Wolverine stepped out into the cold evening air out the back door of the theater. The ladies would meet him around front after they went to the restroom. The light above the door was out, but Wolverine had no problems seeing in the dark with his heightened senses. Wolverine paused to light a cigarette and stopped. He sniffed the night air. A familiar scent overwhelmed him. It was the scent from the New York shelter. The one he could not identify, but was so familiar.

He spun around, dropping the match and popping his claws.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," a voice snarled from the darkness.

Wolverine sniffed and peered into the dark corner, a low growl emitted from his chest.

"Is that anyway to greet your oldest and best friend?" the voice taunted. "Come on, Wolverine, didn't you miss me? Just a little?"

Wolverine's instincts screamed for him to leap at the voice and rip its heart out. Tear at its flesh. Destroy it. Kill it. His body shook with rage; his breathing intensified as the adrenaline rushed through him. His mind began to feel out of focus as his rage increased. Rushes red color flooded his eye sight. He shook his head, trying to clear it and stay focused.

"I'm impressed, runt, you're finally showin' some backbone." A tall, muscular figure stepped out of the shadows. He smiled, his teeth sharp and canine-like. His hair was blond and his features fierce and hardened. "What's the matter, Wolverine, don't recognize me? I'm hurt."

"Not yet, but ya will be!" Wolverine growled.

"That's the spirit. I like you much better like this, Wolverine. Instead o' some whiny little XMan brat." The taller man leapt backwards onto the railing above his head.

Wolverine backed up the stairs away from the theater door, never taking his eyes off his adversary. Wolverine shook his head again and cleared his mind. It was the one from the dream walk. The one who was the hallway that had tried to stop him from going forward?

"Sabertooth!" he roared and leapt forward, claws at the ready.

"Come on, runt, let's do it!"

Kitku and Jasmine stood in front of the theater, waiting for Wolverine.

"He should've been out here," Kitku said, worried.

"Well," Jasmine looked up and down the street. "Maybe he's just stretching his legs."

"I guess," Kitku conceded looking down at the ground.

"Hey, come on, kiddo," Jasmine put her arms around Kitku and reassured her, "He's fine. He's just being…Wolverine. Doing Wolverine like things. Don't sweat it."

Kitku looked up and smiled. "Yeah."

Jasmine returned the smile. She wished she felt as positive as she had spoken. She had a terrible feeling about this whole thing.

Just as she was assuring herself, they heard the ghastly roar, "Sabertooth!"

The two ladies looked at each other.

"Wolverine," they said at the same time and took off running to the back of the theater. They made their way around the corner, Kitku on her skateboard pulled ahead of a protesting Jasmine. Kitku skidded to a halt, her mouth dropped open as she surveyed the scene in front of her. Jasmine stopped at her side a moment later.

"Dear Lord," she gasped as she watched the battle that raged before her. As an artist, the speed and body movement, the muscles straining to overcome their limitations, the ferocity of their bloodlust and the energy fascinated Jasmine. There was a strange beauty in this conflict, almost like a dance. Circling, twisting, leaping, slicing, and tearing

On the other side of it, Jasmine was sickened and stunned by the savagery of the two men as they fought. Each was trying to cut the other as deeply as possible. They lost their humanity and the savage beast that preys within all of humanity, spewed forth with no compunctions. No quarter asked, and none given.

Kitku tried to move forward, but just could not seem to make her self until the big guy had Wolverine pinned on the ground by the throat. Wolverine was groggy and was trying to regain his senses. Kitku formed an aluminum baseball and threw it as hard as she could, hitting the big, furry guy square in the head.

"Get off him, you big weenie!"

Sabertooth looked up, his face bloodied from one of Wolverine's claws. He casually licked the blood from his own lips. "When I'm done with him, sweet thing, you're next. It'll be slow and wonderfully painful."

"I seriously doubt that," Jasmine replied, stepping forward. With her arms out from her sides, energy began to radiate around her hands. "Come on, big boy, lets play."

As Jasmine began to rise in the air, Kitku took the opportunity to skate her way behind Sabertooth. Although Kitku had the feeling that Sabertooth knew exactly where she was, it could not hurt to try to get an advantage.

"Sure thing, sweet cakes, but I don't play nice," he raised a hand to slice Wolverine's throat.

"Me, neither, bud," Wolverine snarled, as he shoved his hand into Sabertooth's stomach and released his claws.

"Runt bastard!" roared Sabertooth as he brought his own claws down across Wolverine's throat.

Wolverine twisted his head. Sabertooth's deadly blow was lessened to a major wound that cut Wolverine down to his collarbone.

