By Bobbi Todd
Part Nine
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!
Rogue and Gambit completed their survey of the remainder of the complex while
Jubilee delivered the supplies, obtained by Logan from the slaughterhouse of a
medical lab, to Henry, Ororo, and an anxious Victor Creed. They had found two
more bodies, but no live persons. They had also located the hanger where the
helicopter had been sheltered against the storm.
"Good," Logan growled. "I wasn't lookin' forward to walkin' out of here again."
"Huh?" Jubilee said. "Is somethin' wrong with the blackbird?"
"No, darlin'. Its just not a real good idea for me an' ... Creed to share such a
confined space, that's all," he explained, altering the facts slightly to what
he felt a young woman of Jubilee's tender years should hear. It was Anna he was
actually afraid of sharing a space with. He hated Creed to the depths of his
soul, but he had worked with him before. He could tolerate his presence for
short periods of time before going completely berserk. But then, Creed knew how
to push all the right buttons, too.
"Anna's condition is stable at the moment," Ororo announced as she approached
the four X-Men. "Henry would like to move her to the mansion as soon as
possible, however. She needs more care than we can adequately give her here."
She turned to Logan. "Which creates another problem. Creed refuses to leave her
side." Jean joined them, her skin still flushed and Logan's nostril twitched at
the mingled scents he easily detected. He ground his teeth and turned back to
Ororo.
"Not a problem, darlin'. I can make myself scarce for a while."
"Hey, I'll go with you!" Jubilee said, excitedly. He shook his head.
"Not this time, Jubilee."
"But..."
"No." He stalked away toward the hanger. With the lingering pheromones in the
air, and Jean's satiated scent tantalizing his senses, he knew he'd be spending
his evenings in bars, for the next few weeks, being picked up by anything in a
skirt. Or at least, anything that should be in a skirt. It was either that or
screw Jubilee, and as much as he loved the kid, she was too young. He could wait
for her to grow up.
"Logan, wait," Jean said, following him. "It might be a good idea if, " she
started, then paused.
"What?" He was irritated with the whole situation. Creed got the girl, Jean and
One-Eye sneak off to get a quick piece of ass in the middle of a mission, and
now the woman, whose pants he wouldn't mind getting into himself, come to think
of it, wouldn't speak her piece and get out of his face.
"Um, I think Scott should go with you."
"I don't need a baby-sitter."
"Not for you, Logan. For him." She had the grace to blush, at least. She knew
he'd know what they'd been up to. "He's never had to face his animal side. For
whatever reason, Henry's filter didn't work for him"
"Didn't work for me either, darlin'."
Jean blushed harder suddenly, her cheeks rivaling her hair.
"Logan ... I ..."
"Go 'way, Jeannie. Send lover-boy down here, but don't expect me ta be nice to
'im." Jean quickly left the hanger.
A little while later, Logan heard the blackbird take off. Scott entered the
hanger quietly.
"Anything I can do to help?" he asked. Logan bit back the first six things that
came to mind.
"You know anything about explosives?" he finally asked.
"Haven't had much need for them," Scott answered, touching his visor.
"Good point. You checked out on this type o' whirly-bird?"
"I think I can manage."
Hanger door controls 're over there. She's fueled and ready to go. Take her out
of here an' meet me at the clearing where we found Creed's snowmobile. Gimme a
couple o' hours ta get there, but if I ain't there by sun up, go on home. "Scott
nodded and moved to open the hanger doors.
"Word of advice, One-Eye." Scott looked up at the hated nickname. "Stay away
from the mansion until Creed an' the girl are gone. You even look at her
cross-wise, and Creed'll rip yer lungs out through yer nostrils. Which might not
be a bad thing, in and of itself, but it'd make Jeannie cry."
"What makes you think he'd do that?"
"'Cause I know Creed." He stalked out of the hanger, still muttering. "An' its
what I'd do. If it wouldn't make Jeannie cry." Scott didn't hear him over the
rumble of the hanger doors.
Scott found the clearing with no problem, despite the growing darkness. He
landed the helicopter with ease, and sat back to wait. An hour and a half later,
Logan opened the door and climbed in. Scott reached for the controls.
"Give it a minute," Logan said, sitting back in the seat and closing his eyes.
About five minutes later, a bright flash lighted the sky, followed a few seconds
later by a bass rumbling which shook the ground beneath them.
When the rumbling stopped, Logan spoke without opening his eyes.
"We can go now." Scott began to manipulate the controls. "You know, I never did
find out what those bastards wanted with me." Neither man spoke again until the
mansion was in sight several hours later.
"Land out by the boat dock," Logan told Scott. Once the helicopter was on the
ground, Scott started to shut down the engine.
"Leave it runnin'. I'll get rid of it."
"She's running on fumes."
"All the better. I'll ditch it over the ocean." Scott climbed down from the
cockpit. "Tell Jubilee that I'll be back in a few days." Scott ignored the
fierce downdraft as Logan took off again, headed for the ocean.
Several days later Jean stopped by Henry's lab. Anna was doing much better and
she and Creed would be leaving soon. Creed's presence had created a lot of
tension, but the Professor had assured everyone that he was currently no danger
to them. Before they left, Henry wanted to be certain that the girl wouldn't
have a recurrence of the ... problem ... which had driven her to the mountain
cabin in the first place. And to find out why his filters hadn't worked for
Logan. Or Scott.
He didn't figure it out until he finally convinced Creed to submit to a blood
test. Which would never have happened if Anna hadn't looked up at him and said
'please'. The vicious psychopath had melted. And Henry got his blood sample.
"Well?" Jean asked.
"You are familiar, I am certain, with the term 'Alpha Male'." Jean nodded. "As
the next step in human evolution, we mutants tend to have a high percentage of
Alpha Males, to better propagate the species, of course. There are Alpha Females
as well, though you are not quite so ... obvious. What we have in Anna is an
extreme rarity. A physically mature, female Alpha Prime."
"Alpha Prime?"
"A ... super female, if you will. There have probably been others, but if Anna's
experiences are typical, most probably do not survive adolescence."
"So, why didn't the filter work?"
"Oh, they worked. They worked on you, Rogue, and Ororo, avoiding the natural
hostility triggered by her pheromones. Jubilee wore them as a precaution, though
she is probably not yet mature enough to have been affected. And they worked on
the lowly Alpha Males of the team, Remy and myself. But they had no effect on
the Alpha Primes, Logan and Scott. Apparently Creed is also an Alpha Prime."
"Anna's physiology requires an Alpha Prime male. A male strong enough, and fast
enough, and smart enough to protect her. It is indeed fortunate that Logan did
not tarry in her presence any longer than he did, for her pheromones are quite
addictive. Our dear Mr. Creed dare not leave her side for more than twenty-four
hours at a time, lest he begin to suffer from withdrawal. Possibly fatally."
"Well, at least he seems to like her."
"Chemistry, my dear. He really had no choice in the matter. Fortunately, his
pheromones will protect her from other males, as they tend to cancel out her ...
Call of the Wild, if you will. I don't know how an Alpha Prime male will react,
however. Considering the risk factor, both to Anna and to Scott, I've avoided
experimentation. Were Logan available, it might be a different story. But then
again, simply being in the room with Creed makes him see red. Hmmmm." Henry
shook himself. "Back to the subject at hand. There can't be that many Alpha
Primes running around, despite the plethora of them here at the mansion."
"So Anna should be all right, then."
"As long as she and Creed are together." Henry glanced at the monitor showing
Anna's hospital room. Anna was sleeping and Creed, slouched in a nearby chair,
seemed content to watch over her.
