Disclaimer: This fan fiction is not written for profit and no infringement of copyright is intended.

Mystique popped the trunk of the SUV, kicked her way out of the blanket.. Took a deep breath and signalled Daken and their superiors that she was on her way inside. Pausing to grin as she imagined the feral’s petulant, recently demoted face, The meta-morph craned her neck, stretching, trying to work out some of the kinks while she planned her attack on all four targets-

Statues do not move.

Montgomery Hanson knew that statues didn’t move just like he knew that the sky was blue and his wife would fucking kill him if she got a look at their visa bill next week. But the Regional Sales Rep (Eastern Division) for Soul Style Shoes could swear that the smug, rotund Buddha sitting ten feet from him had moved since he’d come out here for a smoke-

And three seconds later he had his observation proven right when said Buddha brought its marble-like hand down on his head and knocked him unconscious. Reaching down and stealing his VIP room key and wallet before kicking him soundly in the nuts. The last thing Monty would remember before he passed out from pain was the sight of that Buddha grinning nastily down at him-

Although later he would wonder why it had glowing yellow eyes…

Jubes smiled, stretching out across the warm bench and willing the tension to drain out of her. Adjusting her towel where it was falling down and wiping her dark hair out of her eyes. For the first time in days she felt calm, happy: After all, they’d gotten Wolvie outta Dodge and managed to drag Marie’s (admittedly still hormonal ass) to safety. Not a bad day’s work, even if she did say so herself. And once Roguey slept off whatever that bastard Daken had dosed her with Jubes would set to work getting the Wolvster and her girl back together. because from what she’d seen of that Callum asshole chica did not choose wisely when left to her own devices-

Although of course she’d never openly tell Marie that: She had some sense of self-preservation.

So Jubes let out a contented sigh: Marie was stalking back into the fold, Wolvie was on the mend (he’d let her paff that electronic thing the Porn Smurf had stuck in his neck) and while Daken might be planning on killing her and her girls horribly, well if you had a problem with being on somebody’s hit-list then Jubes knew her occupation was not for you. Anymore than her hobbies were. Besides, if the Logan-alike wanted to try hurting her family he was welcome to try it: Logan’s Angels had defeated all comers more than once, and she had no doubt they’d do it again-

So if there were explosions and carnage in her future, she guessed they would just have to wait.

Jubes heard the door to the sauna open then. Heard light footsteps padding through the gym to her right, pausing (she guessed) to collect a towel. The years with Logan and Remy had taught her to pay attention to her surroundings at all times but this didn’t set her Wolvie-sense a-tingling: It was probably one of the girls taking a break between clients. After all, you needed a VIP swipe card to get into this part of the Ranch. The door to the sauna opened and a dark, male-shaped shadow appeared, wearing nothing but a towel; Instantly Jubie sat up, not wanting to deal with some grabby customer of Stacey’s. The newcomer watched her pull her towel more tightly about her (for some reason she felt self-conscious under his gaze) but he said nothing. Just let her push by him slightly more tightly then was necessary-

And as soon as she’d turned her back on him he brought a heavy, marble-like hand down on her head. Twice.

Jubes felt the crack of stone hitting bone, saw stars dancing behind her vision. Tried to turn around and fight but her opponent was ready for her, swinging a well-placed punch into her solar plexus before sweeping at the backs of her knees. She went flying, the dampness of the sauna wrecking her balance; a second after her ass hit the floor she felt a needle tear into her neck, dosing her with something that felt like the seventies. Making her gaze black out and her head swim and her tongue feel like wool. She peered up at her attacker, trying to fight off the drug-

And for some reason she could not fathom, Tony Stark’s face was staring back at her.

Her last conscious thought before he grabbed her was sonofafuckingbitch.

Jesus Trejas watched in amusement as Tony Stark dragged that little Asian piece of ass he came here with down the service stairs. Trying to keep both her hands gripped and away from his face (she seemed to be a bit of a Hellcat, this one) while she rambled drunkenly about “her Wolvie,” and how she was gonna kick his ass. The janitor shook his head, wondering idly how much a girl had to drink to get herself that wasted-

And he was so busy laughing at her condition that he didn’t pause to wonder why a billionaire with a VIP suite in the X-Ranch would be dragging an apparently defenceless young woman down into the basement. It was precisely this lack of curiosity that led to Jesus being left alive to finish his shift-

Because after all, Mystique didn’t like leaving loose ends.

