pretty plain; there were few decorations scattered among the necessities of life. His eyes were drawn to a shelf that was packed full with pictures. Curiosity piqued, Victor walked over to the shelf to take a closer look at them. In the largest framed picture, there was an unusual amount of people other than Dezra. Children both young and older were scattered around her. Hair colors varied from Dezra's scarlet name sake to the purest blonds and darkest blacks and browns. The variety alone made his eyes burn. Victor turned his gaze from the large picture to the smaller ones only to find them all filled with pictures of the children seperately, or in groups of three.

He turned his blue eyes back to the first picture he had looked at and marveled for a moment. He slowly counted all the children in the picture until he came to a grand total of twelve children. That wasn't even counting the adults. Victor found it eery how similar some of the children were to Dezra. Gold eyes cut through him from the picture. He fought the urge to smash the picture against the wall. He heard something hit the floor from another room, so he took the opportunity to explore the rest of the house.

Despite outside appearances, the house was much smaller on the inside. When he found the room where the noise had come from, he found an open window tapping against it's frame with the rhythm of the wind. He snarled at the distraction, but left it to continue. His trip around the house took less time than he expected, but he wasn't seriously searching the house anyways. It was just a courtesy glance to make sure she wasn't secretly planning to set him up and to make sure she wasn't connected with the X-Geeks. The last thing he wanted was Xavier's cronies wandering around his territory.

His last thought stopped him abrubtly. His territory? Since when did he consider Dezra or any of her affects his possessions? He couldn't think of a specific moment, but if she kept snarling like a barely trained house cat, he might just bite back. The thought made him grin. The idea of biting into her pale flesh more than slightly tempted him. His mouth watered at the thought until he shook off his increasing lust. He found a door that he had yet to open when he finally regained his composure. The door was locked, but when had that ever stopped him? Victor fussed with the lock for a moment before he managed to open the door with minimal damage to it. He doubted Dezra would ever know he had been in the room.

As soon as he opened the door, he knew he should have just walked away. Nostalgia hit him hard as he breathed in deeply. The lingering scents in the room threatened to choke him with carefully hidden memories. Unconsciously, he had closed his eyes against the strain of memory. He forced himself to recover however, and when he opened his blue eyes once more, he recognized familiar objects. He stepped into the room and took a deck of cards into one large hand. The dark blue cards were worn with use, but were covered in a light sheen of dust. A thin rubber band kept the cards from scattering across the table when he dropped them. Memories bit into his mind in a rush as he recalled the people who used to use the cards every day.

**Flashback**

**He was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, watching in amusement as two boys played cards with the familiarity of old friends. The dark haired one slapped his partner's hand after sharing a smile with a red haired girl at the table with them. He held back a laugh when the lighter haired boy opened his eyes at the physical reprimand.**

**"Ah, ah!" The dark haired youth paused as he waited for the other boy to fully recover from the telepathic to physical change in thought, "No cheating ya lil sneak." The other boy grinned broadly before pulling his hand back and looking at the newest addition. The first boy held out a hand for the girl to shake and started to introduce himself.**

**"Name's..."**

Victor was brought out of the memory with a jerk before he could catch the boy's name. The sense of familiarity between himself and the two boys was undeniably powerful. Even now in the wake of the strong memory, he was fighting back the urge to chuckle at their ridiculous antics. He grabbed the deck of cards again and stroked it fondly. It was the same deck of cards that was used in the memory. He struggled to remember the two boys names, but he knew that his quest was just as futile as the Runt's attempts to remember his own past. He pocketed the cards and exited the room. He carefully locked the door behind him and went back to the living room.

He breathed deeply to clear his mind and scented Dezra. Her peculiar smell of burnt wood and faint cinnamon let him know she was approaching. He quickly made himself comfortable on her couch as though he had been there the whole time. She entered the house via the front door in a whirlwind of motion. Her red hair was disheveled and her gold eyes were wide. He took another breath and could smell used power drifting off of her slowly. When mutants used their power it left an aftertaste in the air that he could taste. The smell usually faded quickly after the mutant used their power, so the fact that she still smelled like exhausted powers told him she had either used her powers just a few moments ago or she had used a large amount of power.

The woman sat down on the edge of the couch arm and stared down at him with a curious light in her gold eyes. They remained silent, no words were necessary. A vulnerable expression slipped across her face before being chased by a blank facade. His training told him he should pursue the look in her eyes, but he knew that he would get no good reaction from her if he asked about something so personal. He did wonder if her thoughts had anything to do with the locked up room though.

"Have fun searching the house?" She questioned sarcastically, breaking the quiet mood.

"Yup, got to knock down a locked door n' all." Her eyes widened dramatically, leading Victor to believe that his original thought was accurate.

"How dare you..." Her voice trailed off as he smirked. When she realized he had only been teasing her and he had succeeded in getting her irritated, she sighed before entering the kitchen. "Are you hungry?"

"Starvin'." He answered truthfully; his stomach was growling better than he could.

To Victor's utter delight, Dezra was a fantastic cook, and somehow knew exactly how he liked his meat. At the end of the meal, he was satiated and felt like a cat ready for a nap. Seeing his contentedness, she gestured to the couch. He simply nodded and went to lay down. His eyes drifted closed as he stretched himself out on the couch. He was well on his way to a brief rest when she placed a blanket over his lounging form. He fought the urge to grab her hands as his training dictated. He doubted that she realized the threat she was under. When she wandered away, he let himself relax again. He doubted he'd ever truly relax in the presence of another person, but he could, at least, let himself relax enough to drift off to a restful sleep.

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Victor awoke to the sound of dishes clinking together and to the soft swoosh of sloshing water. The sound, when combined with the smell of cinnamon wafting through the archway from the kitchen, lulled him into a pleasant state of mind. Pulling the blanket off of himself, Victor stood and wandered over to the archway. Dezra was standing at the sink washing dishes as he had expected. Blue jeans conformed to her body like they were painted on and her black tank top was just as tight. Her luxurious red hair was braided tight to keep disobediant strands out of her face. Mustard yellow gloves covered her delicate hands, wrists and forearms. She turned to look at him in the archway and gave him a soft smile; her gold eyes glinted brilliantly in the artificial light.

When she turned away from him to continue washing the dishes, he approached her. He wrapped his large arms around her so he could cup her hips with his hands. He pressed himself tightly against her leaned down to kiss the back of her neck. His sudden arousal seemed to surprise the woman in his arms. She froze when he nuzzled her neck and admired the view down her shirt. His tongue slipped out and licked her ear lobe teasingly.

"Ya smell good," He whispered against her neck, letting his hands stray up her hips to wrap around her waist, "I wonder if ya taste as good as ya smell."

"Unhand me." She hissed. Her rigid stance was betrayed by her unconscious shiver as his hands rose further. His grasp was just under her breasts now and he didn't seem prepared to stop.

"Just want a little taste frail," He gently tipped her head back to rest against his chest so his lips could explore her jaw, "Just a little one." His lips found hers and he captured her in a passionate embrace. She began to relax in his arms for the briefest moment before she regained her sanity. She bit his bottom lip sharply and pulled away to whisper back as he licked the blood off his lip.

"I warned you." Her gold eyes flared with intensity as her touch began to burn. Her superheated skin burned the hair off his arms until the skin underneath began to sizzle. He snarled his defiance and continued to hold her close to him. His hands cupped her breasts despite her actions until she increased the heat. When his already scorched skin began to burst with vicious blisters that popped open to reveal a crispy underneath he finally removed his hands from her. Dezra was not prepared to stop however. Her anger at being manhandled flared as she held his forearms in a hard grip.

"Stop." He commanded. His normally deep voice had risen to an almost high pitch.

"Give me a good reason." She gave him a nasty smile as the fire began to spread up his arms to his shoulders. He cried out as the third degree burns spread across his body.

"Damn it!" He snarled before grabbing her head in one large paw. His hand immediately sprung into flames as well, but he was determined. He slammed her head against the cabinet as they fell to the floor together. The touch of the cold tile against his blisters made him roar in agony. Blood seeped into his wounds as it dripped from her head. The distraction seemed to be enough however, because the fire ceased it's ravaging work.

"Did you have to do that?" She mumbled as she sat up and pushed away from him. He watched as his blackened skin began to peel away from him only to be replaced by fresh, pink skin. Dezra's sharp laugh made him snap his eyes to see her.

"What?" He asked gruffly, sore from the quick healing.

"I thought I was the only one who could do that." She whispered. She turned her head so he could see the wound he had inflicted. The bludgeoned area was pulling itself together as he watched it. He frowned and waited for her to turn back to him before he spoke.

"Thought you were a pyro. Seemed apparent from my stand point." She laughed at him before nodding slowly.

"It's hard to explain and I don't think you would believe me anyways." He raised an eyebrow and leaned against a cabinet.

"I've got time." She shook her head and started to stand up. He reached out quickly, grabbed her foot and yanked her back to the floor. He released her before she could set fire to him again.

"Look, it's a long story, you brute." She pulled her legs away from his grasp before she started to rise this time. He let her and followed behind. Victor reached out and stroked her braid as he passed by her to head back to the couch.

"Yer mine frail." His enticing statement sent a shiver through her spine as she remembered their embrace earlier. She licked her lips lightly and tasted him on her lips still. She shoved him onto the couch and he allowed her. She leaned down to his face and kissed his lips lightly before pulling back and walking out of the room.

"I belong to no one."


	4. Futility

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When Victor awoke, the sun had settled behind the trees and rested as a sliver over the horizon. He shoved himself off the couch and rose to his full height. His arms stretched above his head and he grimaced at the crackle of dead skin finally peeling off his arms. He brushed his arms off and watched in amusement as the black strips drifted to the floor. It satisfied the petty side of him that wanted her to suffer at least minimally for the pain she had caused him. He adjusted himself through his pants and gazed out her front window. The dark blue curtains lifted in the light breeze through the open window and tantalized his senses with the smells coming from outside.

He approached the front door and exited the house in a hurry. He could taste the blood lust rising, the almost sweet burn it caused on his tongue made him toss his head in frustration. He knew he had to get out of the house or the red haired woman would be just another victim to his viciousness. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for Dezra, he had plans that didn't involve death. Not yet at least. He picked up the pace and launched himself in the woods with a ferocious leap that startled the creatures coming out of hibernation into diving into the bushes. The blood lust rose further and he let out a frightening roar that he was characterized by. A chill went up his spine and he dug his claws into a nearby tree. The old tree snapped with the effort behind his movement and toppled over to crush other trees.

Victor surveyed the damage he had caused and smiled with satisfaction. He snarled at the destruction and turned back towards the house. His blue eyes peered through the settling darkness and caught the barest glimpse of gold from Dezra's upstairs bedroom. He smiled again; but it was a grin of pure lust that promised dangerous things to the woman in question. He started back towards the house, dark fantasies dancing behind his eyes.

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Dezra couldn't help but admire Sabretooth's body as he sliced into the old tree at the edge of the forest. Though a frightening man, he was undeniably attractive and had a sinfully lustful nature that tempted her in more than one way. When he turned to catch her watching him, she stared back and waited for him to make the first move. Somehow, she knew that things had changed between them. Whether those changes were good or bad she did not know. What she did know was that she was not going to be terrified into giving the man whatever he wanted; she was pure Shi'Aki and she would not bow to a man of lesser descent.

Thinking of her heritage made Dezra pause. It had been years since she had considered the consequences of obeying her breeding. It was not because of the training via the CIA or because of Doctor Cornelius' medical tweaking. No, she was a cast out and a loner because her alien heritage taught her to treat others as inferior beings. Had she cursed herself to a life of abandonment and loneliness by embracing the very heritage that had defied her?

She shrugged away the uncomfortable thought. She was rejected by the Shi'Aki just as they had been rejected by their distant cousins, the Shi'ar; but that did not mean she was rejected from the rest of the world's culture. However she tried to comfort herself, Dezra found herself unable to requite her inconsistant memories with her ideas. Doctor Cornelius had promised her that her memories would come back with time, but having memories like swiss cheese was disconcerting. She couldn't help but feel betrayed by the man who had turned her Shi'Aki breeding into a mockery of mutation. Though the fire was her own to call, the fangs and claws were not natural and the healing factor was an accident that they had utilised until the day she had escaped.

Dezra realized she had been standing at the window for far too long. Sabretooth was now well on his way back to her house and his black mood was still glinting in his blue eyes. She whirled away from the window and sent herself running to the kitchen. Perhaps if slaking his blood lust would not satisfy the man, a hearty meal would. She slid into the kitchen and stopped herself by catching the edge of the archway. She hastily pulled out the ingredients for a four cheese lasagna and assembled the meal in record time. Dezra didn't bother preheating the oven; she put aluminum foil over the pan and super heated the meal herself. She laughed silently to herself when she recalled all the times she had tried this very feat and failed with miserable results. Though it had taken many tries to get the lasagna to cook evenly, she was quite proud of herself when she finally achieved the desired result.

Hearing Sabretooth's almost silent footsteps, she finished the heating as quickly as possible. She grabbed two plates from a cabinet and two forks from a drawer and set them out on the table. The lasagna was placed on the table just as Sabretooth entered the kitchen. She gave him a secretive smile and served him a large slice. He seemed perturbed at her display of cordiality, but accepted the meal anyways. His table manners lacked in finesse, she soon discovered, but she decided it really didn't matter if he was a sloppy eater.

The meal was spent in silence. Neither felt comfortable speaking to the other after their conflict earlier and it didn't seem necessary to fill the silence with noise. They merely watched each other from across the small table and pretended for those few brief moments that they were different people from different backgrounds with different goals in mind. The reality would eventually catch up to them and their training would reveal their true colors, but defeat was not an option for either. Only time would tell.

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When their dinner was eaten and the dishes put in the sink, Victor finally noticed his state of disrepair. Sweat had soaked into his clothing and hair and blood had dried on his hands from where the trees had resisted his killing blows. He breathed in deeply and caught the putrid scent of his own body. He frowned and decided a shower was in order. Despite popular belief that he was just a mass murdering psychotic that had no care for personal hygiene or upkeep, he was firmly grounded in the idea that you were less likely to get caught on a job if you didn't smell like dead bodies and congealed blood. He ran a hand through his blond hair and turned a questioning gaze to the woman standing across the kitchen from him.

"Guess I need to shower again." She raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'and I'm supposed to care why?' "Got any clothes around here that'll fit?"

"I suppose," She looked carefully critical before she inspected his body totally, "It'll be a tight fit, but I think I have something lying around here you could squeeze into."

She led him upstairs to a bedroom that he hadn't bothered looking into. The room smelled like roses and fresh plants and all sorts of womanly smells that made him want to gag. When Dezra opened the door to step inside, he understood why. The room was covered from top to bottom in plants. Vines wrapped around the bed, lamp, desk and dresser like they were patterned there by the manufacturer. The carpet was covered in a meadow of grass that had grown healthy flowers that looked like they belonged in a vase in a feminine kitchen. Dezra pried a vine from one of the drawers on the dresser and managed to pull it open. She plucked out a pair of pants, boxers and a shirt. When he held the outfit up, he realized that he probably could squeeze into the outfit.

"Hidin' a hubby 'round here frail?" He questioned as he sniffed the room for proof. She laughed lightly and shook her head.

"No, those are my son's clothing." A dark look crossed her face, "And if I have ever had a husband, time has stripped him from me as well as the memories."

"Then I guess I won't have anyone to hold me back from moving in on your territory." His blue eyes revealed the dark fantasies he had imagined earlier. Dezra swallowed hard and forced away her fear.

"Though there is no man to call me wife, I have never needed a man to protect me from villains like you." Their eyes met across the room and his smile scared her more than his words ever could.

"There is no man or woman alive who could keep me from gettin' what I want frail, you'd do well to remember that." He turned from the room and started walking back towards the bathroom.

"Only in your dreams would you have me Sabretooth." He turned back to look at her one last time. The heat in his eyes alone made her skin crawl with the memory of his touch in the kitchen that morning. Lust rose in her flesh like an unsatiable beast. An answering grin from Sabretooth had her collapsed on the floor gasping. He left her like that; lust eating away at her control, her beast clawing at her skin and the reality that self-control and CIA training would not be enough to fight away a man like Sabretooth.


	5. Burning up

**Officially edited**

After Sabretooth exited the room, Dezra had to take a moment to recover herself. Her heart was racing and her blood was pounding through her veins. Every fiber of her being ached for him. No experience that she could recall before this could compare. The way he lit her up was beyond any reaction to another man she had met. Men had come and gone through her life, but none had caused such a primal reaction to rise up in her blood. The way he smelled, moved, watched and spoke set a fire deep inside. She was not sure how long she would be able to hold off from him.

"_But why do I fight?" _She questioned herself. "_If he appeals to me in such a way, why should I refrain from engaging in a relationship with him?" _The longer she thought about it, the more she realized that despite his instinctual attraction, he had a dark nature that frightened a deep part of her. She knew that if she were to ever give in to their mutual lust, she would have to commit all the way or never see the man again. He would change her irrevocably.

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Victor's shower was soothing, but he wished that Dezra would have joined him. His imagination was more than adequate to picture her delightful body wet and naked next to his. He growled at his own distraction and turned the shower off. He pushed the shower curtain to the side and grabbed the towel off the toilet. He dried himself off and snatched the pants up. The pants were a little tight, but he squeezed himself into them with no complaint. He would work with what he had.

"_Besides, tight pants never did David Bowie any wrong_." He chuckled to himself at his inner commentary before grabbing the shirt as well. She had given him a button up shirt, which was probably a wise decision. If it was too small, he could just leave it unbuttoned or opt out of wearing it at all. He imagined the expression on Dezra's face if he left the room with no shirt on. He enjoyed the thought so much, he took the shirt off anyways and balled it up in his hand.

When he left the bathroom, Dezra was folding clothes and placing them on her bed. Each fold was crisp and perfectly matching each one before it. He wondered at himself briefly for his reasons for wanting to get involved with a woman who was so anal retentive. She lifted her eyes from her project briefly and then back down to her clothing. Her eyes then gradually drifted back up as she took in what he was wearing, or rather, what he wasn't wearing.

"Shirt too tight?" She questioned, slightly sarcastic. He grinned at her and he knew that the grin was feral because he could feel his fangs curling over his lip. The reaction in her was almost instantaneous. Her eyes hooded and a shiver ran through her body. Her hands quaked and she forced herself to focus on folding the clothes. She cleared her throat and tossed another shirt at him.

