By Bobbi Todd
Part Six
The X-Men are the property of Marvel Comics and are used here without their
permission.
Rated NC-17 for graphic sexual content, both consensual and non-consensual, as
well as for violence and offensive language. If you are under the legal age for
this sort of thing, then GET OUT!
Creed shook the pilot awake roughly.
"Wha...?"
"Get up. I need ya ta fly the girl back ta the base."
"In this weather?"
"Yeah."
"It's gonna take us a while ta break camp, ya know."
"You ain't gonna break camp, pal. In this weather, weight's a factor. Just you,
the girl, an'..." he glanced around the tent quickly, pointing to the crew
chief, the smallest of the men present, "him are goin'. An' yer goin' now."
"Right now?"
"If you don't move, we're gonna find out if somebody else can fly that damned
whirly bird," Creed snarled, lifting the pilot bodily from his cot and dropping
him on the tent floor.
"Uh, right. Lemme grab my boots." The man scrambled for his boots and coat as
the crew chief stumbled from his bed and grabbed his own gear. The other two men
looked on in bewilderment.
By the time the helicopter was freed from its tethers, Creed had the girl ready.
She lay limply in his arms, wrapped in the blankets from his bed. He handed her
to the crew chief who took her carefully and strapped her into one of the seats
of the chopper.
"You get her to the medic pronto. You can come back for those other slugs when
the weather clears."
"Uh, what about you, boss?"
"I got a job ta finish. You just make sure she's all right, you got me?"
"Yeah, boss. I got ya."
"Victor?" The girl could barely be heard over the howling of the wind. Creed
climbed into the machine and crouched next to her, his hand extended to caress
her cheek. "What's ... going on?" she asked him.
"We're getting' ya to a doctor, girl. Yer pretty sick."
"Please don't leave me," she whispered, leaning into his hand. "I'm scared."
"It'll be all right, angel. The doc'll fix ya up an' I'll be along ta collect ya
real soon." He stroked her hair and gestured for the pilot to start the engine.
He dropped his hand and moved toward the door.
"Victor?"
"Yeah?"
"My name's Anna. I just wanted ... someone to know." Her eyes closed and she
sagged against the straps. His heart in his throat, Creed had to reassure
himself that she was still breathing.
As Creed left the helicopter, the crew chief saw something in his eyes he'd
never seen before. Creed was afraid.
He secured the door and turned to slap the pilot on the shoulder. He shouted to
be heard over the scream of the engine.
"Keep low to avoid the worst of the winds, but get us there as fast as you can.
The girl looks pretty rocky, an' I sure as hell don't wanna be the one ta tell
Creed she died on the way." The pilot nodded and pushed the stick forward,
causing the helicopter to tilt forward as it took off. The crew chief buckled
himself in next to the girl. It was bound to be a bumpy ride.
Creed watched until the chopper disappeared, the white air seeming to swallow
it. Without a glance at the remaining two men, who had helped prepare the
helicopter for flight, he entered his tent, closing the flap behind him.
He emerged a few minutes later unseen, the men having escaped the cold into the
shelter of their own tent. He started the snow mobile and drove off in the
direction of the lake. He knew there was a town on the far shore, and he
expected Logan was heading that way. He hoped to catch the runt before he got
there. Once he had him, he could get back to the base, and make sure Anna was
all right. Anna. He savored the sound of her name in his mind. If she died,
there'd be hell to pay.
Logan pushed on through the blizzard. He knew Jezebel had given him the lion's
share of the smoked venison, and that she wouldn't be able to hunt in these
conditions. As soon as he reached a phone, he'd have the other X-Men come get
him. 'Ro could handle the blizzard enough so they could land the blackbird. Then
they'd go get the girl.
He'd have to tell Hank about the pheromones, or whatever it was. Maybe he could
come up with some sort of filter of something. He liked the girl well enough,
but now that he was away from her he realized just how powerful, and how
dangerous, her power was.
He reached the town just as Creed began to circle the lake.
He'd driven the snowmobile hard through the blinding snow. He'd only stopped
long enough to refill the fuel tanks from the cans he'd carried along with him,
continuing even in the relative darkness when the sun went down.
He had only been away from Anna for about twenty-four hours, but his longing for
her was becoming a physical ache. He was almost relieved to see the X-Men's
plane land on the edge of town, and the runt climb on board.