But she liked hiding bodies even less.

They’d finally gotten Marie into bed.

Kitty leaned back in her seat, running her finger along the edge of her wine glass and enjoying the sheer lack of Logan-on-Marie drama inherent in this moment. Wondering how long it would be before she saw Pyotr and whether she should buy that teddy she’d seen in the Ranch’s lobby just to get her welcome home party started. Pryde took another well-deserved sip of her pinot noir, trying to de-stress: Rogue had caused absolute chaos from the moment she stepped inside the X-Ranch until the moment they’d gotten her into her room, what with the trying to get Logan’s clothes off, trying to take her clothes off, attempting to beat up those of Stacey’s customers who thought she, Logan and the other two chicks in black leather were some sorta floor-show and then suddenly crying because she saw the metal jack spiked into Logan’s neck and “her Logan,” was hurt. She’d even rounded on a couple of (now fortunately too terrified to sue) patrons who apparently looked at “her Logan,” funny-

And of course it had been Kitty who’d had to smooth things over. Because Jubes was apparently too busy explaining to the LVPD how to hone in on the tracking device they’d tagged Sabre-Tooth with and Logan-Well, Logan was having enough trouble keeping his hands to himself without asking him to do anything complicated like actually, you know, helping-

And once again she took another sip of her wine.

“This seat taken?” she heard a familiar voice ask then. She looked up to see Logan staring at her, his stance more relaxed than usual, his hands splayed at his sides. He was looking at her weirdly, speculatively, and despite herself Kitty felt a thrill of unease go through her- But immediately she shook it off.

“Sure, sensei,” she told him. “You’re always welcome to join me. Just didn’t think I’d see you here.” She frowned. “Marie’s okay, isn’t she?”

“Sure,” he rumbled, “Marie’s gonna be just fine.” And he sat down, nodding to the barman and ordering a vodka tonic. (And since when did sensei drink that stuff?) Going to place one hand on the bar and accidentally brushing it off hers. That speculative gaze raking over her and then quickly looking away. Kit frowned: Sensei seemed to be sitting a Helluva lot closer to her than he normally would do, and he also seemed to be- Jeez, was he sniffing her?- Looking at her the way he usually looked at barflies before he made his move. She felt a flash of hot embarrassment go through her because whatever adolescent attraction she’d once had to him had long since run its course and this was downright weird-

And besides, wasn’t he usually worried about Marie at a time like this? Spending his time at her bedside, growling at anything that looked at her sideways?

Kit felt another thrill of alarm go through her at the thought.

“I don’t feel well,” she murmured then. Trying to stand up, holding onto the bar for support and wondering why her head suddenly felt so light. Also wondering why she was toppling forward, why strong arms were catching her before she smashed her head on the bar. The room swan even as Logan stood up, supporting her and mouthing light weight drinker to the barman before carrying her out. His hand- and this was the creepiest part of all- snaking around to cop a feel of her ass as he carried her through the door. The barman picked up her glass, throwing it towards the dishwasher without even looking at it, his mind on whether the Cardinals were gonna suck in the game tonight and cost him his rent money-

So it’s not all that surprising that he didn’t notice the white tablet slowly dissolving at the bottom of the glass….

Daken smiled widely, shutting off his phone. Grinning at the young woman before him and letting his claws glean wickedly in the light. He strolled over to Tony’s fridge, pulling out a bottle of beer and holding it up to her in toast. Savouring it. He had to allow that it really didn’t get much better than this, despite his recent…employment issues-

“Your boyfriend’s doing wonderfully, Pepper,” he told the young woman then. Enjoying the way his voice seemed to make her skin crawl. The way the scent of her fear was wafting intoxicatingly about the room. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t do anything rash like try to grow a pair-”

Pepper snorted. “He won’t do.”

“Then we’ve nothing to worry about, so we, Miss Potts?”

And he stared out into the lights of Malibu, his smile widening-

While in the X-Ranch a woman with white streaks in her hair and an absolutely unique mutation opened her eyes to a Wolverine.