"I don't think another will fit if this one didn't." He responded to her unspoken demand with sarcasm and a raised eyebrow. She struck a pose that said, "really?" and continued to fold clothing.

"This shirt I found laying around the house. I usually use it as a pajama top, but I imagine it would be for better use if you wore it." He fought the urge to sneer, but obliged her by putting it on. The shirt fit well, in fact, it was the size of the shirts he usually got. He grunted at the fit, mildly irritated that he wouldn't be implementing his plan.

"Fits." He mumbled, running a hand through his wet hair. He frowned when he realized how long his hair had gotten. "Got some scissors around here?" He asked, pinching the end of a strand of hair with his claws.

"Of course, time for a trim?" She queried with a knowing smile on her face. "I used to have to trim my hair once a week to maintain the length. I gave up." She laughed slightly, flipping her braid over her shoulder. The thick red strand fell to her hips with ease. He had a vague wish to grab the braid and twine it around his hand while doing all sorts of sinful things to the rest of her, but he pushed those lustful urges down so he didn't make the tight pants too tight.

"If you're planning on staying longer, I figured I should tell you that a few of my children will be coming to visit soon. I only ask that you watch your language and refrain from injuring anyone." He tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

"I imagine I could accomplish that much. But tell me, what's in it for me?"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

His expression was scorching. His eyes raked her form with lusting fire, setting her body to flame with inspired passion. She impulsively dropped the clothing in her hand to avoid setting it on fire for real. Her skin automatically super heated, causing her birth tattoos to flare up into brilliant color. Dezra saw the flash of her tattoos in the mirror's reflection and instinctively twirled around to catch sight of herself. It had been so long since her fire tattoos had been visible, she was amazed.

"Hot damn." Sabretooth whispered, approaching her slowly, warily. He let a clawed paw slide down her arm, tracing the curve of a tattoo. The red, orange and yellow flames normally burned those who touched them, but they didn't react to his skin. "Never seen that before."

"It's not something I can control." She whispered in response, watching his fingers trail across her neck. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to press his lips to her neck. She leaned back against his body and tilted her head back. The feeling of his lips pressing smoldering kisses across such delicate skin made her knees go week. She collapsed and he caught her with ease. He flipped her around and pulled her up into his arms.

His lips met hers and her body exploded with color. Fire ripped through her veins, sending her into ecstasy. Sabretooth held her firmly on her lower back and at the base of her head. He nipped at her lips with sharp teeth and pierced the fragile skin. Dezra gasped and reeled backwards. She felt vibrant, but out of breath. Her chest heaved with the breaths tearing through her body. Sabretooth casually stroked the skin on her lower back and passed over one of the fire tattoos. She cried out and pushed away from him. He didn't let her leave his grasp, but he didn't force the kiss on her either.

"Stop, please." She was unlatching her legs from around his hips and trying to slide to the floor. "No more, it's too much." He grinned against her skin and continued to press kisses against her neck.

"Then we'll go slower." He growled. Her body was on fire and steadily heating up.

"Stop now." Dezra commanded. When he refused to pull away, she super heated the skin in contact with his. Blisters welled up on his skin before he could pull back. One great paw slapped her across the head, throwing her through the room.

"Damnit." He snarled, wincing at the splitting skin. "Bitch." She snarled back, a vicious, wounded animal. Her gold eyes burned in sudden anger before realization rose up through her, letting calm rest in her.

"Sorry, it was too much, too soon." She paused to stand up and straighten her clothing. She managed to look like she hadn't just been romping around with a wild man, but her eyes were still molten gold and the faintest glimmer of her tattoos was visible in her skin. "Let me just, take you to a room where you can stay so you no longer have to sleep on the couch."

"Fine." He mumbled, blue eyes intense with his unabated lust.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

They passed closed and empty doors, locked and unlocked doors, brown doors and red doors until Victor's head felt like it was spinning. Finally they stopped at a plain brown door with no decorations or adornments unlike most of the other doors in the hall. Dezra pulled a key from her pocket and placed it in the lock, turning the key, she pushed the door open to reveal a extravagantly decorated room. Victor felt quite at home as he gazed at the black silk sheets and dark red pillows. Dezra stepped aside to let him in to explore the room.

"Feel free to make yourself at home, which I'm sure you'd do even without my permission." She muttered the last part under her breath, Victor smirked in reply. She was still burning from their earlier contact and he was eager to set her on fire again. She was on her way out the door when he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him abruptly. He did his very best to meld their lips together in that brief moment, impressing upon her his anger and lust. He released her and stepped back, a secretive smile on his face.

"By the way, my name's Victor Creed." He gave her a knowing smile that said he had seen the places he planned to go and he liked them, "I figured you should have something better to call me when you're screaming my name." She flushed immediately and backed out of the room. He laughed heartily with sick pleasure once she left; the look on her face was priceless.

"God damn I love being me."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Dezra was flustered after her encounter with Victor. She changed into her pajamas and tried to put him out of her mind. He was all she could think about and it was driving her crazy. Her body felt like it was running on adrenaline constantly; her body couldn't take the constant strain. She brushed her red hair slowly, trying to brush out all thoughts of him as well. Even as she crawled into bed and snuggled up under the covers, he was on her mind and creeping into her heart.


	6. Possession

(A/N) Some citrus is present in this chapter, consider yourself warned.

**Officially edited**

When Dezra rose the next morning, she felt deeply exhausted, as though the hours she had spent sleeping did not give her rest at all. She groaned into her pillow and rubbed her face before flinging back the covers. She had placed her feet on the floor when someone knocked on her bedroom door. Victor didn't wait for her to answer, he merely opened the door and strode in with all the confidence of someone who lived in the house. Dezra raised a red eyebrow and stared at him accusingly.

"Is there a reason for you barging into my room?" She asked scathingly. The tall man gave a predatory grin and crossed the room towards her. She immediately rose from the bed and removed herself from the corner; the last thing she needed was to be caught in a corner with a predator in the room. Her white silk robe was hardly shelter from the cold temperatures outside as she pushed her balcony doors open, but Dezra desperately needed some breathing room.

"Why bother running? You know I'm going to catch you." The syllables rolled from his mouth as he wasn't trying to restrain his purr. She stepped out onto the balcony and a cold wind ripped across her skin.

"I know I will be caught eventually, but I will choose when and where." She whispered, gold eyes flashing with stubbornness. He laughed heartily and took another step towards her.

"I love a good fight." He snarled, reaching out to caress her face. Just before he made contact with her skin, Dezra leaped backwards over the rail and launched herself into the snow. He immediately jumped off the balcony as well and started following her path through the frigid snow. She ran like a wild animal, weaving through trees and passing over rocks.

He watched her scale a tree and start leaping from branch to branch, so he followed below, stalking her all the while. The very primal part of him delighted in watching her move through the woods like she was a part of nature. Her red hair flicked behind her, not catching on branches, but swaying behind like a long tail. Her pale form flitted swiftly through and he chased her, eager for the confrontation. Her foot slipped of a branch and he took the opportunity to grab it and haul her down to his level. She roared in outrage and bit his hand to the quick. He snarled in her face and got a solid grip on her jaw. The slightest twist of his hand and her mandible broke. Her gold eyes went wide and she howled in pain. One of her feet flicked up and kicked him full force in the side of the head. His world went bright for a moment and he released her.

When he could see again, she was scampering away from him, heading deeper into the woods. Victor Creed gave into his beast and let his animal rise. He bent to all fours and ran after her with the speed of a lion on the hunt. His fangs were openly visible, ready to bite into her tender flesh and rend her to pieces in his rage. When she was just a few feet away from him, he leapt into the air and pounced on her. His fangs bit into her neck and she went completely limp beneath him. Her womanly form became supple in his arms, molding to his body in a sinful invitation. Burning lust roared in his veins and he scooped her up and pulled her close to his body. Her legs wrapped around his hips and he was ready.

When they joined, the beast roared his satisfaction into the resting day.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The snow had a crisp, wet smell to it that had long ago settled in Dezra's senses. She could taste every nuance of the forest on her tongue and her beast delighted in all the dark things that belonged in the forest, but were found on her mate's body. She nuzzled against his warm chest and nipped him with the tip of her fangs. Bright red drops of blood swelled to the surface and she licked them with a proprietary tongue. Every inch of his body belonged to her. She trailed her foot up his leg and nudged his most intimate place with her thigh. A large paw reached down and stilled her leg with the ease of immense strength.

"You done playin' around spitfire?" Abruptly, his words struck nostalgia in her mind and she was pulled back to a time and place not so different from this one.

**Flashback**

**The stench of sex, cigarette smoke and booze assaulted Dezra's nostrils. Her nose wrinkled in distaste but she obediently followed behind her mentor. The brunette was making her way around the room, greeting clients and other women, before slowly making her way towards the back corner where someone was seated. Even through the hazy atmosphere in the room, she could smell his utterly masculine scent and see his cutting blue eyes. She wondered briefly if blue eyes could be heated, because if so, his eyes would utterly melt her into a puddle. Despite her hesitation to greet him again, she was given no choice but to follow her dark haired leader into the back corner.**

**She learned that he had a special team of men that he had trained himself, and each of the men in his company had passed the rigorous trials only to be accepted into his team of black ops specialists. So enraptured by the information she was memorizing, she failed to notice the attention Victor was paying her until her mentor claimed offense.**

**Her words spoke of the leader's undivided attention being focused on Dezra and not her mentor. She was baffled. She hadn't been aware that Victor was observing her, but now, she realized that he had been silent for the course of the conversation, only his men speaking for themselves. Realizing this, she blushed a deep red.**

**"I have had enough of this treatment!" The irate woman exclaimed, rising from her chair and gripping Dezra's arm. "I will not be treated with less attention than my shadow!" She started to storm away, yanking Dezra right along behind her, but her motion was stopped by a large hand wrapping around the younger woman's opposite arm.**

**"If you have had enough, then leave," He said, his deep voice rumbling through his chest, "but the spitfire stays."**

A tongue pressing against her mouth brought Dezra back to the present time, where she was more than happy to oblige Victor's questing kiss with a reciprocation. He kissed her lazily, taking his time to learn her mouth. She soaked in his taste and let her senses be massaged with his familiar scent. When he slowly leaned back, she took in a deep breath and opened her eyes to meet his blue eyed gaze.

"Where didja go?" He asked, referring to her recent mental diviation. She thought about it for a moment before answering him.

"I don't know. Some place that no longer exists." She lifted herself from his warm body and looked around them. Several trees had claw marks that had ripped bark away in huge chunks. The snow around them had melted and pale grass was underneath. Dezra cast a gaze at her own body and saw the last vestiges of her tattoos fading away back into her skin.

"Why do the marks fade?" Victor asked, a curious rumble in his voice. She shrugged and stood up to stretch. His eyes followed the curve of her form so that when he finally found her face again, she was blushing red once more.

"My tattoos have always been predictable. My body doesn't always behave the way that it's supposed to." Victor took the opportunity to stretch this time and he enjoyed being openly ogled by the standing woman. Her gaze lingered on his body until he chuckled. Her eyes snapped to the side to hide her embarrassment.

"It's okay frail, you can feel free to watch me all you want." His smug tone caused an immediate flaring of her anger. She snarled at him, gold eyes flashing as she responded.

"I despise that appelation. I am in no way, shape or form, 'frail'." Victor rose from the ground, a hulking beast of blond hair and muscled body. He wrapped an arm around her body and pulled her up against him. He had to lean down to capture her lips against his own, sending her heart pounding in her chest.

"Compared to me, everyone looks frail Dezra." He kissed her again and lifted her up into his arms. "I will call you what I choose to call you. Ain't go nothing to do with what you like or don't." He bit her lip lightly, but his teeth were so sharp the skin tore with ease. She hissed at him and pulled away as her lip healed quickly.

"If you have that perogative, then I will call you whatever I wish as well." He chuckled at her stubbornness and let her slide lower on his body until the most intimate parts of him pressed against the moist parts of her. Her eyes went wide and she gasped in surprise and pleasure.

"Say what you will, but your body is mine alone." There was a possessive purr in his voice that irritated the proud Shi'Aki side of her, but another side, the primal beast was purring with him in delight. She thought about protesting, but he pushed into her as he started walking back to the hosue and she lost the ability to speak.

"Now let's see if I can get you to scream my name before we reach the house."


	7. Homelife

**Officially edited**

By the time they made it back to the house, Dezra was thoroughly exhausted, but pleased. Victor had eventually managed to make her scream his name and he was very smug with himself afterwards. Regardless of his attitude, she was inclined to keep him around if only for him to remain in her bed. They took a long awaited shower in her bathroom shower, which was conveniently large enough to fit them both comfortably. Dezra could only credit the shower's size to her minor problems with claustrophobia. Of course, taking a shower together, they were bound to get distracted again. When his hand strayed to caress her rear, she slapped playfully at his hand and sent him a chastising look.

"Are you never satiated?" He chuckled at her question and grabbed her round flesh firmly to pull her close. She gasped in surprised pleasure and gripped him with her claws instinctively so she wouldn't lose her balance. He hissed at the feeling of her claws sinking into the skin on his chest, but delighted in the expression on her face when he licked the blood off of one of her claws and pierced his tongue with that very same claw.

"We're not going to get out of this shower any time soon are we?" She queried, a teasing smile on her face. Victor leaned in and pressed a smoldering kiss to her lips. Her tattoos flared up in her excitement and he grinned against her lips.

"Not if I have anything to do with it." He murmured as he pressed her up against the shower wall. He lifted her easily and pressed deep inside her and she gasped out her next words.

"I think you have everything to do with it.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

When they finally made it out of the shower, Dezra went downstairs and made them several roast beef sandwichs. She could only manage to consume one, but she imagined Victor's hunger was more impressive if it followed his appetites in other areas. She shivered in remembrance and nearly collapsed to her knees from the sensory memory. It was strange how quickly he had learned the quirks of her body; it was as if he had been her lover for a longer time than he had. She imagined that it had something to do with his very sensual nature. He was so much more in tune with his surroundings than any other person she had ever met, with the exception of her son Eric, who was more inclined to know the world around him simply because of his mutation.

Being reminded of her child, Dezra logged onto her computer to check the flight arrival time for her children. In a few short hours, they would be arriving back in the city for the first time in over three months. Their time spent at the Xavier Institute was healthy for them; they needed someone to teach them how to control their mutations in a normal school setting. But she missed them so dearly when they were gone. Content that they would be home soon, Dezra grabbed her gardening gloves and headed out into her little garden in the back yard. Tending her garden was very therapeutic for her; when life was hectic, her flowers were in bloom.

"And when my flowers are not in bloom, I kick ass." Dezra laughed lightly to her self and picked up her pruning sheers, ready to trim some rebellious hedges.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Dezra lost track of time while she was gardening and when she glanced at her watch, she realized she would have to leave now to get to the airport on time to pick up her children. Standing up, she pulled her gloves off and headed into her house where she saw Victor asleep on her couch. A smile crept onto her face as she realized that he looked very much like the great cat of his name sake. Dezra took the time to wake him up before she headed back upstairs to shower quickly and change.

"My children are arriving at the airport soon. I have to leave to pick them up. You are welcome to come with or stay here. It's up to you." She met his possessive gaze with ease, undaunted by the predatory look in his blue eyes. He took a deep breath and scented the dirt and warmth from outside on her skin. He grabbed her hips and pulled her towards his body. She danced out of his grip and laughed at him with a smile on her face.

"I do not have the time to play right now Victor. I have to shower and change." She darted upstairs before he could protest to her words physically. She showered swiftly and pulled on a pair of jeans and a white peasant top. She brushed her hair and left it to dry naturally before heading back downstairs. Victor was standing by the couch, arms up high, stretching out all the kinks in his back. He turned to look at her with the satisfied air of a predator who has already caught his prey and enjoyed it thoroughly. Dezra flushed with embarrassment at being caught watching him, but recovered quickly. She grabbed her purse and her keys and Victor followed her out to the car.

"I do hope you'll behave yourself around my children." Dezra whispered, her gold eyes focused on the road ahead of them. He laughed at her before answering.

"I'll only do what I always do around kids." She turned to him very seriously and met his stoic gaze with flickering flames behind her eyes.

"If you so much as harm a single hair on my children, I will flay you to the quick and feed you to the wildlife." He met her gaze with a fierce one of his own and they experienced a battle of wills. Her mother instinct was very powerful and if he thought for one instant that he could get away with hurting her children, she would not hesitate to kill him. His posture relaxed and he leaned over and patted her hand.

"No worries frail. I have no interest in hurting your children," He made a disgusted face as he muttered the word, "I only have interest in you." She watched him for a moment longer before starting the car. As long as his interest remained in her alone, she would not fear for her children.

"Just checking." She said, a playful smile on her face. Despite her light demeanor, he knew she had been completely serious a moment ago. He was not keen on losing her because he couldn't put up with a few pain in the ass kids for a few days. The remainder of the drive was silent.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Victor tapped his foot impatiently on the blue and white tile floor of the airport as he and Dezra waited for her children's plane to unload. He sat down on a nearby bench when he got tired of standing. He feigned calmness, but inside he was a roiling pit of anxiety. He had never been particularly fond of crowded places, but airports in big cities were hard for him to truly relax in. Mothers were ignoring their screaming babies, girlfriends and boyfriends swapped spit before one or the other got onto a plane. It was a disgusting place to be and if it weren't for his woman being her, Victor would never have come. Sensing his impatience, Dezra smiled at him.

"Their plane should be unloading the passengers any moment now. Have some patience." He curled his top lip back and snarled at her, but stopped when he saw the amused look on her face. He lounged on the bench and crossed his arms, watching silently as the plane they were waiting on started to unload it's passengers. He stayed sitting as the red head stood up and looked for her children. A young man followed by two females and a small boy approached from the passenger unloading ramp. Dezra immediately rushed to their side and pulled them into her arms one at a time.

"Taris! I've missed you so much. Was the flight alright?" She gushed as she hugged him. The tall blond laughed pleasantly and grinned back.

"It was alright, but you know how small those seats are. I always end up in the window seat too." As Victor was a large man himself, he could see how the boy would have issues. In fact, the boy wasn't much smaller than himself. Fitting into helicopters were hard enough when he was working for the government, but fitting into planes had always been much more of an annoyance.