Kitku pushed off her board, materialized her bat, crouched down, sped at Sabertooth and swung her bat into his lower back, pushing him deeper onto Wolverine's claws. As she did this, Jasmine went into action and began gathering metal, bending it and reshaping it, until she had what appeared to be a metal straight jacket. Wolverine could see the metal being gathered as well as feeling her magnetic waves more across his body. He brought both feet up and shoved Sabertooth back.

Sabertooth hit the wall, shaking his head and started to stand. Kitku swung by on her board and bunted Sabertooth in the crotch with her bat. Sabertooth slid to the ground and Jasmine engulfed him in the metal straight jacket.

Wolverine struggled to his knees and managed to stand. His eyes still focused on his adversary. His blood was raging and pounded in his ears. He vaguely could hear someone saying something to him, but urge for the bloodlust was too great. He leapt.

Kitku maneuvered her skateboard in front of Wolverine as he was struggling o his feet. Kitku stopped in front of him and was reaching out to touch him when she saw his face. It was twisted in such a rage that she was forced back from him. The ferocity in his features were nothing like she had ever seen before, not even when she first met him.

"Wolvie?" she said tentatively. "Wolverine?"

He was oblivious to her presence. Kitku watched his muscles tense.

"Don't. Please," she whispered.

She shivered from fear as his claws popped and he leapt for Sabertooth.

Jasmine watched Wolverine as Kitku approached him.

"Not a bright move," she thought to herself. She pulled on her power in case Wolverine turned on the child. It was not necessary; he leapt at Sabertooth instead. She grabbed Wolverine in mid-air with her magnetics. He snarled and twisted, howling in rage. She centered her magnetics on his claws, holding them so he would not do any harm to himself as he struggled against her power.

Kitku had skated up next to Jasmine. In a quiet voice, she asked, "You're not hurting him, are you?"

"No, sweetie, just trying to keep him from hurting himself." She pulled Wolverine in to her, out of sight of Sabertooth. Still holding him above the ground, she spoke to him, "Logan, please, you have to calm down. You are not like that animal over there. You are above that. Please, listen to me and hear my voice."

From behind her, she could hear Sabertooth groaning. He was waking up and Jasmine was running out of time. She had to calm Wolverine down and get him out of here before Sabertooth could goad him into another fight.

"Wolvie," Kitku spoke up and moved into his line of sight. "Please, Wolvie, I need you here, now."

Jasmine could hear the emotion in Kitku's voice. The little girl was scared to death but still she faced her fear. Her own protector. "Listen to her, Logan, listen to your little girl."

As if picking up a cue, Kitku continued, "Please, Daddy."

Wolverine's head snapped over towards the sound of the voice. A child's voice. He stared hard at her, her image swimming in and out of focus. Did she just call him Daddy? Was she his little girl? He could not remember. He fought down the bloodlust, still staring at the little girl. She stood in front of him, trembling with fear and tears streaming down her face. Wolverine felt his rage start to subside. He took advantage of the moment and forced his will to capture his fury and push it back where it belonged.

"Kit," his voice barely above a whisper. His body relaxed as the adrenaline rush subsided. "Kitku."

He felt himself being lowered to the ground. With the adrenaline leaving his body, the pain from his wound burned throughout his body. He hit his knees and tried to keep from passing out. "What the hell..."

Kitku rushed to his side and started to hug him but stopped. Instead, she took a step back.

Wolverine held out an arm to her, "It's okay, darlin'. I'm fine."

Kitku, hesitantly, moved into his hug. She held him for a moment and then leaned back to look him in the eyes. She slapped at his undamaged shoulder. "Don't do that again. You scared me."

Wolverine gave her a weary smile, "Sometimes, I scare myself."

"I'd imagine with a face like that." She grinned back at him.

"Well, if we're all ready, I think we should scram before the local cops get here," Jasmine suggested.

Wolverine turned his eyes to her. "Thanks for the hand, darlin'."

Jasmine shrugged, "Hey, not a prob."

She helped Wolverine to his feet. He looked over her to where Sabertooth was being held. Their eyes met.

"Next time, runt, there won't be no skirts to save you!" With a roar, he tore out of the restraints and disappeared into the night.

Wolverine took a step forward, but Jasmine placed herself in front of him. "Not tonight, Wild Thing. Come on, let's get the heck out of here."

She led Wolverine to the truck and helped him up into the passenger side. Kitku hopped up between them and Jasmine drove them back to her home. Wolverine was asleep before they even made it out of town.

He waited anxiously for Master. He was being good and waiting. He sniffed the air again and tilted his head listening.

He waited.

Soon.

The buildings smelled of Prey. There was Prey everywhere.

Soon.

He watched from the bushes as the Prey went in and out of the buildings.

Soon.