He could head back now, without being delayed by having to deal with Logan. A
fight would've slowed him down.
He was worried about Anna. His radio was on the fritz, and he hadn't heard
anything about how she was doing, beyond the fact that the helicopter had made
it back to base in one piece.
He hated going back empty handed, but it was better than waiting any longer to
see his girl. He turned the snowmobile around and headed back to the base, not
even considering that Logan would go to Anna's cabin first. If he pushed it, he
could be back at the base within another twenty-four hours. Which was about
twelve hours too long, even if he didn't know it.
"Damn it, I knew I should've taken her with me!" Logan stormed as he stood in
the empty cabin, the smell of Jezebel's blood sharp in his nostrils. Mixed with
Creed's scent, it was nearly enough to push him over the edge.
He didn't love the girl by any stretch of the imagination, but he'd promised to
help her, and it was his fault that Creed had found her. Any tracks or scent
trails had been obliterated by the storm.
"Perhaps he took her back to his base, to use her as bait, since he did not
simply kill her and leave her for you to find."
"Maybe. Scents 're three or four days old. I hope she's still alive."
Henry McCoy suppressed a shudder at the thought of the young woman they had
sought to help at the mercy of someone like Creed for that long.
"Do you have any idea in which direction the base may lie?"
"No. It was dark when I busted out, and overcast too." He looked around the
cabin. "When I came to, I was here."
"Perhaps the others will have some ideas." Logan sighed and followed Henry back
to the blackbird where the rest of the team waited. Henry had decided that the
fewer persons exposed to Jezebel's pheromones, the better. Logan carefully
closed the cabin door, even though he was sure the girl would never come back to
it.
"It was underground, so its gonna be tough ta spot, especially from the air."
"It will be impossible to find anything in the dark in any case. Perhaps by
morning, the storm will have subsided," Henry said as they climbed aboard the
blackbird.
"No," Ororo interjected. "The storm will not die until late tomorrow. It is much
too large a system to be easily manipulated. Tomorrow is the best I can do."
Logan growled in frustration. "I am sorry, my friend."
"Ain't yer fault, darlin'. I never shoulda left her here in the first place." He
paced angrily to the back of the plane, still snarling to himself. "I knew Creed
was gonna be after me, I'd just hoped...." He paused when Jean placed one hand
on his arm.
"It's not your fault, Logan," she said quietly. "We'll return to the mansion for
the night. Perhaps the Professor can locate the girl," she looked thoughtful for
a moment. "Or perhaps he can find Creed."
"Buckle up, people," Scott ordered. "The ride's gonna be rough, even with
Storm's help."
The visored X-Man suppressed his own frustration. He and Jean had planned on a
romantic weekend, away from the pressures of the school, and now Jean was
sitting at the back of the plane, talking quietly with Logan. Who no one had
even known was in trouble until he'd called earlier today. If he wouldn't just
take off all the time.... He sighed and concentrated on flying the agile jet.
The girl's plight was Logan's fault, no matter what soothing words Jean murmured
to him now.
"Fly the plane, Scott," Jean's voice echoed in his mind. "Just let me deal with
Logan. Tomorrow, we'll find the girl, vanquish the bad guys, and live happily
ever after." Scott smiled and concentrated on his flying.
Professor Xavier did not wait for his students' return to begin his search. He
quickly located Creed, being somewhat familiar with the taste of the savage
mutant's mind. What he found surprised him. The blonde giant was anxious, a
strange longing consumed him. He was pushing himself and his machine to their
limits, trying to reach ... something.
Charles shook his head. He dared not probe more deeply. Creed was not stupid,
and if he became aware of Xavier's presence within his mind, he would be
forewarned of the X-Men's approach.
He turned his attention to locating the girl instead. He had briefly touched
Logan's mind, to get a feel for the young woman for whom he searched. He was
amazed by the ... extreme ... sexual attraction Logan felt for her, but he
realized that with his heightened senses, Logan would be very vulnerable to her
powers.
He finally found her, just as he felt his students land the blackbird. She was
heavily sedated and he was unable to pinpoint her location. He tried to contact
her directly, but her mind was wrapped in the blankets of oblivion granted to
her by the drugs. She was faintly aware of the pain of her body's injuries, and
he feared that trying to awaken her would be more than her fragile psyche could
survive. They would have to find her, as Logan would say, the old fashioned way.
By looking.