"Tori! I swear you get more beautiful every time I see you!" She exclaimed as she hugged the thin blonde girl. The curly haired girl smiled warmly, but didn't say much more than a greeting. Victor got the impression that she wasn't talkative by nature. She just watched her family with a warm blue gaze and occasionally sent a cautious glance in his direction. Deciding to be playful, he gave her a predatory grin that left his fangs easily visible. Her eyes didn't even widen, but the younger boy's eyes did. Strangely, he said nothing.

"Oh Jade." She said softly as she hugged the red headed girl. She wasn't very tall, but her red hair curled down her back lazily and her gold eyes peered at her mother with a familiar expression that gave her a rebellious look. Victor realized that she was the only one of the group who wasn't eager to hug Dezra. She seemed to be the rebellious sort and wouldn't be inclined to listen to her mother's orders. He could only imagine the fun times they would all experience in the same house.

"And my sweet boy, how are you Tyler?" The boy appeared to be about seven years old, but looked nothing like his siblings. He had grey eyes and black hair, and an unusual scent to him that bothered Victor. The longer he sat there with the boy around, the more unsettled he became. He was confused as to why he felt this way, so he refrained from acting. He would have to ask Dezra later who the father was, because the boy was obviously of a different genetic pool.

Dezra and her children shared some light conversation, mostly "I missed you"'s and "how are you"'s. He followed at a small distance while they walked to the baggage claim area so that his mate could have some time with her children without his interference. Every once in a while, the blonde would glance behind the group to observe him, but never said anything. It was after the fifth time that she looked at him that the boy said something.

"Look, if you think he's cute ask him on a date. But seriously Tori, stop craning your neck around." The girl sent him a scathing look very similar to her mothers, but she did stop and face him this time.

"May I ask why you're following us?" She asked. Her voice was very mellow and spun through his mind like a slick silver cord. He met her blue eyes with his own and waited for her to break, just like all others before her. Surprisingly, she stood her ground and didn't break the eye contact.

"Are we having a staring contest here kids?" Dezra teased, breaking the tension of the moment. Victor slowly approached the group to avoid panicking anyone and took his place beside his mate. Dezra leaned into him when he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Children, I'd like you to meet Mr. Victor Creed. He will be staying with us for a while." The children said hello politely as a group.

Victor didn't bother responding to their greeting. He merely leaned down and pressed his face into Dezra's still wet hair to remind himself why he was making the effort to be nice. The urge to cause damage increased the longer he stayed in the airport. So he breathed in her cinnamon scent and let himself relax in her presence. He had never known anyone who he could so easily relax around.

"I guess it's time to head back home. Victor, can you help with the luggage?" He frowned at her question, but scooped up one of the heavier duffle bags that the blonde had been struggling to shoulder. He slung it onto his back with ease and met her gaze again. This time she smiled at him, just the barest of expressions, but it was enough. He knew who had won this round, but it was okay, he was more than willing to make up for lost points in the next round.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Victor had walked this Earth for more years than he could remember, met more people than could be named and done more acts, mostly sinful, than any other person could try to mimic in the same time frame, but he had never seen a more vicious battle over a remote control in his life. The red headed girl and the blond boy were duking it out on the living room carpet, trying to determine who should have control over the television. She was pulling his hair, he was gnawing on her arm, there was blood, hair balls and pieces of broken furniture everywhere. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to applaud or break them up, so he merely scooped up the remote and smashed the tv screen with it. Needless to say, the fight stopped and all sounds ceased.

"There, now nobody watches tv." He then tossed the remote at the frowning kids and headed towards the kitchen where Dezra was preparing dinner. The blonde girl, Tori, followed him into the kitchen and sat on the counter top next to the sink. Her blue eyes tracked his every moment, making Victor feel vaguely like a zoo exhibit. She started swinging her legs lightly and they tapped against the cabinets each time.

"Did you seriously just break the tv?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. He rolled his eyes and leaned into Dezra, pinning her to the counter where she was slicing vegetables with a butcher's knife.

"You were there, you tell me." He pressed his nose into his mate's hair and breathed her in. The house with all it's maddening inhabitants was driving him crazy and he swore that if he did not get laid in the next 24 hours, he was going to murder something. The blonde girl grabbed his arm abruptly and yanked him backwards, away from Dezra. His reflex reaction was to grab the arm and snap it, but he refrained from doing so just barely. Instead, he wrapped his hand around her very small arm and twisted it behind her back. Her eyes went wide with shock and she cried out in sudden pain. Five claws gripping his crotch was all that kept him from continuing with the movement and causing further damage.

"Release my daughter." Dezra commanded from behind him. He slowly eased off on the pressure on Tori's arm and backed away from her. The furious red head behind him followed through with the movement and released him as well. "Both of you, apologize." It was an order, but Victor was disinclined to follow the commands of anyone but himself.

"Fuck you." He said, exiting the kitchen. Behind him, Dezra snarled her anger and followed him. She handed the blade off to her daughter and stalked him all the way to her bedroom, where he was busy stripping off his clothes.

"Exactly what do you think you are doing?" She growled as she slammed the door shut behind her. Victor pulled of his shirt and started unbutton his pants. Dezra came up to him and grabbed his hands, stalling his movements for a brief moment. "Could you take a moment and just tell me what is going on in your mind?" Her words were softer and her eyes were vulnerable.

He stopped and grabbed her hands to pull them off of his pants. He then wrapped a hand around the back of her head to pull her in for a kiss. He drank passion from her lips and poured fire into her veins. She, in turn, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled her body closer to his. When they finally parted, she was gasping and he was trying to convince himself to stop.

"I'm leaving." He whispered against her lips. Dezra pulled back from his grasp and stared at him with uncomprehending eyes. She licked her lips and he thought about leaning in to kiss her again. Her body spoke to his in ways he had never known before. All women before her were good for one thing before he threw them away. She was the first that he had spent time with outside of the bedroom that involved real conversations and the sharing of opinions.

"Why?" She didn't ask for clarification, or try to stop him, she merely asked for his reasons. He dropped his hands from her body and continued changing into his costume. Dezra had spent some time repairing it so it didn't have any gaping holes in it from his fight with the Runt, but it still needed some professional repair. He thought about his answer as he pulled the spandex uniform up and over his delicate bits.

"I wasn't made for a family setting. Being cooped up in this house is going to drive me up the wall. Everywhere I turn I'm surrounded by squabbling children and memories. I'm not..." He trailed off as Dezra grabbed his arm and turned him to face him.

"Memories? What do you mean?" This seemed to be an urgent point for her. She wouldn't release him when he tried to shake her hand off of him and she met his gaze consistantly.

"Just random things. It doesn't matter." She released him and rubbed her face with both hands. She let out a hard breath and turned to face the window.

"Yes it does. It matters very much, because I'm remembering things too. Things that I have never known before I met you."


	8. The Fight

**Officially edited**

Victor was given to odd thoughts occasionally, but he was never one to entertain impossibilities. What Dezra was suggesting was impossible. In fact, it was so ridiculous that they could have a history together that he barked out a laugh. She turned her gold eyes his way and stared at him with a frustrated expression. He furrowed his eyebrows and reigned in his scepticism.

"Please Victor, hear me out." She pleaded. Her eyes were wide, as though she was a deer in head lights. "Your presence here in this house, with me, it takes me to places I don't remember. I've seen people I've never met, places I've never been." She looked at him with earnest eyes that showed confusion and desperation. "I wish I could remember who I was. But the more I linger in your presence, the more things return to me." He stayed quiet and patient. "Please tell me I've not gone crazy. Tell me you're remembering things too."

"I don't know about crazy, but I do know that I've seen things too." He pushed open the French doors and stood out on the balcony with his hands on the rail. His eyes scanned the horizon for unnamed things; in that moment, he was every inch the predator that his reputation declared him to be. Dezra came up to stand beside him and laid a pale hand on his hairy arm. The site of their flesh touching, even in such a platonic fashion, excited the beast inside of him.

"Tell me what you've seen." Her whispered words bordered a little too close to a command for his tastes, but he ignored it in favor of telling her what was going on in his mind.

"I went in that room with the locked door." Her eyes narrowed at his admission, but disregarded punishing him because she desperately wanted to hear what he had to say. "I just... picked up that deck of cards that was sitting on the table," He shook his head as the memory threatened to flood him again. "I saw you and two others, but you were young. You were new, but they..." He paused to take a breath and his memory was so powerful, he could still smell the cloves that they kept in the drawers to fight back the scent of the fresh maple finish on the dresser. "They were familiar."

"I remember," She said in response. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Her eyes came open abruptly and she glanced at him sharply. "I smell cloves." He nodded at her baffled expression.

"Vale hid them in all manner of places." The name slipped out unconsciously. They stood there quietly for a moment as Victor savoured the ease with which the name had rolled off his tongue.

"Vale." Dezra whispered the name and was abruptly overcome by the scent of pine and the brisk feel of snow as memory flooded her.

_They were playing cards when Victor brought Dezra to their room. Her gold eyes were wide as she took a seat at the table with them. The one to her right spared her a smile before slapping his partner's hand._

_"Ah, ah!" Vale paused in his movements at the blond boy's chastisement, brown eyes popping open, "No cheating ya lil sneak." The boy grinned broadly before pulling his hand back and looking at the newest addition. "Name's Zane." He offered a hand that she hesitantly took. The shake was firm and swift._

_"Dezra." The boys nodded in unison._

_"We know."_

"Zane." Victor and Dezra stared at each other in amazement. There was no denying it. They had a common history between them that could no longer be stifled.

"I wonder if we'll remember more memories if we stay together." He thought out loud. The red haired woman nodded her head in agreement before heading back inside.

"You are more than welcome to leave if you wish Victor, but the reality remains. There is old blood connecting us and if we walk away from it now, we may never recover all of our memories." She stared hard at him, gold eyes flickering with mutant fire. "I want to see what else remains. I want to know you and I better." Victor nodded his head in response.

"I'll stay."

Later that night, after everyone had long gone to bed and Victor and Dezra had retired to the bedroom to enjoy their new found physical relationship, the blond man remained awake thinking about all that they had uncovered that day. The red haired spitfire lying across his body had rediscovered more than just memories; she had also reminded him of days before the bloodshed**,** days when it was just the wilderness and freedom. Those brilliant days before his father had locked him in the basement to try and exorcise the demon from him. His home life had never been grand, but there were times he could recall when he was something close to happy.

_Never knew what it was like to have a dad who didn't want to beat me. _He mused to himself. He thought about Dezra's children, especially the present ones, and wondered what their lives would be like if he became a permanent figure. Victor wasn't about to change and become a more family type man, but he was inclined to avoid slaughtering the cubs simply to evade their mother's rage.

He thought of Taris, possessive, yet laid back. The boy seemed to be on the cusp of turning into a man, but he had the sense of untried strength and undiscovered powers. He wondered if the boy had a mutation or if he was a _normal._ He thought of Jade; she seemed to have more attitude than all of her siblings combined and a melancholy personality. She was rebellious and constantly furious. The longer he was around her, the more she became actively snide and displeased. Tori was an unknown element so far. She seemed to enjoy stepping on her mother's toes, figuratively speaking. The little things she did to seek attention and to battle with him in small ways were keeping him balanced on the line between fury and amusement. He wasn't sure if he was keen on the idea of killing her or keeping her around.

Tyler, on the other hand, sent chills up his spine. Everything about the boy irritated Victor. From the way he smelled to the way spoke, he could not stand the child. Whenever he was in the room, the hulking blond went out of his way to leave. Regardless of what Dezra said, he could not remain in the boy's presence without feeling unsettled and slightly sick. Something about him was just _wrong. _Victory just wasn't sure what it was yet. In the mean time, he was more than willing to stay far away from the child. He looked forward to when the children went back to their school; he could not wait to have their mother all to himself once again.

Thinking of the red head, he rolled over in bed to pull her warm body against his. Her curves fit so easily against his body; he imagined that he couldn't find a better fit than her. She moaned slightly when he stroked his claws lightly over her sensitive breasts. He loved how very aware of him she was. His hand snaked down between her legs and stroked her softly. Her body came alive to him, but she continued to drowse in her dreams. He gently lifted her left leg and slid closer to her on the bed. When he entered her body, she came away with a smile on her face.

"So insatiable." She whispered against his lips after she kissed him passionately. Victor chuckled to himself and thrust into her hard. She gasped and her eyes rolled back in her head.

"Maybe I just like hearing you scream." He suggested darkly, squeezing her hips with his clawed hands. Dezra smiled at him, white fangs peeking out.

"Whatever the reason," She panted hard as she spoke. She was out of breath from the way he twisted his hips. "Don't you dare stop."

So Victor fucked her hard and fast; she screamed his name before he was done.

The next morning, there was visible tension in the house. Jade, normally antagonistic by nature, was tip toeing around the house, doing her very best to not instigate any fights or arguments. The atmosphere was quiet; everyone was whispering and glancing around the room before they said anything. Taris was shutting cabinets a little too hard, his cups were set down just hard enough to clink against tables and counters and every look he sent at Victor was burning.

Victor, on his part, was playing the satisfied cat. He lounged around the house indolently, stealing kisses from Dezra whenever he chose to and staring at her rakishly until she felt as though he was undressing her with his eyes. It was after lunch, when she was doing the dishes and humming to herself that Victor came up behind her. He nipped her ear just a little to**o** hard and broke the skin. She only bled a little bit and the cut immediately healed up, but Taris seemed to be thrown into a rage abruptly. He was staring at Victor, so furious his eyes dilated. The older man casually turned his head to look at the teenager and raised an eyebrow.

"Got something to say, boy?" He asked, mockingly. The blond boy took a step forward before his sister's hand snapped out to grab his wrist.

"Don't be a fool Taris," Tori commanded, blonde ringlets giving her an innocent look despite the superior expression on her face, "He'd destroy you in a fight." Her older brother pulled his hand out of the fourteen year-old's grasp. She shook her head and backed away before she got pulled into a physical altercation.

"Your worries are unfounded Tori, because there will be no fight." Dezra's words, despite their strength and demand, were blatantly ignored by Victor as he stepped away from her and closer to her son.

"If you're gonna do somethin', you might as well do it now. 'Cause I sure as hell ain't gonna give you another chance." His deep, growling voice rumbled through his chest and vibrated through the air. The stench of fear was thick in the air, but Taris wasn't inclined to give in just when he had worked up the nerve to do something.

"You are going to treat my mother with more respect." He declared. He didn't know how painful his beating was going to be for speaking up against the tyrant that was inhabiting their home, but he wasn't going to just sit there and let the man boss his mother around.

"Treat her with more respect huh?" Victor casually reached back to Dezra and yanked her into his arms. Soapy dish water was flung into the air, but she couldn't care less because he pulled her against him and kissed her like he wanted to consume her. He slowly released her when he finished sucking on her lips.

"She deserves better than a brute like you treating her like some common whore!" Taris raised his voice because his anger flared. Beside him, Tori put her hand on his shoulder and tried to calm him down.

"Just relax Taris. Don't you think mom would say something if she was displeased?" Her logic was without fault, but her brother was too far gone in his rage to stop now. The boy picked up the lamp that was sitting on the side table and hurled it Victor abruptly. The man snatched it out of the air and set it down on the counter top without breaking a light bulb.

"Taris!" Dezra gasped out in astonishment. She shucked off her yellow gloves and threw them on the counter. She stormed towards her son and grabbed his hand. She dragged him up the stairs with all the force of a determined mother and shoved him in his room. "I want you to stay here until you calm down. When you are, I'll be up here to have a conversation with you."

After she shut the door, she walked back down stairs and met the vaguely traumatized eyes of her youngest daughter. Tori reached up and pushed her blonde bangs out of her eyes, watching her mother cautiously with wary blue eyes. By the time Dezra reached her side, she was calmed down enough to think rationally about what just happened, but she was still amazed by the force of nature that was her mother.

"Mom, you're crazy." The girl smiled brightly at Dezra before flinging herself into her arms. They embraced each other for a long moment, slowly rocking side to side with a comfort that only a mother and her daughter can experience.

"He's gonna have to learn respect for me eventually. You're only delaying the inevitable in the mean time." Dezra met Victor's eyes and glanced upstairs.

"I want you to go upstairs as well Victor. We need to have a conversation." She then released her daughter and led the way up the carpeted stairs; her heart beating a terrified rhythm every step of the way.


	9. Intruder Alert

Dezra started walking towards her room, Victor not sure of what to do just followed her. Her red hair was fannning out behind her as she walked and he watched with interest as it whipped around, like it was alive. When they reached her room she turned around and faced him, her arms crossed. Her gold eyes were flashing with anger.

"Now, I want to know exactly what happened while I was sleeping, no lies. It bothered me that my son was lying, and he only does that when he dosn't want to admit that he was wrong, now tell me, what happened?" She ordered. Victor, deciding that the truth was best started his tale.

"I woke up when I heard tha door open, I cracked my eye open ta see who it was. Seein' Taris I got up and told him ta get lost. The kid stammered a bit when I ordered him, told me he knew who I am and would tell ya. Again I told 'im ta get lost, he didn' listen. Then all o' a sudden he just attacked me. I didn' wanna wake ya up so I tossed him down tha stairs. We fought 'n stuff, then when he was tellin' ya his side o' tha story I got all agitated and then ya know it from there." Finished with his story Victor sat on the bed and relaxed, he did not enjoy being a storyteller.

"What do you mean when you said that he told you he knew who you are?" Dezra asked. He sighed, he knew this was coming.

"He knows who I am, recognizes my name I guess." Victor shrugged, he knew she wanted more information but he wanted her to ask for it.

"What's so special about your name? Besides the obvious I mean." _She sure is a curious woman._

"My name is Sabre..." Victor stopped speaking when he heard booted footsteps nearing the room. When she started to prod him for more information he hushed her with a hand around her mouth. "Shhh." He whispered in her ear. Since he wanted her to be quiet Dezra stopped talking. When the footsteps got close to the door Victor pulled Dezra into the closet. Pushing her behind him he waited for the chance to strike.

The intruders entered the room with guns drawn. They had black ski masks covering their faces, their scents were masked so he had trouble sensing their presence. They had on black long sleeved shirts and black pants, with black boots on. They searched the room quickly, then one of them neared the closet. He reached for the handle and yanked it open. Seizing the opportunity Victor slashed the man across the gut, his entrails spilling out onto the floor. Leaping for the next two people he grabbed their necks and smashed their heads together.

