Disclaimer: Don't own X-Men, Marvel does. Not that I would do any worse with them than Marvel is...

Warning: Drabble, AU, weirdness.

Notes: My conscious mind can come up with some very disturbing stuff when I let it. My subconscious is even worse. This is nothing more than a fleshed out transcript of a pretty disturbing dream I had a few months ago. Just thought I'd share it.

Mate
by fairady

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She's my mate, and I must keep her happy to keep her. She says she won't leave me because I keep her grounded, but she's really fickle. I almost lost her to another a few years ago. A brutish animal of a man. She would have gone with him if the blonde giant hadn't come along.

He hadn't liked the man at all, and he was more of an animal.

That's the problem with my mate. She's easily influenced by others. Their thoughts are her own. It was a mistake for the man to let his guard down around her. I don't, but then I know what she's capable of.

The man had bled a lot which seemed to delight her. She'd played with it for a while, painting shapes on herself and others. Then she became hungry. The blonde giant had only laughed before claiming the man's head. It was the only part my mate would let go of.

"This, I like this."

The liquid glowed with the colors of the rainbow. I only see it as red, but she happily shows me how it glows. A drop glides down her chin. She's pregnant and her appetites have become more odd than usual.

I don't like the building she's led me to. It's large and nearly silent, but it's not empty. who ever lives here is somewhere, and I feel like he's watching us. That isn't a good thing at all. I've seen the things in the other rooms.

A scientist. That's all I can think of. A scientist that uses bodies, dead or living, and stitches them together in odd painful looking ways. The dead ones line the walls, limbs lax and rotting. The living reach out for me from cages or the tables they're chained to. Some you can tell were human once, others are much harder to distinguish.

"Fine, I'll look," I agree grudgingly to her desire for more of the liquid. If I find something for her soon we can leave this place fast before it's owner shows himself.

The scientist is waiting for me in the hall. He could easily pass for one of his own experiments. Thin sickly looking limps attached to a rotting, fur covered chest. His bald human head was stitched on top haphazardly. It looks like a simple push would be all that was needed to rip it off.

"More."

My mate has come up behind me and she holds the drained container towards the man. His appearance doesn't disturb her at all. If she weren't still hungry she'd likely be playing with the scientist's creations.

"All you want, my dear," the words are a hard pressure in my mind, the scientist's mouth hasn't moved.

It's an ability my mate has as well. It's what makes her so easy to the influence of others. This must be why she led us here, the feeling of another like her. Hopefully I won't lose her to this scientist. She promised not to leave me, but she is fickle.

If she left me now I don't think I would make it out of this building alive.