This Prey was not the ones Master wanted. They lived in this crowded place.

Soon.

Master would let him have his Prey. He had been promised.

Soon.

He scratched at his ear and licked his paws watching the town before him.

He was a good Dogz.

Jasmine and Kitku managed to get Wolverine upstairs and to bed. Jasmine curled up in one of the bedroom chairs while Kitku collapsed next to Wolverine on the bed. "Jasmine?"

"Yes, sweetie?" Jasmine turned her head towards Kitku. The moonlight fell across the girl's face, giving her even more of an innocent appearance.

"How long have you known Wolverine?" She sat up in bed, wrapping the comforter around her shoulders.

Jasmine let out a sigh and thought for a moment. "A long time. Years."

Kitku chewed on her lower lip as she thought on how to phrase the next question. "Is he the man in your paintings?"

"Yes, he is," Jasmine replied serenely.

Kitku sat in silence and waited for Jasmine to continue. For a moment, she was unsure the woman would take the silence as a hint for more information.

"I was a kid, about your age, when my parents took a trip to Canada. We hiked all over the country for the whole summer." Her voice was taking on the tone of reminisce. Her eyes taking on a far away look, as if the memory was taking place in front of her. "I went out early one morning to see if I could sketch some of the wild life. Well, I tried to sketch, but I wasn't all that good back then. I was sitting by the stream, waiting for an animal to come out and take an early morning drink. I was careful to sit so they wouldn't catch my scent.

"Anyway, I didn't wait long when I heard a noises off to the side. I didn't move and just waited, frozen. I was shocked when the animal I was hoping for was a human being..."

Jasmine sighed. "I saw him twice more. It was like he was following something or us. Maybe he thought us to be trespassers on his territory, because once we hit a certain area, I never saw him again."

"Well," she said with a sly smile, "Not until years later, anyway. But that is another story."

Kitku nodded and settled back down next to Logan. "Good night, Jasmine."

"Good night, sweetie."

He watched the Prey go into the house. He sniffed the air and panted.

Soon.

Soon. His Master would be here and the Master would let him play. He would play with the Prey before he ate.

He licked at his hands and wiped his face. Had to be clean. Clean for the Master. He did not like it when His Dogz were dirty.

His stomach growled and he whimpered. He had to wait. Wait for the Master. He was empty and needed to eat. But he had to wait.

He would wait.

He was a good Dogz.

Wolverine snapped awake, his eyes immediately focused on the room. He looked to his right where Kitku laid asleep and then to his left where Jasmine was asleep in the chair. Slowly, he got out of bed, careful not to wake either of the ladies. He grabbed his clothes and boots on his way out of the room. He dressed as he made his way down the hallway.

Something was not right and he could smell it, smell it in the air. He could feel it, every instinct in his body told him something was wrong. His gut twisted and his neck hairs stood on end. He went down the stairs and into the living room. Nugent whimpered and paced in front of the door. He leapt and growled at the outside. The dog stopped and turned to Wolverine. His hackles stood on end and he barked once at Wolverine as he turned his attention back to the door.

Wolverine opened the door and Nugent bolted out but stopped at the end of the porch. He growled and snarled at something in the distance. Wolverine sniffed at the air and caught the scent of something like a dog but yet the scent of a human. He squatted down next to Nugent, put his arm over the dog's neck and stared at where the dog was focused.

"Nugent, go in and protect," he spoke to the dog. The dog barked once and ran into the house. Wolverine shut the door and turned back toward the area that Nugent had been staring at and where the scent drifted. "All right, bub, let's see what's out there."

Cyclops sat down behind the controls of the Blackbird as Nightcrawler took his seat beside him in the co-pilot chair. Professor X took his place behind the two X-Men and put on his portable Cerebro unit. Moiré McTaggart had arrived early this morning to watch over Jean's condition. Professor Xavier had managed to remove the poisonous sliver of blade and Jean's condition almost immediately improved. "All right, Professor, we have an idea of their co-ordinates and we are ready to go," Cyclops informed his mentor.

"Good." He set the portable Cerebro unit on his hover chair. "As soon as we are airborne, I'll make contact with Wolverine."

Kim signaled the driver to stop at the fork in the road. He got out of the sedan and checked his tracking device. It showed the Dogz had stopped to the north. He got back in and ordered the driver to turn right.

"We will have them soon, My Lord."

Viper smiled approvingly at Kim. "Of that, my dear Kim, I had never had a doubt."

Kim returned the smile with a small one of his own. He was pleased to see that Lord Viper's disposition had improved. Kim loathed when his Lord's mood was less that perfect. If Viper was not happy, Kim was not happy and Kim would do whatever it took to make Viper content.