Taking a quick look around the room he saw there weren't anymore in there. Motioning with a hand for Dezra to follow him, Victor started out the door. He slipped through the halls unoticed by the soldiers who were raiding the rooms, shooting needles with a sleeping serum in them into Dezra's children. When an unsuspecting soldier with a sleeping Tyler in his arms started towards their direction Victor grabbed him with a single hand and snapped his neck, snatching the boy out of his arms before he hit the floor. Handing him to Dezra he inspected the remainder of the rooms, unfortunately the other children had been captured.

Walking down the stairs Victor waited until he was at the bottom to tell Dezra to follow him. Peeking out the front window he saw a group of soldiers struggling to carry Taris. Motioning for Dezra to hide next to the couch, Victor slammed the door down with his foot. He always had a thing for big entrances. The soldiers dropped Taris onto the ground and turned their guns onto the huge blonde man charging at them. They shot him several times with the serum but it only made him fidget slightly. Grabbing one of the men by the arm he began to swing him around into his soldier friends. Picking up the guy's dropped gun Victor shot the soldiers.

Suddenly a shooting pain blasted through Victor's neck, his body began to go numb. He turned slowly towards the direction where the shot came from, his movements were slow and sluggish. _Musta put enough ta take down a herd o' elephants with that one._ He dropped to his knees from exhaustion. A soldier came up to him and put a metal brace around his neck. _Inhibitor brace._ He thought. Victor got very upset when his world started to go black, dropping onto his back he closed his eyes and everything was gone.

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Inside the house Dezra was peeking out the window and watched Sabretooth tear through the ranks of soldiers. She wanted to scream when she saw a sniper shoot him with the stuff that made her children pass out. Seeing him drop to the ground and fall unconscious made her realize with shock that she was very much alone in this. In her arms Tyler began to cry, trying to hush him without speaking a soldier heard his cries and started towards her direction.

Dezra was starting to really freak out now. As the soldier neared her she prepared for battle. She hadn't fought in so long, but she was going to protect her and her children with her life if necessary. Silver claws split her finger tips open, fire erupting from the tips. Her wings were still inside her back, but they were ready to surge out when needed. The soldier noticed them sitting behind the couch and aimed his gun, before he could shoot she leapt towards him with flames shooting towards him in spirals. The man was consumed by the fire in seconds.

Telekinetically grabbing her son Dezra stepped outside and freed her wings. Taking flight she took hold of Tyler with one arm, letting the other hang just in case she needed to fight. Seeing a rocket launcher aiming at her she sent flames towards it, melting the metal. She was almost free when a sharp pain shot through her leg. The pain was spreading through her whole body now. Suddenly it was hard to keep flight, her wing's movements became harder and harder, she had to struggle to stay aloft. The pain soon overwhelmed her, making her drop to the ground, Tyler screaming in her arms clung tightly to her. Then, there was nothing but black.

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(A/N) Sry that it took me so long, I wanted 2 fin fireworks and white tigers first. But now my full attention shall b on this story. Hope yall like it. l8r -Sabeybaby


	10. Be Your Puppet? Never!

Victor woke to a constant humming and a receiding headache. Opening his eyes he saw the green electric bars that signified SHIELD containment. Hearing a groan he turned to his right where Dezra was laying, she had purple and blue bruises that he could not remember her getting. _Musta happened when I got caught._ Her red hair was everywhere, it being so long it draped over her right side and hung off the metal bed she was on and laid on the floor. _Dang, these beds are at least three feet off tha floor!_ Victor smirked as he recalled her being in the throes of passion with him, her red hair fanned across the pillow and their combined bodies. His smirk faded when he heard footsteps nearing. He sat up just as an old aquaintence of his entered the area.

"Sabretooth, 'bout time ya woke up ya lazy bum." Said Colonel John Wraith, the current SHIELD conductor. "Been waitin' all day fer ya ta wake."

"What do ya want with me, or her fer that matter." Victor growled low, nodding slightly towards Dezra. Wraith chuckled at his question.

"Just a couple experiments fer her, but fer you... so much more." Wraith snapped his fingers and some guards came up to the cell. Pressing a couple of buttons the green bars disappeared, the men rushed in and tackled Victor. The blonde feral ripped at them, clawing their bodies and biting their hands when they got too close. Finally achieving their goal of pinning him to the floor, a medium height, skinny brown haired man came into the cell with a silver collar in his hands. Locking it around his neck the man whispered in Victor's ear as his senses started to fade.

"Sorry old buddy." The man whispered, releasing him the men rushed out of the cell and locked it up behind them. Standing up Victor couldn't help but feel disoriented from the lack of his enhanced senses, stumbling around the cell as he tried to get back to his cot, tripping on his way making the men laugh. Then, the men were gone along with Wraith, laughing the whole way.

Finally being able to sit down on his cot Victor struggled with gaining some sort of balance without his senses, it felt so strange and foreign to be without them. From the other side of the room Dezra groaned and shivered in her sleep. Realizing she was probably having a nightmare he contemplated waking her. _Now why would ya want ta do that?_ He wondered to himself. When she groaned again he decided. _Aw what the heck._

Victor got up slowly and placed his hand on the wall for balance. Walking across the room to Dezra's cot he only stumbled once. When he got to her cot he sat down next to her and shook her by the shoulders. Her red hair waved around from his motions.

"Hey, wake up frail!" He exclaimed when she smacked him across the face in her sleep, her claws were out and they sliced into his face. He grabbed her arms when she didn't wake. Leaning down Victor kissed her, she immediately calmed. When he pulled back her golden eyes opened up to peer into his blue ones. "'Bout time ya woke up frail." He said casually. Dezra smirked at him and sat up, leaning against the wall she assesed her surroundings.

"Where are we?" She asked him, Victor noticed that her teeth were jagged like his, he had never saw that before.

"SHIELD headquarters." He mumbled, despite how low his voice was when he said it Dezra heard him.

"Where are my children? Will they be hurt?" At her question he looked into her eyes, holding her gaze for a long moment.

"Probably." When he answered her Dezra started to panic. She started yelling unintelligible things, every once in a while she would say one of their names in a wail. Victor didn't try to stop her, but continued to sit there on her cot just watching her cry for her children. He continued to sit there in wonder of her love for her children as she plopped onto the cot next to him from exhaustion, tiring herself from her ranting.

"My poor children." Was her first understandable sentence since she began worrying. Tears began to slip down her cheeks now that she had exhausted her voice, sobs shook her body unrelentlessly. Victor was shocked when Dezra laid her head on his arm and wrapped her arms around his neck. Unsure of what to do he sat there akwardly until a hidden part of him told him to pull her into his lap and hold her. Deciding it couldn't do any harm he did what he thought and cradled her in his grasp. _Vic, what the hell is wrong with ya?_ He thought to himself. Shrugging it off he ignored his thoughts and held her until she fell asleep in his arms.

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Sabretooth woke when he heard a deep chuckle, opening his eyes he saw Wraith standing just outside the cell in his green colonel's outfit. Seeing a short and thin man next to him made Victor cock an eyebrow in question.

"Time ta start tha trainin'." Wraith drawled, a lack of good grammar was clearly shown through his speach. "Take care o' them Leon." At his order the short man he had called Leon started to grow, not up, but around. His muscles started to grow larger, they grew in mass until he looked like a big ball of muscle. A guard punched in the code to open up the cell and Leon ran in faster than Victor thought was possible.

The mass of muscle slammed into Victor's stomach, running him into the wall behind him. Pain shot through him sharply. Leon grabbed him and threw him against the wall again, blood spurted from his mouth as organs ruptured inside of him. The attacker stopped when Wraith whistled at him. Wraith walked into the room to crouch next to Victor's beaten body.

"This dosn't hafta continue ya know. All ya gotta do is join up with us." The military Colonel made the suggestion sound wonderful compared to the torture Victor was receiving, but remembering his reasons for his departure from SHIELD before made him deny it more than before.

"And be used like a puppet?" Victor wheezed. "Never." Sighing in resignation Wraith left the cell and nodded towards Leon to continue. The hulking mass of man continued to pound the taller blonde man against the walls until he couldn't tell which was up and which person was who. When Wraith ordered the man to stop beating Victor he was almost thankful the man was alive. Almost.

"Tha offer ta join is still open Sabe, all ya gotta do is say yes." Victor shook his head no since he couldn't form words anymore. "I coulda helped ya Sabe, but yer just so stubborn. Guess it's time ta teach ya a new lesson." Wraith walked out of the cell again and turned to Leon. "Leon, since he's bein' stubborn, this time, I want ya..." He paused for a moment, leaving Victor in suspense. "ta beat tha girl this time." The mass of a man's eyes widened.

"Th..the girl?" The man stuttered, undoubtably astounded at his master's commands.

"Yes Leon, tha girl. Now no more questions, just do it." Wraith saw the man visibly hesitate to hurt her and angered him. "Now!" He yelled. Afraid of the consequences he picked up the asleep woman and whispered in her ear before sending her flying into the wall.

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Dezra was woken by the feeling of being lifted, but what brought her to her senses was the huge man whispering in her ear, voice low and roughened by distress. Her eyes opened in shock at what he said.

"I'm so sorry Dez, I really am." The burly man said. _He knows my name!_ She thought in surprise, but she soon forgot her shock as she was hurled against the wall like a rag doll. Feeling the pain shoot through her she yelled out. The man came at her again and threw her against the wall over and over again, pain never ceasing. All intelligent thoughts departed her mind as Dezra was slammed continuasly against the metal walls of her cell. Somewhere in the back of her mind she could hear someone yelling, pleading that she be left alone.

Dezra sighed in relief when she was placed gently on her cot again. Bruises pounded and cuts that were torn into her skin from the impacts on the wall bled. Not really aware she could hear people yelling but she could not understand what was being said. She yelped when she was yanked to her knees by her long hair. More yelling was done and then she was dropped to the floor again. Unconsciously Dezra could feel herself being lifted up and thrown into the wall again, but everything started to fade out of her vision when the blackness came and surounded her mind, freeing her from the pain for the moment.

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Leon Michaels was not a bad person, he really wasn't. He was a wonderful man who loved his wife and children with all his heart, and he treasured what few friends he had. It was just another normal day for him in the SHIELD complex, torture some odd person for important information or else one of his children would be shot in the head. He had learned to obey Wraith long ago when he had murdered his first child because he didn't want to kill a person.

**Flashback**

**"Kill him." Wraith ordered Leon. The short man Wraith referred to stood stubbornly in front of a man who had been ordered to death by Wraith simply because he had fallen in love with a man. Leon shook his head with determination.**

**"No. He can't help it if he's gay!" The man who stood before Leon thanked him profusely, trying to kiss his feet he was knocked away by a very angry Wraith.**

**"I've tried ta get ya ta do this without threats, but yer just so stubborn Leon, I guess I'll just have ta do things tha hard way this time. Bring out tha child." At Wraith's order a man brough Leon's first born child into the room.**

**"Josiah!" Leon yelled out his son's name when a gun was pointed to his head. "He's just a boy." Wraith laughed evily when the short man said that.**

**"It dosn't matter. Now, kill the traitor or else I'll kill your son." Leon didn't like the circumstances, but his son didn't deserve to die. He started to grow in size, muscles buldging. He turned towards his son and looked at him for a long time before grabbing the man off the floor and slamming him into the wall, his head shattered with an audible crack. Josiah gasped at the sight of so much blood. Leon felt terrible about killing an innocent man, but it was worth it.**

**"Now that ya've killed him, I gotta teach ya a lesson Leon." A questioning look appeared on Leon's face at Wraith's sentence. "Shoot tha kid." Leon yelled out in surprise and terror when the gun pointed to his son's head was shot. The look on Josiah's face was of pure terror as he dropped to the floor, no longer breathing, no longer alive.**

**"Josiah." Leon whispered, tears flooded his eyes from his pain. **

**"Now ya know what happens when ya don't listen."**

**End Flashback**

"Josiah." Leon whispered as he walked sullenly back to his quarters with his head low and his eyes cast down to the floor. He couldn't risk the death of his wife now, Wraith had threatened her this time now since his wife hadn't born anymore children. _I'm sorry Victor, I'm sorry Dezra, but I love Deborah with all my heart, and I can't lose her._ Leon knew Victor from their days together as partners. They did everything together, their friendship was the only thing that kept them sane through all the troubles they went through. The one thing that seperated them was the fact that Victor didn't oppose killing, in fact, he loved it.

Victor and Leon rejoiced together when the taller man was appointed Dezra, the most intelligent and most beautiful woman in the SHIELD complex, as his mate. All the men were jealous of him, including Leon until he was given Deborah, his wonderful Deborah. Her long blonde hair and soft green eyes melted Leon's heart the first time he saw her and he only fell harder when she kissed him for the first time. _No matter how much we've gone through together Victor, I can't lose Deborah, I can't take it._

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(A/N) Sorry it took so long, I've been preoccupied with... personal, matters. Betraying friends and evil people is all, nothing important. This chapter is a bit dark but after everything happening today I guess it should be sort of expected. Enjoy, but don't forget to review! L8r. -Sabeybaby


	11. Torture

_Blood seeped profusely from wounds that refused to heal, bruises covered her body in a strangely beautiful pattern of black and blue. Her red hair was ripped out in several places leaving patches of baldness where hair used to be. Her sleek body was muscle, nothing on her held an ounce of fat except for her chest, and even then there was muscle underlying her breasts. She walked onto the black marley floor, men shouted and whooped from their seats in the auditorium. Colors blurred together, faces distorted from distance and the lights that shined in her eyes brightly. A medium height man with dark brown hair that was cut close to his skull stood at a podium that had a microphone attached to it. The words he yelled out were unintelligable but apparently the crowd could hear him because the yelled louder at what he said._

_Several men stepped onto the stage and stood beside her. The first man was short and thin, light brown hair and a scarred face. The man standing next to him was tall, around five feet and eleven inches. He was lean, but there was muscle mass hiding behind his gentle facade. But it was the third man who stood out the most to her. He was tall, very tall, he appeared to be all muscle. He had long dirty blonde hair that fell slightly past his shoulders but was pulled into a loose ponytail. His body was blemish free, no scars, no birth marks, no scratches or bruises. Perfect._

_The man standing at the podium started to yell louder. Single words started to stand out to her as she listened closer. His voice was gruff but not low, and certainly not high. _

_"Who will get the lovely lady..." The man's voice faded out as light started shining in her eyes. _

_"Lovely lady who?" She mumbled._

"What tha hell are ya talkin' bout frail?" Sabretooth's gruff voice brought Dezra back to reality from her dreaming state. She glanced at him, golden eyes shining.

"Nothing, just a dream." _Or was it?_ Dezra had been having these dreams reaccuringly these past several days she'd had Sabretooth staying at her home. Sometimes she could understand words, other times everything was so distorted it was a bunch of jibberish. She yelped when the blonde man pressed a wet rag against a deep cut that was still bleeding from her beating. He mumbled something that was too quiet for her to hear from his position behind her. "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry." Confusion wormed it's way into her mind, her face was showing it clearly.

"Why are you sorry?" Dezra asked him. She glanced back at Sabretooth to be greeted by his beautiful blue eyes.

"'Cause if I had just accepted Wraith's offer, ya wouldn't be hurt none." Dezra was touched by his care but she pushed the sentimental feelings aside.

"Sabretooth, I don't want you to do anything against your will, and if it means I'm going to get beat up for it, that's fine. I truly do not care." Sabretooth was shocked if nothing else, his eyes had widened and his mouth was agape. "From where I come from, getting beat up is nothing."

**Flashback**

**Blood flew across the room from the newly formed slash in the red headed woman's stomach. The ax that had cut into her was dripping with her blood, covering up the crimson stains from the other beatings it had accomplished. The stocky woman dressed in dull brown and red armor reached out and pulled the bleeding woman's head up so she could look into her eyes.**

**"This is why we do not hesitate." The armored woman stated. Her voice was high and screechy, several gutteral noises followed her sentence. The bleeding woman could only nod her affirmative from the floor where she had collapsed to once she was released.**

**End Flashback**

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"Dez, hello? Dez?" Victor waved his hand in front of the red headed woman's face with no response. One minute she was talking to him about her life's customs the next she had faded off, her golden eyes were unfocused and she was staring off into the distance. "Dezra? What's wrong?" He muttered.

"Huh? Oh sorry!" Dezra awoke from her dreamlike state, golden eyes turned towards his blue ones. "Something wrong?" She asked him. Victor cocked an eyebrow at her question.

"I was about ta ask ya that, ya've been starin' off inta tha distance and ya weren't respondin' ta me." She looked shocked from his allegation.

"I had no idea! I was just thinking." She replied. Victor growled low in his throat.

"Well next time don't think so deep."

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Jade Backdraft did not scare easily. She was called the bravest of the bunch by her mother, while her siblings always laughed and agreed. So when her gold eyes were wide with fear and she was biting her lower lip, her siblings could only watch in horror as their own fear started to grow.

"Please no." The red haired girl whispered in her hushed plea, the needle in the doctor's hand was long and sharp, some sort of blue liquid was dripping out of the end. "Oh God no." She continued to plead as he neared. Her brother Taris started yelling at them to hurt him instead of Jade but they kept nearing her. "Nooooo!" She yelled out as the needle plunged into her throat. Her yells ceased at contact, her eyes were empty while her facial expression was blank. Her brothers and sisters held their breaths as they watched her cringe from the pain.

Suddenly a scream tore free from her punctured throat. It was a pained scream, you could feel Jade's hurt pulsing through the air from it. The doctor removed the needle from her neck and blood began to seep out of the hole he had made. Grabbing a cotton swob he pressed it to the hole while Jade continued to scream out her agony.

"Oh God! Make... it... stop!" She wheezed in between gasps for breath. Taris wanted to rip the doctor's throat out from what he did to his sister, but seeing as how he was restrained he could only watch as they continued their torture.

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Victoria Backdraft was a simple minded and beautiful girl. Worrying was something she did not do, she left that to her brother Taris while she remained in blissful ignorance of the world around her. Yet even she could not deny the fear in her heart at watching her sister Jade being tortured. At her side her blonde haired brother Taris was yelling at the doctors, cursing them for the things they were doing, and begging them to stop hurting Jade and to instead hurt him.

Tory, as she called herself, began to cry when Jade screamed in agony from the needle the doctor had shoved into her throat. Her sobs were not missed by the other doctor's in the room, most of them dismissed them while one male doctor in particular took an interest in her tears. He was not an ugly man, in fact if the circumstances were different he'd be considered gorgeous in Tory's book, but seeing as how he was an evil doctor changed her outlook a lot. He had jet black hair that was gelled back so it didn't get in his face and he had piercing green eyes that stared into the depths of her own blue eyes.

Tory's sobs grew more fierce and started to shake her body from the trembles, her blonde curls bounced around her in ambandon. The male doctor walked up to her, his green eyes took in her appearance and seemed to eat her alive. Suddenly the blonde girl could feel something probing her mind, pressing against her mental shields harshly. And then, he was inside her mind. Panic started to flood her mind at the thought of her privacy being invaded, but his presence was not frightening, in fact it was calming.

_"My name is Johnathon, I'm not an enemy, I'm going to get you and your family out of here, I promise."_ He told her mentally. Tory wanted to respond but with that said he retreated from her mind. From the outside no one could tell he'd been inside her mind, no expressions were changed, no voices spoke, just silence except for Jade's calming screams. Normally Victoria would've been freaking out terribly by now especially with a man inside of her head, but instead she was silent. No tears, no screams not even a whimper. She was utterly silent.

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(A/N) Hello everybody! I know I know, it took me a LONG time to update. I've just been really busy and stuff. I shall apologize. I'm going to keep the story mainly focused on Sabretooth and Dezra but I wanted everyone to see what was happening with the captured kids and stuff. For those of you who read Fireworks and White Tigers you might've recognized Johnathon, yes, you know who I'm talking about! He's going to play a very special part in this story. Hope yall enjoyed the chapter but please, review! L8r! -Sabeybaby


	12. Whatever You Want Girl

Victor began pacing the cell he and Dezra were in, being caged up was not one of his favorite things to do to say the least. Several other captured mutant males were staring at his woman so he growled at them. _Wait a minute, MY woman? Heh, I guess she is now._ The blonde haired mammoth of a man looked back at the red haired woman who was sitting on one of the cots braiding her long hair. Her golden eyes were focused on the braid she was carefully weaving. He idly wondered if she could still read his mind but he dashed that thought away when he remembered the collars they snapped onto their necks.

Thinking of the collars made Victor put his hand onto it again, adjusting it slightly he got zapped by it. Growling deep in his throat he removed his hand and glared at the wall. _Stupid Wraith, stupid collars, stupid cage._ He thought, unconsciously mumbling it outloud. Dezra lifted her head up from her braid and looked at him with a smirk on her face, amusement in her eyes.

"Don't worry Sabey, we'll get out of here soon enough." She said flashing him a grin. Victor growled again at her new nickname for him. Sure he'd stand for it after she slept with him, but in the middle of this hell hole? _Only in yer dreams frail._

"Don't call me that." He grumbled angry. "It's bad enough havin' people treat me like dirt, but lettin' them hear ya call me that..." He left the threat hanging making Dezra giggle.

"Okay, whatever you say Sabey." She said back to him, sarcasm dripping from her words. Faster than she could see Victor pinned her up against the wall with his hand on her throat. A threatening growl echoed the room as Dezra gasped in surprise.

"Ya should listen ta me frail." He growled out, his blue eyes narrowed. "It's dangerous ta yer health if ya don't." He squeezed her neck tighter making her struggle harder against his grip. Suddenly she couldn't take it anymore and passed out from the lack of air. Victor, realizing what he'd done released his hold on her neck and carried her to her cot. Laying her down gently he examined the wounds that had reopened from her exertions. Guilt flood him as he regretted his actions. _Wait just a minute there Vic! Guilt? Regret? Are ya goin' insane!_

Victor snapped out of his momentary 'insanity' as he dubbed it and brushed away the feelings of gulit and regret. _It ain't yer fault tha stupid frail dosn't know when ta stop. She'll learn her lesson._ He was sure of it, shrugging his thoughts into the back of his mind. Climbing into bed he brushed his blonde hair out of his face and fell asleep with the image of Dezra laying on her cot damaged from him.

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For the next week Victor and Dezra were tortured on end, from beatings to whippings, all of it hurting like hell. They lost track of time and day as they were continuously put to the test. Dezra's wounds never did get the chance to heal as they were always reopened by the beatings. She used to fight back when they would hit her but after a while she realized her attempts were fruitless and let herself be driven to the point of breaking by these unforgiving men.

The only times Victor and Dezra saw eachother was when the came back to their cells for sleep or those random times when they would pass in the hallways being led to another form of pain. Dezra was forced into becoming a maid of sorts, she didn't have a constant guide either, each day a new person was making her clean or was showing her where to go. She was told then that in one week she'd be sold on the auctioning block as a concubine or mate to whoever bid the highest, dread was her newest companion.

Victor decided even being used as a puppet was better than getting the crap beat out of him. He gave into Wraith's demands and became his murdering tool yet again, he would assasinate whomever Wraith wanted him to. The rewards were great, he wouldn't be locked up in that cell again. By now another week had passed and his time seeing Dezra had shortened immensly. They hardly saw eachother in passing and since he wasn't living in the cell again he didn't see her at night either. In a way he grieved their seperation because he missed their nights of passion, but his grieving came to an abrupt halt when Wraith told him he'd have plenty of women to fill the task that Dezra used to.

Every night Victor had a new woman to please him, they never told him no, never told him they weren't in the mood, they always did what he told them, he couldn't be happier. He soon fit back into the roll he used to fill, his schedule slipped back into him. Murder, sex, and torture, his favorite things in the world were available to him whenever he wanted them. Nobody told him no. Ever. Doubts were a thing of the past, carefree was something he was living in, but he'd be surprised with his future.

Dezra's children were another thing all on their own. Tests were run on them everyday, needles were stuck into their bodies so many times they didn't even fight anymore. It was all just taken and brushed off like a normal happening. The boys were treated terribly by the guards, getting beat up just because they were there, tortured just because they were children. Pointless reasons but they were used and nobody stopped them. The girls had it much worse though.

Jade was the first one to experience the pain of rape. It had left her in pain for long days afterwards. Three men had raped her that night, they took turns molesting and hurting her fourteen year old body with no regrets at the time. They would yank her long red hair and beat her tan skin until she bled and bruised, and still they did not care.

Victoria was next. She had it easier than her sister, only one man to hurt her, but that didn't make it feel any better. He had tortured her afterwards, blaming her for what he did as if she had forced him into hurting her. Somehow she felt like it was her fault that he had done this to her, and nobody could convince her other wise.

Taris had it easier in his sisters he had admitted to himself. He was beaten on a daily basis, and tortured for the heck of it. But the most hurtful thing they had ever done to him was made him watch his sisters be raped. Through the whole thing he begged and pleaded and screamed at the guards to stop it, to leave his sisters alone. But no, they would not cease, instead it was if his begging encouraged them and the outcomes were terrible. His sisters were bruised and bloody for days. Taris closed up from the outside world, and didn't dare come out of his shell. For somehow the outside world was no longer something fun and delightful to be in, no now it was dangerous. Predators were everywhere watching him and his sisters, waiting for the chance to strike. The children knew they were now living in the days of torture.

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Blood seeped profusely from wounds that refused to heal, bruises covered her body in a strangely beautiful pattern of black and blue. Her red hair was ripped out in several places leaving patches of baldness where hair used to be. Her sleek body was muscle, nothing on her held an ounce of fat except for her chest, and even then there was muscle underlying her breasts. She walked onto the black marley floor, men shouted and whooped from their seats in the auditorium. Colors blurred together, faces distorted from distance and the lights that shined in her eyes brightly. A medium height man with dark brown hair that was cut close to his skull stood at a podium that had a microphone attached to it. The words he yelled out were unintelligable but apparently the crowd could hear him because the yelled louder at what he said.

Several men stepped onto the stage and stood beside her. The first man was short and thin, light brown hair and a scarred face. His face looked familiar but she couldn't place it. The man standing next to him was tall, around five feet and eleven inches. He was lean, but there was muscle mass hiding behind his gentle facade. She didn't know who he was but he looked dangerous. But it was the third man who stood out the most to her. He was tall, very tall, he appeared to be all muscle. He had long dirty blonde hair that fell slightly past his shoulders but was pulled into a loose ponytail. His body was blemish free, no scars, no birth marks, no scratches or bruises. Perfect. It was Victor Creed. She knew his name now, everybody did. How could they not? Women walked around boasting to the others how good he was in bed. She knew these things well, he was Sabretooth, the first man she'd bedded in a long time.

The man at the podium started yelling to the crowd again, getting them worked up for what was soon to come. His voice was loud but his words started to become understandable.

"Who will get the lovely lady Dezra Backdraft!" He belted out to the crowd. Yells of names and other things flooded the auditorium. Shock filled Dezra, it was her dream! She was astounded to say the least, this was her dream. Her being sold in an auction, three men were bidding the highest for her, this is why they were on stage with her. _Oh no._ She thought. "Sold!" The man at the podium yelled out.

Dezra snapped out of her thoughts at that word. _Sold? Oh God. _She thought, hope was now just a bunch of crap to her. _Hope when I've been sold to someone is pathetic and a waste of my time. But who bought me?_ Rousing from her thoughts yet again she looked around, wondering who had bought her. When a large hand gripped her arm Dezra looked up. There he stood, Victor, her owner. _Dear Lord I'm doomed!_

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"Welcome ta yer new home Dez." Victor informed her, he pushed her inside the large room. "Yer ta stay here when I'm not here and yer not ta go anywhere, anytime, without my permission. Understand?" He asked her, his voice was no more than a growl but it was easily understood.

"Sure, fine whatever." Dezra wasn't worrying about kindness right now, all she could think of was how just a few moments ago she had been for sale and then sold to the highest bidder. Her pride had been royalled messed around with and she was NOT happy. Victor said something but she was paying attention. She let out a sigh of relief when he left the room to do something, taking a look around the room she was to stay in she realized it wasn't all that bad.

The room was mainly blacks and greys, but it was comfortable. There was a large bed with a black comforter on top of it, it had white patterns on it in a strange display like somebody had taken a brush and just splashed paint where ever it would land. The pillows were black but had the same pattern on them. There was a large dresser and a closet, Dezra opened up a door and realized it was a very large bathroom. Noticing paintings on the wall she cocked an eyebrow. _This guy is spoiled!_

Exhaustion seemed to flood over Dezra right then, deciding it wouldn't do her any harm to rest she laid down on the bed and made herself comfortable. Closing her eyes she relaxed and fell into a deep sleep, trouble was the last thing on her mind right then.

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Jade was in a state of peace, she wanted to call it bliss but she wasn't that content. After being tortured for hours on end and then being raped mercilessly by a guard, she was half conscious, half unconscious, but it still left a pleasant state. Her eyesight was blurry and people were just colorful blots in her vision. She was currently incapable of speach as well, she had tried and all that had come out was several mutterings and groans. She hated being helpless.

Feeling the urge to talk to somebody or at least feel someones presence Jade reached out with her mind, feeling the people surounding her. Some minds were filled with evil thoughts and she strayed away from them, others were simply calculative, thinking like scientists, their subjects merely experiments to them. The thought sickened her and she pulled away from them. Jade had expected them to put a collar on her so that she wouldn't be able to use telepathy or telekinesis, or even use her powers of electricity. When they hadn't she wanted to laugh, but she realized that would be foolish.

She soon realized though they had drugged her, her telepathy wasn't completely gone because she could still touch minds and feel thoughts, but her powers were held back so she couldn't hurt people. Searching the room for somebody who wasn't harmful and wasn't unconscious (because her siblings had passed out from the contant pain and exhaustion) Jade almost gave up. Suddenly a strong, well shielded mind noticed her presence. She tried to pull away in time but it was too late the person was in her head and exploring her.

Jade gasped inside when she felt the mind of her mental intruder. This man was strong, yet extremely gentle with her mind, not touching memories that she held back, not forcing her into anything just calming her with his presence. She was still wary of him though, he allowed her to explore his mind a bit and she relaxed more. The sheer fact he was a mutant like her calmed her down. Most of the scientists were humans, she had thought that she and her siblings were the only mutants. _I guess not._ She thought.

_"No, you guys aren't the only ones." _Jade's eyes widened when she heard him mentally answer her thoughts. _"Sorry, I shoulda at least warned ya. Names Johnathon, though I go by JJ, spy, sneak, and assasin supreme, how may I help you?"_ JJ's comment stunned her, but made her happier to communicate again.

_"Well, I guess if you could just stay and talk with me some more that'd be wonderful."_ Jade wanted to beg him to stay and keep her company, being alone was not fun, and it made her afraid. _"I mean, you don't have to say much all you gotta do is stick around for a while. I mean a girl gets just a bit lonely when she's got nobody to talk to."_ She was speaking in a rush so when JJ chuckled mentally she stopped speaking.

_"Okay, whatever you want girl."_ And so they chatted for a while, JJ keeping Jade company while she was awake and leaving her with a sense of happiness when she fell asleep. JJ had waited until she was in deep sleep to withdraw completely from her mind, he didn't want her to start freaking out because she was alone again.

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(A/N) Howdy yall! Hee hee, no I'm not texan and I'm an extremely bad immitator. I had loads of fun with this chapter, I hope yall like it as much as I do. Leave reviews, cuz if ya don't, i'm agonna getcha! Haha, nah! Just review like a good reader! -Sabeybaby


	13. Cry For Help

Dezra awoke when she heard a deep growl near her ear, thinking it was an animal she started to pull away from it but then the growl came again reminding her of exactly where she was and who she was with. Looking over her shoulder her suspicions were claimed true, Sabretooth was her owner and master._ The stupid freaks are SO going to pay for selling me when they never even owned me._ Then another thought came apparent to her. _My children! I wonder what has happened to them._ A thick hairy arm slipped around her waist and she groaned. The red haired woman tried to lift his arm off of her so she could shower but it was too heavy.

"Stop yer squirmin' frail, I'm tryin' ta sleep here." Victor mumbled against the back of her neck. She tried even harder now to lift his arm from her body but he just tightened his grip and pulled her close enough so she could feel his excitement. "Wiggle again an' I'll teach ya a lesson ya won't ferget so easily." He growled. Realizing the best of actions was to leave his arm be, Dezra stopped fighting and relaxed in his grip and tried to aim her thoughts to something creative and helpful.

"Victor, when will I be able to see my children?" Dezra asked him. As if sensing he wouldn't get any sleep until he answered he roused himself from his sleep.

"I don't know, and when didja learn what m' name was?" A deep, throaty growl followed his question making her giggle as his rumble tickled her.

"You've become one of the most well known people in this place, all the women talk about you, how could I not figure out that Sabretooth and Victor were one in the same?" He grunted at her answer.

"What do ya mean all the women talk 'bout me?" Dezra rolled her eyes at his question.

"Sure are talkitive this morning aren't you?" A sharp claw was pressed against her throat so she decided to answer. "No need to get touchy! But anyways, you sleep with just about all the women in this place and being the bubbly, mindless broads they are they talk all about the men they sleep with and just how good they are and stuff like that." She rolled onto her back when Victor propped himself up on an elbow so he could see her face clearly. A smirk spread across his lips at the thought of all the women talking about him.

"And what do they say 'bout me?" He asked, seemingly curious.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." A growl shook Dezra as he neared her face with his own.

"And how do I find this out if ya won't tell me frail?" His whisper was rough, breath hot against her cheek.

"First hand experience of course." Dezra's hands slid up around Victor's neck and she pulled him closer. "Why don't you just show me how good you are?"

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Jade watched her sister Victoria with a sort of fascination. The blonde girl was currently being raped by an overactive scientist and her body was turning purple from places where he had pressed to hard. Despite the situation her blonde curls bounced around her head as if she was jumping as she was moved around by the scientist as he forced his way into her brutally. Her blue eyes were squished shut from the harsh pains floating through her. Jade knew this pain, she herself had experienced it many times, but never before had she watched it happen.

Turning over to where her brother was being held back by restraints, she saw that Taris was limp against the shackles holding him back. Jade knew he would rip the scientist's throat out if he could be free. She idly wondered why he wasn't screaming at the scientist and then realized he probably had yelled his throat raw. She knew she was going insane, she wouldn't be utterly fascinated by the sight of her sister being raped if she wasn't. The drugs were wearing off, they hadn't been reapplied in a while and since she was no longer fighting they must've assumed she wouldn't fight once the affects of the drugs were gone.

Feeling a familiar tapping at her mind's gate, Jade let JJ into her mind. His presence calmed her down as the drugs began to fade from her system. She received a picture from him mentally of him sitting at a desk looking through some files on a computer. His green eyes were focused intently on the screen and she could see the reflection of them in the screen. His jet black hair was slicked back again and she got a strange urge to run her hands through it and mess it all up. He always had his hair gelled and she hated how orderly it looked.

_"How ya doin' today Jade?"_ He asked her telepathically. He could feel her shrug in her mind.

_"Okay, just watchin' my sister get raped again." _A depressed sigh followed her answer.

"_Again? This is the third time this week!" _Feeling how sad Jade was JJ tried to cheer her up. _"Don't worry though! I've almost got all the information I need to get you guys outa here!"_ He spoke with fervor and she couldn't help but be happier.

_"I can feel my body again JJ, they stopped applying the drug."_ Worry could be felt from JJ as Jade watched the scientist remove himself from Victoria's body and restrain her to the wall again.

_"I'm not so sure that's a good thing Jade, don't do anything rash." _

_"I just wanna make sure Tory's okay." _As she spoke, Jade watched the scientist leave the room and she slowly rose to her feet. She started walking towards Victoria and she felt urgency coming from JJ.

_"Jade, go sit back down, something's wrong. Jade listen to me!"_ She continued to walk towards her sister, not responding to JJ's worried words. _"Jade! Somebody's coming go sit back down! You have to act the part! Jade!"_ His words went unanswered as the scientist rememmerged into the room. Seeing the red haired girl walking towards her sister he pulled out a needle filled with a blue liquid and came towards her with his arm raised.

Anger rose in Jade like never before. Electricity was crackling at her fingertips and she could feel it's bountiful energy pulsing through her. Raising her hand towards the scientist bolts of electricity shot out at him and shocked him. The man began to shake as the electricity played with his system, fire caught on his clothes from her power and began to burn. The scientist was unable to fight the electricity or fire so he lay writithing on the floor. His screams of agony filled Jade's senses but she ignored him and went to her sister who was unconscious.

_"Jade!" _She could hear JJ screaming in her mind but she had blocked him out, her worries were focused on her sister who was bleeding from her lower area. _"I'm coming down there!"_ He said mentally and then cut off their connection. Jade was unaware of his leaving her mind because she was busy trying to stop Victoria's bleeding.

"Oh Tory, my precious younger sister, how could he have done this to you?" She whispered in her ear. Jade grabbed a towel off of a desk and wiped away the blood. She ran her fingers through her sister's blonde curls and wished she had a brush so she could get rid of the knots. Jade didn't turn as JJ burst into the room and looked around frantically for something to put the fire out. The scientist was no longer screaming but the fire was spreading to scattered papers in the room. Finding nothing, not even a fire extinguisher JJ ran towards Jade.

"Jade! We've gotta get outa here!" His deep voice stunned Jade as she turned to look into his green eyes with her blue ones. "The fire's spreading and the stupid scientists didn't think to put in a sprinkler system." There was urgency in his words.

"We can't go without Taris and Tory, and baby Tyler!" She told him as she suddenly realized exactly what was going on.

"I know Jade, that's why I got the keys." As he spoke JJ pulled a pair of keys out of his pocket and smiled at her. They hurridly unlocked the chains holding her siblings back and released them. Taris stumbled slightly but stood once he felt the blood rushing back into his arms and legs.

"Jade." Was his first whispered word before he launched himself into her arms, hugging her tightly to his body. No more was said as Taris hauled Victoria onto his shoulder and broke the cage holding Tyler in his sleep. Reaching in he brought the toddler out and held him close. "Let's go." He said in a commanding voice. JJ and Jade nodded their agreement and ran out of the room. They knew they would stand out like a sore thumb to the other people so they wasted no time running through the building.

Shouts followed their path like locusts so a field as they passed by scientists and security guards. JJ reached back with his mind and felt the numerous amounts of chasing people and urged his friends to run faster. Taris seemed to grow larger with every step he took and handed Victoria and Tyler to Jade who didn't even break stride as she was given the extra weight. JJ started to turn back as Taris stopped running and turned towards the people chasing them but Jade grabbed his arm and pulled him along with her.

"Don't worry, Taris can take care of himself." JJ could feel Jade's distress but he continued running with her until they came to a fork in the hallway. He could vaguely hear yells and screams of agony but he dismissed it as he started running down the left hallway. They came upon some stairs and they ran up them without stopping. They passed a guard station and they ran faster than before. Jade started slowling as the weight she carried started to become to much for her to hold. Always the gentleman JJ took Victoria out of her arms and carried her for Jade.

Seeing the door that led to the exit he urged Jade on faster, as soon as they were outside he could get them to freedom. A dart flew through the air and hit Jade in the shoulder making her cry out in pain. Stopping his fast run JJ turned back towards the gunman and forced his way into the man's mind, finding the right spot he shut down the man's brain, stopping all thoughts, conscious or subconscious. The man was dead before he hit the ground. Scooping up Jade and throwing her onto his other shoulder he grabbed Tyler with his free arm and continued to run. Emerging into the night air he took a deep breath before focusing intently on one thought. Searching for one mind. Finding his destination he screamed out the one word would save him and his new friends before falling to the snowy ground in exhaustion.

_"XAVIER!"_

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Professor Charles Xavier was shuffling through papers in his office when he felt the telepathic scream erupt in his mind. Pain shot through his head as the man's distress flooded his senses before the presence was gone. The man screaming out his name telepathically was not unfamiliar to him. _Johnathon, so you have returned._ Johnathon Lionell was an old friend of his. Their telepathic abilities were matched in every way. The only thing that seperated them was Johnathon's willingness to kill.

Xavier had met Johnathon when he was just a young boy, no older than thirteen. Though the boy was only a youth his eyes beheld years beyond his appearance, he knew at first sight that the boy was not ordinary. He had only stayed three weeks but in that time Xavier came to admire Johnathon's endurance. He had tried to get the boy to go through training as an X-Man, but he insisted that he was only staying temporarily and that it was not necessary. The jet black hair was always messy and the only thing that could hold it all back was gel, his shocking green eyes were so bright they had to give him contacts when they went outside to dampen the brightness.

In all the time that Xavier had known Johnathon he had only telepathically contacted him once, and that was when he was at the brink of death by Sabretooth's hand. Now that he heard his young compatriot's telepathic plea he couldn't help but feel the need to provide and protect. Setting Wolverine and Jean to their task he sent them to the place where he could sense the call coming from. _But what are you doing in Greenland my friend?_

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(A/N) Review! -Sabeybaby


	14. The Rescue

Victor stretched out in bed as Dezra showered. He unconsciously purred as he recalled what they had been doing several moments ago. A smug grin spread itself across his face when he remember just how loud she'd been yelling. A deep chuckle escaped his lips to follow his grin. Hearing the shower shut off he wiped the grin off his face so she wouldn't get curious. He watched her with blue eyes shining as she exited the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around her. Her long red hair was sopping wet and hung down flat to the backs of her knees, he had never realized it was that long before. Her gold eyes were watching his and when he removed his look from her more flattering parts she shook her head and smiled at him.

"Git over here woman." Victor growled low in his throat after ordering her to come to him. Dezra walked towards him slowly, her hips moving from side to side to tease him. When she was close enough he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back into bed. She squealed in indignation as he tore the towel from her grasp. Sitting her up so she was straddling his waist he admired her freshly clean body. Water dripped off of her where she didn't dry her skin. Sitting up and jostling her a bit he leaned forward and took a deep breath of her scent. His scent was fading from hers because of the washing and he was going to change that.

"Victor, I have to get dressed." Dezra tried to pull away from him but he kept his grip strong. His lips found her neck and he nibbled on it slightly. Unconsciously she moaned from his ministrations. "Victor... I have to... ohhh... get dressed." She whispered in his ear as he let his hands carress her body. His lips finding her's he kissed her passionately.

"Oh no ya don't."

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JJ stumbled through the snow as he dragged Victoria and Jade behind him while Tyler who was now awake, clung to his neck like there was no tomorrow. Taris had escaped with them after killing several guards but he was so weak he could barely move his feet. They trudged through the snow to get farther away from the complex. Hearing shouts behind them the black haired boy spared a glance backwards to see guards now chasing them. Lifting the girls onto his shoulders he began to run, his feet felt like lead but he didn't care. All he knew was he had to get them to safety.

They stopped running when they heard a loud whirring sound like the engine of a plane. Lifting his eyes to the sky JJ saw the Blackbird hovering above them trying to find a place to land or let down their ladder. They rested lightly on the ground and the exit hatch opened revealing a short stocky man and a tall woman with red hair. The red head came over to them and helped them onto the plane while the man made quick work of the guards chasing them with claws coming out of his hands. Once on the plane JJ relaxed against a comfortable black chair, he would try and help the woman fly the plane but he was too weak to move. The short man came back onto the plane, the claws that were once visible were now gone. The man turned towards him and eyed him over.

"Name's Wolverine, who're you?" The man's voice was low and deep, more like a growl than a voice.

"Johnathon." He spoke in a whisper since he couldn't breathe very well from all the running. "My names Johnathon." The man before him looked around at the gathered children and took a deep breath of air.

"Sabretooth." He said, his grey-ish blue eyes narrowed as he spoke. His claws popped from his hands in a sound like "Shnickt" He stood there silently before letting his claws come back into his hands and he strode off to the copilots chair where he sat down heavily. Feeling the need to rest JJ relaxed in his chair completely and let his eyes fall closed. As the warming feeling of sleep approached he wonder idly what would happen to their mother.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Dezra pulled away from Victor's kiss as she felt a disturbance deep inside her. The blonde man lying underneath her growled deep in protest to her actions and tried to pull her back but she continued to pull away. She closed her eyes and let her mind search the area. Feeling the presence of her children she gasped.

"My kids!" She exclaimed making the man under her roll his eyes and growl again. She turned her eyes back to Victor then as she felt them getting farther away. "They're escaping." She whispered. He cocked an eyebrow in response to her words.

"Oh really?" Victor was curious now. "How do ya know that hm?" Dezra closed her eyes and focused on his mind, pushing her way through his mental defenses she joined them in a bond. She sent images of her children running through the base, Taris fighting multiple guards, them exiting into the snow and the Blackbird coming to their rescue. He growled when he saw Wolverine exit the plane and slice the guards up, seeing them all enter the jet again it took off and flew away.

"They're free now." Dezra said quietly with a glimmer of tears in her eyes. Victor rolled his eyes again as he saw the tears gathering. A sigh escaped the golden eyed woman's kiss swollen lips as she realized she was now truly alone with the man she had been sleeping with for quite a while.

"Git over it frail." Victor's words cut deep into her heart and she glared at him.

"Do you honestly think I'm going to just get over it that quickly?" Her words rivaled his in anger and she cut his chest with her now revealed claws. He grunted out of discomfort as he felt the cuts. "I'm going to escape with them. I will not be restrained." She pulled away from him and got off the bed. She grabbed a pair of tight black pants that had been supplied by her captors and a black tank that she had cut slits in the back of it for her wings. Dezra pulled on some black knee high boots and pulled the zipper up, she braided her long red hair quickly and tied it at the end with a black rubber band. Her golden eyes glimmered in the mirror as she inspected herself. Seeing Victor sitting up in bed watching her with interested blue eyes she turned towards him.

"So yer just gonna leave is that it?" She nodded her affirmative at his question. He got up from the bed and dressed quickly, a pair of camo jeans and a black wife beater with his black combat boots to finish it off. He grabbed a rubber band and tied his messy blonde hair into a loose pony tail. "Well, yer not gonna get very far without some help now are ya?" A smile spread across her lips and then she kissed him chastely.

"Thank you." They left the room and walked through the hallway silently, the only sound being made was the soft click of Dezra's heels on the metal floors. The got up to a higher level and several guards questioned them about their destination but quieted when Victor told them they were going on a hunt. They finally emerged into the snow and they now realized it was snowing. They walked in silence into the woods where they could escape easier. Once entering a clearing that resembled the one that Victor was first found in they looked at eachother.

No words were spoken as they embraced eachother for the last time for a long time. Their lips found eachother's and they kissed passionately. They both were relunctant to leave eachother but Victor knew that this is what Dezra wanted and he knew now he loved her. It didn't matter to him anymore that it would probably ruin his reputation, all that mattered in his eyes now was that woman who was leaving to stay with her children. When they finally seperated from eachother's grasp her wings popped free of her back and glittered brightly in the snow with a red hue surrounding them.

Not wanting to suffer any longer from being seperated from Victor Dezra took to the air and flapped her wings hard to gain height. She flew until she couldn't see his large shape in the distance, tears began to fall now since she didn't have anything to hold them back. Her heart wanted to stay with Victor but she knew he'd come to her when he was ready, fate was like that.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

JJ woke abrubtly when somebody started shaking him gently. His green eyes were greeted with a pair of blue eyes staring into his, it was the red headed woman who had helped rescue them. He stood slowly as he looked around the inside of the jet, now that sleep was no longer threatening to overtake him. He saw the others had already been taken off the ship so he followed the red haired woman off the jet. He walked with his mind in a daze, he was really tired and he knew he was safe here. He snapped out of his daze when they entered the office of Professor Xavier. The older man was sitting in his chair watching him intently with sharp brown eyes.

"Johnathon, long time no see." The Professor greeted him with a smile and a handshake. "Seems you brought along some friends." A smirk spread across JJ's face at the Professor's assesment.

"You could say that." The younger man lounged in the chair he was offered by the red haired woman.

"You may remember Jean." The Professor introduced the red haired woman who had helped him.

"Jean? That's you?" Surprise was evident in JJ's voice. "Wow, last time I saw you, you were what seventeen? It's only been three years!" A smile spread across her lips now.

"Yeah, I'm twenty now." JJ shook his head in shock.

"You're a woman now." She playfully punched his shoulder at his statement.

"And your point is?" Deciding it wasn't a good idea to answer Jean's question he turned his attention back to the Professor who was watching them with amusement.

"What were you doing in Greenland Johnathon?" The Professor's question caught the black haired boy unawares.

"I had heard about some mutant experimentation over there so I signed on as a scientist, luckily for me that even though I'm still a teenager I can look twice my age when I want." The Professor frowned in displeasure at his use of his telepathic abilities. "But anyways, I acted the part and stuff like that and I was about to give up on the presence of any mutant experimentation when they brought in those kids and their mother."

"There's a mother too?" JJ nodded in answer to the Professor's question.

"Yeah, I was unable to help her as well, I was struggling to get these kids to escape. They had been experimenting on their endurance levels so I'm going to assume that they were going to train them for something. They didn't even care what the guards did to the girls either." He didn't need to make it verbal for the Professor to know what he was emplying. Jean gasped behind him and he realized she knew what happened as well.

"Very well, how long will you be staying?" JJ contemplated the Professor's offer for a minute.

"A couple weeks maybe, I'm kinda tired, rescuing people does that to ya. But I'm not staying too long, gotta keep up my rep as a merc ya know." A smirk followed his statement and Jean led him to his new room. On the way to his room they saw the stocky man in the hall next to Jade's room. He was breathing deeply of the air around him and JJ assumed he was a feral mutant with heightened senses and he was just smelling the air and surounding scents.

"They smell like Sabretooth Jeanie." The shorter man stated.

"Sabretooth usually ends up in places like that Wolverine, you should know that by now, so leave those kids alone so they can rest." Wolverine growled at the order but left them alone. They continued their way to JJ's temporary room in silence. When they got there Jean left him alone to rest his mind and body. His mind flew across the area as habit dictates and he felt the awake mind of Jade who was in her room laying on her bed crying.

_"What's wrong Jade?" _He asked her telepathically. He heard her sniffle and he left his room to find her.

_"I'm so alone JJ, so alone."_ Her crying was renewed with vigor and she remembered her mother. Arriving at her room JJ pushed the door open and sat next to her on the bed. Jade had pulled herself into a ball and her crying was reduced to sniffles as she saw him next to her.

"It's okay Jade, I'm here now." JJ was unprepared for the girl to launch herself into his arms and cry on his shoulder but he welcomed it with open arms. He held her and let her cry until she fell asleep. He laid her down and rested next to her, never letting go of her he drifted off to sleep with her in his arms.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Dezra's wings felt like lead by the time she saw the Xavier mansion in the distance. Pumping her wings harder she neared the mansion and let herself drop like a cannon ball towards the ground and pulled her wings out at the last second to rescue herself from a terrible fate. Sensing a new presence Jean had exited the mansion and saw the woman plumetting out of the sky. They approached eachother warily, they sized eachother up like competition before smiling.

"How are you doing Miss Backdraft?" The younger woman questioned.

"I'm kinda tired, and I'd really like somewhere to sleep before I go see my children please." Her request was heeded and she was lead to an empty room. The Professor and Jean telepathically discussed her presence and decided that she could be questioned once she was better rested.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

(A/N) It's almost finished! A couple more chapters maybe then I'll wrap it all up! Yay! Hope yall liked the chapter. L8r -Sabeybaby


	15. Shatter

Victor felt alone. It was something that never happened to him. He was always the man who could kill, cheat, and lie for hours on end and never feel the ache of needing companionship. But here he was, listening to his mission's brief with the unfamiliar pang of lonliness filling his being. He slumped in the chair he sat in, Leon shot him a glance from across the room and Victor sent him a dirty look. He was not over the fact that Leon had beaten him and Dezra up even though it was several long months ago. He quickly looked away and Victor turned back to the brief. Wraith was droning on about how they needed to 'be extremely careful' and how 'nobody can know yer there'. Sighing softly to himself Victor tried to focus on the maps he was being shone.

Several other guys in the room were newbies, they'd obviously never gone on a stealth mission before and he could smell their nervousness in the air. One guy in particular was sweating heavily, the scent of fear was thick in his nostrils as he took a deep breath. Turning back to look at the guy he was not surprised at what he saw. The man was medium sized, not tall not short, not fat or skinny. The sweat was dripping off his face in big droplets, his pits were soaked and so was the area under his neck. The guy's brown eyes met his shocking blue ones in a heated glance, the other guy's eyes widened before he passed out and Victor chuckled.

"What's so funny 'Tooth?" Wraith asked him as he ordered some men to take the guy back to the training barracks.

"Ya got some pretty whimpy guys, newbies." Victor looked around the room inspecting each and every guy, some of them were undaunted by his gaze but the majority of the room were either shaking viciously or sweating heavily.

"I don't got any other choice, mosta tha stronger guys left after ya and these kids are still in trainin'." Wraith's answer was expected by Victor and he nodded.

"I figured, these guys are shakin' in their boots." Victor chuckled as he watched another guy faint. He looked at Wraith now. "These guys won't last one minute on tha field, let me train 'em, I'll give ya prime soldiers by tha end o' tha month." Wraith contemplated his suggestion for a minute and then nodded.

"Ya can have 'em, but ya gotta wait 'til tha end o' tha mission first."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Jade woke up wrapped in JJ's arms, her hair was laying across his face and she wondered idly how he could breathe with her hair up his nose. Shifting her body so she slipped off of him and onto the bed she pulled her hair off of his face. JJ started to wake and she rested against his arm. His shocking green eyes opened and stared into her blue ones.

"Morning JJ." She whispered against his cheek as she kissed him lightly. He grunted in response. _Guess he's not a morning person._ "Thanks for staying with me last night." He awoke more now and kissed her back on the lips.

"No problem." His voice was gruff from disuse but still deep and wonderful in Jade's ears.

"It means a lot to me though." She felt tears welling up in her eyes again and she fought to push them back. JJ brushed his thumb across her cheek as a tear slipped down it.

"I'm always ready to hold you if you need me Jade, don't worry 'bout it." He kissed her cheek once more and looked over her shoulder to see the clock. "Well, I gotta get up now, gotta find a way to get back home."

"Alright." They seperated then, Jade got into the shower while JJ waited patiently for his turn. While JJ showered Jade dressed in her X-Men uniform. The uniform consisted of knee high pliable, heel-less, black boots, tight black shorts with a black belt that held several utilities of hers. Her black top was halter strapped and ended just above her belly button. The Professor had objected to someone so young wearing such tight clothing but she had fought tooth and nail to wear whatever she wanted to wear. Pulling her red hair into a tight braid she tied the end with a rubber band and then tied a black ribbon over it. She was putting her black, fingerless gloves on when JJ exited the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Blushing deeply she looked away and listened to him chuckle softly.

"Sorry 'bout that Jade, gotta remember this isn't my house." He went back into the bathroom and Jade quickly exited the room. She headed down to the danger room, needing to let off some steam. She had so much restless energy inside of her and she felt that if she didn't let some of it out she'd blow. Reaching the danger room she tested the door but it was locked, going up the control she figured she'd watch whoever was in there until they were done. When she looked out the control panel window she gasped. Down there dressed in one of Psilock's spare costumes was her mother.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Dezra woke that morning with lonliness permeating her being. Showering and dressing quickly she met the Professor for a meeting. It was only six when she woke up so her children were not yet ready to wake. He decided to let her and her children stay until they were ready to leave. Going to Psilock's room the purple haired woman let her borrow a spare outfit and she dressed quickly in it. Practically running to the danger room she had set the room on the highest setting. Pinning her long, red hair up she activated the danger room. She fought viciously against the attacking robots and gadgets, blowing most of them away with fire or just fighting fist to fist with them.

She was halfway through with the program when exhaustion began to set in. Fighting harder she ignored the oncoming drowziness. A robot replica of the Juggernaut attacked her and she focused the fire to ignite inside of his stomach. Dezra watched as the flames ate away at his stomach and the rest of his body erupted in the flames she refused to quench. Just as she was about to attack a sentinel the program was shut off. Looking up at the control panel she saw her daughter Jade staring down at her in amazement. Realizing her state of dress she crossed her arms and stared back at her daughter.

"Are you going to come down here and hug me or are you going to stay up there all day." Before her sentence was finished Jade was running out of the control room and bursted through the danger room door.

"Mom!" She screamed as she embraced her mother tightly. The two women hugged eachother for long moments before seperating.

"I've missed you so much Jade, so so much." They hugged again, needing to feel eachother's presence for the first time in long months.

"It's been so long Mom." Tears were welling up in Jade's eyes and Dezra brushed them away with her thumb.

"I know, but don't worry now that we're together again we can all go home."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Victor roared in frustration as he watched Shatter yet again trip and fall right into the pit full of spikes. Shatter was impaled with the metal spikes once more but he pulled away and his body healed back. Victor stormed towards the blonde guy with rage in his eyes.

"That's the fifth time in one hour that you've failed to jump over tha darned pit!" He roared at the man. Shatter stumbled backwards and fell back into the pit. "Make that sixth." Victor mumbled as he reached down and pulled the weak man out of the pit.

"Patron désolé... Je suis un klutz mes excuses... Veuillez me pardonner!" Shatter mumbled in French. The man was from Lousianna and when he was stressed he tended to lapse into French. Victor clamped a hand over the babbling man's mouth and glared at him.

"Slow down and speak english." He ordered the shaking man. Shatter took a deep breath and let it out.

"M' pologies Patron, 'm a lil klutzy no?" His voice was soprano and broken. He was only fifteen and he was still going through puberty, he was the youngest soldier Victor had to train and watching the kid break was not his idea of fun. It just reminded him of Dezra's son Taris.

"It's alright Shatter, just getcher act tagether and try not ta fall in tha pit again. Even though ya gotta healin' factor, I'm startin' ta wonder how long it'll last with tha rate yer hurtin' yerself." He half smiled at the boy and watched as the boy visibly relaxed. The boy was tall, only two inches shorter than Victor, with blonde hair, hazel eyes and that cajun accent he was a lady killer. Victor had wondered where the boy had gained the nickname Shatter for a long time until he saw the boy's mutant ability. He shot glass projectiles out of his fingers with just a thought, he was dangerous to get pissed off but he was a softie and at this point in time wouldn't hurt a fly. He'd gone on the last mission with Victor and stuck to the much larger man like flies to garbage.

Victor didn't regret taking the boy in as his apprentice though. He was a sweet young man and was amusing with how often he got into trouble. He found himself getting attached to the trouble maker and he knew that it would hurt like hell when the boy had to go on his first mission by himself. He knew Shatter wouldn't last long in the army but he would do his very best to help him survive.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

(A/N) Well here we are yet AGAIN. I was thinking last night that maybe it was a bad idea to cut the fic off so quickly so I decided to pick the story up again. Forgive those of you who liked the ending but it was just rubbing on my consciousness and I HAD to start it again. So I'm sorry! -Sabeybaby

translations

Patron désolé... Je suis un klutz mes excuses... Veuillez me pardonner! Sorry Boss... I'm a klutz my apologies... Please forgive me!

Patron, Boss


	16. Pregnancy By Rape

Victor slipped through the jungle silently, his footsteps not even making a slight cracking noise as he stepped through the endless piles of twigs and leaves. Shatter quietly, but not silently, followed behind him, his head ducked so he would avoid branches. They crept through the jungle and finally stopped at the edge of the jungle where a hidden facility was housed in the middle of a highly covered clearing. Their mission: Capture the lead scientist. So far the mission had gone exactly to plan, they had yet to be detected and things were going well. The patrol guards were chatting animatedly, obviously unused to being attacked they were slack and uncaring as they 'patrolled' the area.

Victor gave the hand signal to halt to Shatter and slipped behind the guards as they kept on walking. Faster than they could turn around he had slit their throats and guided their bodies to the ground so they wouldn't make any noise. He hid their bodies in the bushes and took a quick look around the area to see if there were anymore guards before signaling to Shatter to continue along with him. They waited until several people were exiting the building before slipping in behind them and entering the building. Shatter went straight for the security camera and placed a chip onto it that would make it repeat the same image of the doors being closed over and over again, therefore keeping their presence unknown. Together Shatter and Sabretooth slipped through the halls, only once did they encounter a guard and he was quickly taken care of by Sabretooth who cut his throat and slipped him into the janitor's closet.

They were quickly approaching the office that held the lead scientist and they became more careful with their movements. It was told the guy was a genius and they didn't plan on being caught. Victor peaked through the bottom of the window and saw the scientist busy going through several papers on his desk. Shatter immediately took guard at the door while Victor slipped into the room quietly and swiftly. He was so quiet and the scientist so wrapped up in his papers he didn't notice the door open. _A fatal mistake. _Victor thought grimly. He approached the desk and his presence was finally noticed. The scientist's eyes were wide open, the dark brown depths peered in fear into Victor's blue ones.

"W..who are you?" The scientist asked, finally bucking up enough courage to speak. Victor gave him a cruel smile.

"Yer worst nightmare." He growled low in his throat before pinning the guy to his chair. He was tied up faster than he could press the alarm button. He was gagged quickly and lifted from his chair. Victor carried him out the door and met Shatter outside in the hall.

"Le's go." Shatter whispered in his Cajun accent. Sabretooth nodded his agreement and they exited the building without further troubles. Once they were on the helicopter back to SHIELD headquarters did Victor finally relax. He slumped against his seat, exhaustion from their mission setting in. The scientist struggled against his bonds once but a glare from Victor stilled his movements. When they arrived back at headquarters they were greated by a very happy Wraith.

"Great job 'Tooth!" The man congradulated him. "Since you guys did so well, I'm lettin' ya both get yer chances at the women early, even the young one here! How does that sound?" Victor contemplated the offer for Shatter. Victor on a weekly basis had his share of women that Wraith kept around to keep the soldiers happy but never before had Shatter had the chance to have his enjoyment. Victor cocked an eyebrow at his young friend.

"Ya think ya can handle yerself properly in a woman's company without me boy?" He asked sarcastically. Shatter grinned broadly before speaking.

"Monsieur," Shatter smirked. "You have neva seen me in my element, t'ough I can guarantee you tha' i's not on da battlefield." The grin that spread across Shatter's face enlightened Victor more than enough to understand. He let out a hearty chuckle and patted his friend on the back heavily.

"Well then help yerself." He growled out, giving him a light push towards the door that led to the courters the women were held in. The celebration party for Shatter's first successful mission was something to treasure for both Shatter and Sabretooth. Women were around in ambundence, you never had an empty lap. The women were blunt, and quite shameless as they tossed themselves at the available men in the room. Even the men who had women in their laps already had to settle fights between the women occasionally.

Sabretooth was at this moment sitting in the largest lounge chair since he was the largest man, several women were perched on the arms of the chair while some women were more bold as to sit right onto his lap. Right now he wasn't very interested in their company but more of Dezra's company. He missed her deeply and wished she was the one sitting on his lap instead of the boney blonde that was. She kept grabbing at his pant's zipper and he had to fight her hands off to get his message across. He was not interested and didn't feel like it right now. Though he did occasionally sleep with women to relieve himself of the growing ache, he missed Dezra more than he needed to have sex. Shatter was apparently enjoying himself though, he had a blonde on his right leg and a brunette on his left. They had their hands all over his body and he was kissing from one to the next.

A smirk lit up Victor's face as he remembered how he used to be just like that when he was younger. The years had past though, he was one of the senior soldiers and most would soon be replaced by the younger soldiers. Deciding he'd had enough excitement for one night Victor rose from his seat. He stretched his arms high above his head, feeling his back crack he sighed. He knew all the women in the room had their eyes on him, for a long time he was the most popular male in the complex, he still was but not for the same reasons. Back then it was for his promiscuity and inability to get AIDS, but now it was because he was the oldest, healthiest, and strongest soldier there. Turning for the door he pried the many female hands off of his body.

"Leavin' so soon Patron?" Shatter's soprano voice stopped him briefly and he turned back to adress his friend.

"I've got an early mornin' tamorro' Shatter, need all tha rest I can get ta keep up with such a young 'un." He smirked at the younger boy and headed off to his room. Collapsing onto the bed he was asleep before his head made contact.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Dezra yawned wide as she walked to her room. It had been a long day, she had spent all of her time with her children and now she was approaching the time to miss Victor. It had been long days without his presence, she missed him so much and she wished he was here more than anything. Walking closer to her room she passed by Victoria's and heard sniffling from within. Pressing her ear to the door the sniffles turned into sobs. Opening the door slowly she saw her youngest daughter curled up on her bed, blonde curls messed up and plastered to her face from the tears. She was mumbling but Dezra couldn't tell what she was saying. Getting closer to the bed she realized her daughter was having a nightmare, and apparently about something bad from the tears. She was about to wake her when she finally heard the mumbles.

"Please... stop! No more... I hurt... NO!" Dezra realized her daughter was reliving her rape experiences. She of course knew that her daughters had been raped, Wraith had loved to flaunt it in her face on a daily basis. Jade had overcome the experience easily, she pushed it aside and moved on like she always did. Dezra had no idea Victoria was suffering so much. Touching her shoulder, Dezra shook her daughter awake.

"Victoria... Tory, wake up!" She ordered her as she shook her gently. The blonde girl's eyes snapped open and her whimpers ceased.

"Mom?" The girl whispered, pushing the hair out of her eyes she saw that it was her mother. "Mommy!" The twelve year old squealed as she hugged her mother.

"Oh Tory." Dezra whispered as she held her daughter. "I'm so sorry." Tears began to leak from her eyes as she regarded her daughter.

"For what?" Tory whispered as she pulled back from her mother.

"For not protecting you." Dezra whispered. Tory was young but understood her mother's words. She shook her head violently.

"No Momma, you don't have to be sorry for this, the man who raped me does. It will never be your fault." They embraced eachother again but it wasn't as long as the first. Dezra patted her daughter's stomach lightly.

"Gaining some weight, I knew Ororo's cooking was bad for you." She teased her daughter. Dezra felt into her daughter's mind and searched her body to affirm what she thought was obvious. She gasped, making Tory confused.

"What is it Mommy?" The twelve year old asked. Dezra began to cry harder now, unable to form any words she tried to gain back some of her breath. "Momma?" Tory was begining to worry now.

"You..." Dezra gasped for breath. "You're... pregnant!" She finally said as she gained enough breath through her tears. Victoria sat on the bed silently for a minute, contemplating what her mother said. She was pregnant. The thought hit her harder than she thought possible and the tears began to pour harder than ever. How could this happen to her? She was just a little girl. But yet here she was, pregnant by rape.

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(A/N) NOOOOO! I almost didn't want to add that last little scene, pregnancy by rape is terrible and I'll tell you now, I hate it with a passion. It's a terrible thing for anybody to go through. Please don't flame me for it! I know I used to and now I realize it's not fun to receive! -Sabeybaby

translations

Patron, Boss

Monsieur, Mister


	17. Despair

Dezra was so lost for what she should do. Tory was pregnant, Jade was determined to leave with a mercenary apparently, Victor wasn't here to hold her, and she wished she knew the answers to her issues. Slumping against the balcony's railing she sighed deeply. Her life was in shatters. It had all started to fall apart when Victor showed up at her house that day so long ago and now she was utterly confused. What should she do? Should she just forget Victor and move on? Should she tell her daughter to get an abortion and forget the fact that she was ever raped? Of course not, she could not extinguish the life growing in her daughter anymore than she could forget Victor. She was sure now, she was in love with Victor and Tory had to keep her child.

The moon was high in the sky now, midnight had come and gone. Two o'clock was now nearing, but sleep still evaded Dezra like the plague. Letting her wings release from their tight embrace inside her back she sighed with relief. It had been so long since she stretched her wings in the cool moonlight. Grabbing her long braid she undid her hair and let the red strands engulf her figure. Looking up towards the moon she saw a faint figure of a person flying into the distance, the silver glints shining against the moon let Dezra realize exactly who was flying away. Victoria was leaving, and Dezra got the distinct impression that she wasn't coming back. Pumping her wings she flew after her evasive daughter. Having more experience in the air she quickly caught up to Tory.

"Tory, where are you going?" Dezra asked her child. The twelve year old had tears in her eyes but she remained strong.

"I'm going back to Canada." Tory whispered, impatiently brushing a blonde curl out of her face. Dezra looked confused. She was leaving?

"Can't you wait for the rest of the family?" She asked now. Tory shook her head violently.

"No Momma, I can't wait anymore. Even though I'm young I see what you are waiting for. You are willing to wait an eternity for a man who will never come back, he has found his place but you will still wait. If you have your way you will be here for the rest of your life awaiting a man who's not going to return to you." Tory sighed deeply as she regarded her mother.

"How can you see these things daughter?" Dezra was doubtful of her daughter's insight. "You are only twelve." Tory gave her a brief smile.

"I have been given the insight, I can see in my mind the future mother. Here you will wait for many years and he will not come back." The blonde girl admitted as she turned into the moon.

"So why do you leave by yourself? Even if you can see the future, why alone?" Dezra was worried for her daughter, not because she could see the future but because she would be alone.

"Because in my isolation the visions are clearer, alone I don't have to hide what I see." Tory paused as a tear welled up in her eye. "Alone I shall raise my child." Dezra nodded, she realized the truth now.

"Then stay in our house until you have what you need to be on your own." The two women embraced eachother tightly before they released eachother.

"Good bye." Tory whispered as she flew away in the direction of Canada. Dezra waited until her daughter was far away before she let her tears fall.

"Good bye." She whispered back to a child who could not hear her.

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Victor woke early as promised the next morning, he took a quick glance around and realized that Shatter had not been in the room. Whenever he came to him he left the room in shambles, all he had to do was walk and he destroyed the area. But the room was still clean so he probably was still sleeping. Exiting his room in his boxers for Shatter's room which was attached by a pull back wall he wrenched the door open and stared at his young friend. Shatter was lying haphazardly on his bed with two women wrapped around his body tightly. The scent of sex was thick in the air and Victor nearly choked. _Guess I'm not tha only stud 'round here any more. _Chuckling softly to himself he walked over to the bed. Grabbing the two women's shoulders he shook them gently, careful not to wake Shatter up yet. The mumbled groggily but were brought out of their sleep.

"Whaddya want?" One of the girl's mumbled, the brunette from last night that was perched on Shatter's knee when he left.

"Yeah, I was," The blonde yawned deeply mid sentence. "sleeping." Victor gently pried them off of Shatter and onto the floor.

"Shatter has ta get ta work now, that means you two gotta skidaddle. Now." He ordered them. They obidiently dressed and left the room, not making a noise more. All the women and men in the complex knew that if Sabretooth was pissed off he wouldn't hesitate to rip your throat out. Well, that's what he was like when he was younger, now he gave them a warning before ripping their throats out. Going back into his room he showered and dressed quickly. Re-entering Shatter's room he shook the boy awake.

"Get up boy." He growled at him. The blonde haired boy stretched liesurely in bed before opening his blue eyes to peer at Victor curiously.

"Ce qui? Quelle heure est-il?" The boy mumbled as he yawned. Victor grabbed his chin and forced him to look at him.

"Up now, and speak English ya French rat." The insult came easily and Shatter chuckled.

"Good mornin' ta ya too vous blonde gigantesque." Shatter mumbled the last part in French and Victor cocked an eyebrow.

"What was that last part?" The question was actually a threat since he knew Shatter had insulted him some way.

"Not'ing, not'ing." The two men continued on getting ready for work quickly. Silence filled the room as they sent looks to eachother to communicate. When they were finally in their practice room they trained viciously, Victor was determined to turn Shatter into the strongest apprentice around by the end of the month. A messenger knocking on the doorway since the door was opened interupted their training.

"Whaddya want?" Victor asked gruffly as he glared at the messenger. The messenger boy flushed from fear but spoke anyways.

"Wr.. Wraith would like t.. to see you b.. both." He managed and fled the room. Victor and Shatter shared a amused look before exiting the training room. They walked together, side by side, through the halls towards the control room where Wraith could always be found, no matter the time. When they entered Wraith was standing, leaning against a column in the room. Leon and his mate Deborah were in the room as well, they were staring at eachother with saddened eyes while exchanging hushed words.

"Ya wanted ta see me and tha rat?" Victor asked Wraith while receiving a light punch on the shoulder from Shatter.

"Yeah, I've heard some disturbing rumors that must be hushed." Wraith turned around and gave them glares that would make a grown man burst into tears. Shatter didn't even cringe, Victor was so proud of his apprentice.

"Rumors?" Victor asked curiously. He was a soldier, not a momma to the unleashed kids running rampantly through the complex. Many women got pregnant from their time with the men when they 'forgot' to take their birth control pills and they would give birth to the children every time.

"Yeah, rumors." Wraith turned and glared at Leon. "How 'bout ya inform our good friends here hm?" Leon nodded his head and turned solemn eyes to Victor.

"The rumor goes that your apprentice and my wife are having an affair." Leon whispered, he looked like his heart was breaking and Victor felt a pang of guilt that his apprentice supposedly caused this pain in his friend. Victor turned to Shatter and gave him a penetrating stare.

"This true?" Victor asked the boy. Shatter looked hesitant to answer but nodded.

"It is." Leon looked enraged at the boy's answer. The fire flashing in his eyes made Victor wary.

"Then something must be done to stop these rumors that are distracting my soldiers!" Wraith barked, drawing the men from their eye combat. "Leon, I want ya ta kill one o' these no good people, that would be between yer wife and Shatter that is." Leon looked between the two people before glancing at Wraith.

"You want me to kill one of them?" Leon asked his commanding officer. Wraith smirked and nodded.

"If I tell ya to kill one o'them then I expect ya ta kill them Leon." Wraith glared and pointed to both people. Leon looked at Victor with saddened eyes.

"I'm so sorry Vic." The man whispered before aiming his gun and shooting a bullet straight into Shatter's chest. Blood spattered from the boy and landed on the ground, wall and Victor. Victor gazed at his bleeding sidekick and felt the pang of guilt. He might've been able to stop this if he had just watched the boy closer, Shatter wouldn't be lying at his feet in a puddle of his own blood right now would he? _Not a chance._ Pure agony ripped through his chest as he realized that his young compatriot would not be tagging along side him when he went to train or to talk with several of the other guys. He would no longer share the friendly banter with his best friend, no more would he have somebody to watch over. He was gone.

"Shatter." Victor whimpered for the first time that he could remember. His best friend was dying at his feet and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He knew the bullet Leon had used was not a normal one or else Shatter would've already been healed and standing up chuckling. His skin was turning cold and Victor felt his throat choke.

"What did I tell ya 'bout dyin' boy, yer not allowed." Victor whispered gruffly. He felt tears threaten to pour but he pushed them back. He was just a man, did they expect him to just push this aside? Shatter sputtered as he tried to get the blood out of his throat.

"Nobody's invincable mon ami." He spat out more blood and he gave Victor a weak smile. "Thank you for watchin' ova me Patron, yo' da best friend a boy could 'ave non?" He pulled Victor closer so he could whisper in his ear. "J'observerai au-dessus de vous." And then he was gone. The life drained out of the boy's blue eyes, his head dropped back to the ground and he stared blankly at Victor's face. Pain welled up in his chest but Victor pushed it back. He growled low in his throat before roaring so fiercly everyone in the room jumped. He glared at Leon and growled deeper.

"You killed him." His eyes flashed with the red hot anger that he felt. It was burning deep in his soul, lighting his blood lust to full for the first time in many long years.

"I'm sorry Victor, I really am." Leon tried to fix the situation but Victor was too lost to the beast, he truly became his namesake, Sabretooth was alive once more.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Tory flew as fast as she could, not pausing to eat when she was hungry, not pausing for bathroom breaks when she had to use the restroom. She arrived at their house in Canada within four hours. She landed on the front steps and unlocked the door with her mind. _Telekinesis is a handy thing when you forget the keys to the house. _She thought, amused of her forgetfulness. Opening the door she pushed her way into the house and went straight to her room. She hadn't been in it since before they were captured by SHIELD. The room represented everything that she used to be. Young, giggly, and very girly. Looking at it now she realized it was nothing that she was anymore.

Her youth had been ripped from her the moment she was forced into womanhood by the guard. Closing her eyes against the brutal memory she blocked it from her mind. It hurt too much to remember. Opening her eyes again she stared at the girlish items on her dresser. Nail polish for her toe nails when she wore sandals, perfume for when she went out with her friends, make up to make her look more exotic when she hung out with cute guys. All of these items were pointless to her now. Nail polish stank like the chemicals they pumped into Jade when she was particularly troublesome, the perfume was pointless as well since she didn't have friends that would understand her anymore. And the make up was a signal for trouble now, why would she want a guy's attention when all it brought was pain?

Grabbing a box from inside her closet that she kept for items that she wanted to give to her friends she put these pointless items in it. Snatching several other items she shoved them in the box. Going over to her bed she ripped the covers off the bed and folded them up. She scoured her room, not leaving a single girlish item left in it. Putting the now full boxes in the garage she grabbed several jars of paint left over from when Taris repainted his room. Changing into something old and tattered from her older brother's closet she grabbed the paintbrushes and started painting. She worked on her room for long hours, after she was done painting she went downstairs and slept on the couch to fight away her exhaustion.

When she woke again she went upstairs and looked at her walls. They were dry now so she could continue, she put new black sheets on the bed. A red blanket followed that, placing red and black pillows on her bed she didn't take time to admire her work. Grabbing some spare black sheets from the closet she hung them on her windows as curtains, the light could hardly penetrate her room and that pleased her. Finishing up her work she admired her well spent time. The room was dark from the lack of light and it represented the darkness that now resided in her heart. Going to her mirror she figured her look was next. Despite the dirty clothes and the paint stains on her skin she still found herself too girly.

Going to Jade's room she grabbed her black and red hair dye. Washing and dyeing her hair she kept on working. Her curls were now still blonde but black and red streaks filled the mass of curls. Finding something black and tight from her sister's closet she dressed into them. She was easily several sizes larger than her sister, Jade was petite but Tory was curvacious and beautiful in everyone's eyes. The shirt fit over her chest tightly giving her the desired affect. Grabbing some black make up she gave her eyes a smokey darkness to them. Finally finished with her transformation she admired herself in the mirror. She didn't look like the same girly Victoria that used to hang with the popular crowd. No that girl was long gone, she was ruined. Tory realized now that she had flung herself deep into her own pit of despair.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Victor roared ferociously before launching himself at Leon. Blood flew wildly as he cut deep into the man's arm. Leon spun away from his attack at the last minute so the cut was small and only scratched the surface. Leon continued to avoid Victor's attack as his rage grew. The fire in Victor's eyes made Leon wonder if he'd really done the right thing. Victor finally cornered Leon, his rage could be seen clearly in his flashing eyes. There was no more resemblances to the man he used to be, he was gone, destroyed by the beast that claimed his heart. Victor roared as he neared for the final attack.

"Victor, have mercy, please." Leon dropped to his knees and pleaded to the beast for his life. He hoped and prayed there was enough man left in him to see what he was doing. "Don't do this Vic, I'm your best friend remember?" The cold chuckle coming from Victor convinced him other wise.

"What I used ta be might've been yer best friend Leon, but he died long ago. And a few moments ago ya killed tha rest o'him. Shatter was only fifteen Leon, I loved that kid like a son. One o'tha best things that ever happened ta me." Victor growled now. "And ya took that away, now I'm gonna take what means tha most ta ya too." He charged at Leon first but changed his movement at the last moment and swung his claws at Deborah's neck. Her blood flew across the room as her head was decapitated. Leon yelled his surprise and agony as he watched his wife die right in front of him.

"Deb!" He screamed as he ran towards his dead wife. Her body collapsed to the floor and her head rolled away. Victor grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his claws off, he no longer felt the need to kill now. Leon was crying over his wife's dead body and Victor walked over to him.

"And now ya know what I go through everytime I hafta watch a person I love die." He whispered to the man, out of Wraith's hearing and walked away. "I've had enough of yer games Wraith, I'm leavin', and doncha think of tryin' ta stop me or else I'll gut every last man ya have."

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(A/N) I have a feeling I'm gonna get a heckuva lot of reviews on this chapter. But please, try to resist the urge to flame. I'll see y'all in the next chapter! -Sabeybaby

translations

Ce qui? Quelle heure est-il? What? What time is it?

vous blonde gigantesque, you blonde mammoth.

mon ami, my friend

Patron, Boss

J'observerai au-dessus de vous, I'll be watching over you.


	18. Stupid Doors

(A/N) **Before y'all read the fic, I suggest u read this first**. I got a complaint from someone about having too much Tory in the story. Well, you must realize I put everything in the story for a reason, so if I put a lot of Victoria stuff in it you either read it and accept it or read it and get off my case about it. Both ways work for me. ;-) Just chill out and enjoy the story. -Sabeybaby

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Victor slumped in the driver's side of the jeep he had "borrowed." It was a comfortable ride but he was so tired that keeping his eyes on the road was becoming harder the farther he drove. Slurping some more of the coffee he had bought from a nearby gas station he continued to focus on the road. Relaxing into the drive he growled as he watched a guy in a sleek, red convertible flick him off once he realized Victor was going to slow for his tastes. The guy pulled around him and Victor glared at the much smaller man. He watched as the guy who was not paying attention to the road missed the sign that signaled to the drivers that the next turn was supposed to be a 25 mile per hour one. The guy took the turn at 55, losing control of the car he flew off onto the side of the road. He began to yell explicatives at Victor as he zoomed past him.

Smirking to himself he focused on the drive so he didn't end up like the smaller man. His thoughts drifted now to Dezra and he wondered what she was doing at this point in time. Glancing at the clock he realized she was probably asleep in her bed seeing as how it was nearing two o'clock. Breathing deeply of the fresh night air he let his mind surround the images he held of her. It had been so long since they were together that all he had now was images of Dezra in his mind and a t-shirt that she had forgotten when she gathered a bag of clothing to take with her. His mind firmly grasped the image of Dezra smiling broadly at him as he gently reprimanded the freshly dead Shatter. Victor's throat constricted as he recalled what he had been doing several hours ago.

**Flashback**

**Victor dug dilligently into the snowy ground as he continuously glanced over his shoulder at the box that held his best friend and apprentice. Hot tears threatened to spill as he forced the shovel into the ground. The cold air of Canada soaked into his body but he ignored it and dug farther into the ground. Slumping against the shovel in his exhaustion he let a single tear escape. The rest pressed at the backs of his eyeballs but he held them back forcefully, he would not be seen as weak in front of the soldiers surounding him. Some of the them had come in respect of the strong man who had practically raised them while others were friends of his who were heartbroken to see him leave. As he suspected, Leon was absent for the makeshift burial and Victor wouldn't have it any other way.**

**End Flashback**

Firmly pushing thoughts of his friend away Victor pulled up into a motel parking lot. Shutting off the jeep he exited it and entered the run down building. He wasn't in the mood to be living the high life when his best friend was dead, it just made him mad. The current person working the desk of the motel was a young woman that looked to be in her twenties. Her hair was cut short and blonde, green eyes peered at Victor curiously as he requested a room for the night. She openly admired his body, running her heated gaze up and down his body shamelessly. She smiled at him suggestively and Victor wondered idly if he should take up her obvious offer. Deciding against it took the keys out of her grasp and went to his room without so much as a good bye.

Opening up the door to his room he scrunched his nose against the smells assaulting his senses. It smelled like something had crawled up and died in there. _Perfect._ Victor hoped the strong smells would keep him from remembering anything more of Shatter. Tossing his jacket onto a bed post he crawled up on the top of the bed and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Dezra smiled as she watched the Blackbird land, in it was the remainder of her children who had been on a mission with Scott when she arrived and she was very excited to see them again. The ship landed and the ramp lowered revealing an anxious group. Most of the children were red headed or blonde, the majority of those kids being Dezra's children. Someone from the crowd recognized her and squealed excitedly.

"Mommy!" A young red head ran out of the Blackbird and into her awaiting arms. She grasped one of her youngest children, Travis and hugged him tightly.

"Oh my baby." She whispered in his ear as she swung him in a circle. The other children of hers ran out of the ship and into her arms as well. They all were excited, showing this through their insistant pleading for "their turn to hug Momma" and how they wanted to "show Momma what they learned." The X-Men were smiling at Dezra's children's open show of affection. As a group they all reentered the X-Mansion and gathered in the parlor. The smaller children eithr sat on Dezra's lap or on the floor around her. They all had questions to ask or things to tell her and she listened patiently to every single one. They were interupted by the sound of a car coming up the driveway.

Jean closed her eyes and focused with her mind to pinpoint who exactly it was coming up the driveway while Dezra ignored the interuption and played with her children. The X-Men ran outside the mansion and into the driveway, leaving Dezra and her children alone in the parlor. The door being forcefully opened, making a loud shattering noise as it broke into pieces brought the red headed woman out of her thoughts. She slowly turned towards the door and smiled broadly at the man standing in the doorway. She prepared herself for whatever whitty thing the man she loved had to say. As he opened his mouth she found herself staring at his lips.

"Stupid doors."

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(A/N) Hope that was a fun chapter. -Sabeybaby


	19. Epilogue: Premonitions

Some things in life you can't predict, these things like to creep up on you and wait until you're unprepared to pounce. One of these moments was happening right now. Victor stood in the now broken doorway staring at his red headed love, she was sitting straightbacked on the couch hugging several of her children while keeping her gaze locked onto his. The woman slowly stood up, setting her children down at the same time. One of the children was determined to be held and would not let go of his mother's pant leg. She easily opened his grip and made him release her. Her eyes filled with unshed tears as she stared unabashedly at Victor. A grin broke out on the man's face as he looked at her.

"Victor." Her words were hushed, it was the first time they'd spoken to eachother in several long weeks. She walked up to him and was about to embrace her lover when a child through himself in between them and hugged one of the blonde man's legs.

"Daddy." The kid said happily as he held on tightly to the now gaping Victor. His eyes were the size of tennis balls and his mouth was opening and closing much like a fish out of water. Dezra and Victor looked at eachother with wide confused eyes.

"Am I missing something?" He asked her. Dezra shook her head and shrugged. She bent down and grabbed the blonde haired boy. The boy hung on stubbornly for a moment before releasing the older man.

"Gabe, why did you call mister Victor daddy?" She asked the young boy. He was an intelligent boy at the age of five, he spoke clearer than most his age and understood things no child his age should.

"I can feel him Mommy." He said simply, he shrugged as if what he said explained his actions enough. Dezra stood there in surprise as her son began to wiggle in her arms, eager to be let down.

"What do you mean you can feel him?" She held Gabe tighter against her and he stopped wiggling.

"I can feel him in my mind like you and ev'rybody else." The little boy smiled innocently as his mother stared with wide eyes.

"You can feel him?" The red headed woman was confused to say the least, she walked back slowly until her butt rested against the back of the couch. "You can feel him." She whispered to herself. Victor raised an eyebrow as he watched her actions.

"Dez, what am I missin'?" Victor asked the woman as she got lost in her thoughts.

"He can feel you." Dezra said only glancing at Victor for a moment before staring back into space.

"I got tha' part, jus' what does that mean?" He was getting impatient with the red headed woman, he was weirded out by the boy hugging him, now Dezra acting like the apocalypse was coming was not helping him at all.

"Gabe is a special boy, out of my family he's the one who is the most like our people, we can all faintly feel the presence of our families in our minds, but he can feel them stronger than most, now I cannot feel you in my mind like he does, but if he says he can feel you that must mean..." Her voice faded off as she spoke, the remainder of her sentence was left unsaid as Victor stood there confused. Gabe was finally released from his mother's hands and went straight back to Victor. The little boy lifted his hands up in a sign to be picked up and he was picked up by the blonde man almost absentmindly. There was a long silence as they stood there. Finally the boy looked straight into Victor's eyes and astounded the man.

In the little boy's eyes he could see himself. Their eyes were the same, bluer than the sky on a summer day, not a single other color interupted the beautiful concoction of blue. The same blonde hair, the only difference was the boys small frame. He looked more like, _Dezra._ The truth was seen by Victor now, it was possible for the boy to believe Victor was his father because they looked so much alike. There were resemblences of both adults in all the children he now realized, there was no mistaking it, Victor was the father.

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**Five months later**

Victoria was lounging on the couch watching another Buffy rerun, silent tears running down her face as she watched Buffy kill Angel. Biting down on the piece of chocolate in her hand she sniffled before wiping her nose with a tissue. Her stomach had now swollen as her child was growing inside her, several monthes longer and she'd be a mother. Shutting off the tv she closed the box of chocolates and prepared herself for standing. Swinging her legs slowly over the couch's edge she was ready to stand. Then suddenly, everything in her mind began to rearrange. She relaxed against the back of the couch as another vision came before her eyes. The house redecorated itself, another place, another time appeared before her.

A large blonde man was changing a baby's diaper, fondling the young girl as he finished. Young children ran around him at his feet and he struggled to step around them as he headed towards the stairs. He placed the baby girl on his right hip as he slowly walked down the stairs. He stepped to the side and turned back up the stairs, his face revealed to her. She recognized him as Sabretooth, one of the X-Men's enemies. He was calling after the children and they ran down the stairs excitedly in the main direction of the kitchen. Tory smiled as she saw her youngest brothers bickering with eachother over a toy, her mother stepped into the scene then and gave them another toy, the fight stopped immediately. She walked up to Sabretooth and kissed him lightly on the lips before taking the little girl from his arms.

They walked together to the kitchen table and all the children took their seats. The doorbell rang and Dezra went to answer the door. She opened the door to reveal Jade and one of the scientists from SHIELD, his jet black hair and green eyes seemed very much like something that would drag Jade towards him. They joined the rest of the group at the table and took their seats. Suddenly Tory was staring into the black haired man's eyes, green battled against blue for a moment before Tory's attention was drawn away. She turned her head back to the stairs and saw herself coming down them.

Her blonde curls were no longer dyed and fell down to the top of her bottom. She was dressed simply in a light blue sun dress as she walked slowly down the stairs. But what caught Tory's attention more than herself was the young child trailing behind her. The boy had blonde curls like his mother but brown eyes that was so obviously outside of the family. He was small and frail as he clung to his mother's hand. When they finally reached the table he was placed next to Tory in a high chair. The scene gave Tory a sense of longing, was this her family's future? She really hoped so, it looked more pleasant then her current life was. In another blink the scene was gone and her normal home returned to her eyes.

Sighing deeply Tory struggled to her feet and put the chocolates in the kitchen, walking slowly to the window she gazed out into the bright land. Staring at the swing her mother had in the front yard hanging on a chair she imagined herself swinging with her future baby. Wishing that moment would come she turned away from the window and went back to the couch and turned the tv back on. Until then she'd be sitting right here waiting.

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(A/N) And it's over! Finally! Took me long enough, but the last ending just didn't suit me. Now to get started on the rest of my stories! Thanks for reading! -Sabeybaby


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