Snowbird watched the transformed image of her small son, in the form of a small falcon, circling the field just beyond Department H. The sun was just beginning to set, painting the sky with vivid pink, deep blue, dusky purple.    

    Once...twice...three times.... Suddenly, he went into a dive, plummeting to the ground, pouncing onto the small animal just out of sight.
Success!

    Snowbird gasped, clasping her hands in delight. Richard Peregrine Thompson, in the chosen form of his avatar, was now blooded! He had not only taken on the form, but the complete lifestyle, of the gyrfalcon. A development of which she could be justly proud. It was too bad that Douglas was not here to share it with her.... She shook her head. _I must not think of that now...._

     The small gyrfalcon flew swiftly towards her then, landing on the ground before her. The young bird's form began to flow upwards... changing into that of a young boy about six years old to human eyes. Even within the past few days, he had continued to grow and change beyond infancy. Now, he threw himself into her arms.

      "Mother, I caught a MOUSE! Did I do good?"

      "You did _well_, my sweet son," Snowbird said on a laughing note, caressing the boy's pale blond hair, so like her own. "But, it grows late.
Now that you have had your dinner..." she smiled faintly at this, "....you may play inside for a while before your bedtime." They were walking to the entrance of the building, when a familiar man's voice stopped them. 

     "Good job, son! You're going to be a regular chip off your mommy, aren't you?"

     "James MacDonald  Hudson!" Snowbird gasped. "I had no idea...."

     "I happened to step outside for a breath of fresh air when I saw you two on the edge of the field." Mac Hudson, resplendent in his maple-leaf costume, approached them from just outside the door. "I had a feeling something big was up, and you didn't disappoint me. Looks like this little fellow is almost ready to be a member of the Flight, aren't you, son?"

     "Yes, sir," Richard said, awed at the attention this striking figure of a man was giving him.

     "He is now fully blooded," said Snowbird. She was hard-pressed to keep the pride out of her voice. "We have been working on this for days now. And I am most proud that he has accomplished this most important goal."

     "Well, that's fine," Mac Hudson continued, looking affectionately down on the handsome little boy. "It's too bad Doug Thompson isn't here to see this. I can imagine how proud his father would be."

     "Yes," Snowbird said with surprising shortness. James Hudson's comment had stirred a faint memory in her... a flicker of remembrance....

      "Well, I can goof off only so long. Wyre will be wondering where I've gotten to. It's so hard to pin that man down sometimes, and I have a few dozen things to discuss with him. Take care. So long, little fellow." Hudson waved, and then, opened the door for Snowbird and her son, ushered them in, and then, took off down the hall.

      Snowbird, with her hand on her son's arm, stood for a long time looking after him.

      _I can imagine how proud his father would be...._

     There it was again.

    _ Oh, James MacDonald Hudson_, Snowbird sighed within herself. _If things had been different, you would have been his father...._
 
 

       Narya had not understood the intensity of her feelings the first time she had met James MacDonald Hudson. Perhaps, it was this feeling that had made her so quick to join James Hudson's fledgling team, when Michael Twoyoungmen was urging her to hold back. Narya only knew that she wanted to be with James Hudson, to prove her worthiness to the team, to make him so proud that.... he would want her as much as she wanted him.

       So, in those earliest days of Alpha Flight, she progressed quickly through the ranks, honing her skills, delighting in his praise, and feeling her attraction growing stronger with each passing day. 

       When the time was right, she would let him know how she felt.

        The time was right one day when Heather Hudson (whom Snowbird had conveniently forgotten) was working for her then-boss, Mr.Beresford. Alpha Flight --then composed of Sasquatch, Northstar, Aurora, Shaman, Vindicator, and Snowbird-- had just finished a particularly grueling manuever in their training room. The others had departed for the showers but Snowbird had lingered behind with James Hudson to have a private word with him.

       "You were excellent today, Snowbird," Hudson --then known as Vindicator-- said. 

       "Indeed, James Hudson?" Snowbird queried, edging closer to his side.

       "Definitely. I loved your save of Northstar from Sasquatch. It's this kind of teamwork that will put us right up there with the Avengers."

       "I am most gratified to hear you say that." Snowbird moved around so that she was directly in front of him. The glowing presence of James Hudson in his Vindicator costume was a powerful attraction for her. She could feel her veins pulsing with liquid fire... the heat spreading throughout her body.

     _ Now... now... show him now...._

        And then, she had her arms wrapped around him, her lips seeking his, and far from satisfying her needs right then, her all-encompassing lust increased.... She was consumed by it, and she was about to consume James Hudson with it.....

       "NARYA!"

      Michael's voice was like a crack of thunder across the quiet room.

      Snowbird reeled backward from Vindicator. Her arms dropped limply to her sides. Only now did she realize that James Hudson had not embraced her back. He stood there looking totally bewildered, taken aback.

      Snowbird was aware of her own heart pounding resoundingly into the silence.

      Michael crossed the room in only a few strides. He seized Snowbird's arm. "Narya! What are you doing?"

      Vindicator recovered, then. He smiled sheepishly. "Er... I was just complimenting Snowbird on her performance today, and she was showing me her gratitude, no doubt."

      Michael's mouth hardened into a thin, hard line. He was no fool. He had long suspected the intensity of Narya's attraction to James MacDonald Hudson, but he had hoped that her infatuation would burn out of its own accord. Now, he could see that he had waited too long. The situation would have to be corrected before any more harm could be done.

      "James, I should like a private word with Narya. Is there an empty room available?"

     "Yes, the conference room is unoccuppied at this time of day. Be my guest."

     "Very well. Come along, Narya." Michael continued to hold Snowbird's arm as he led her out of the room. "And, James..." he paused and turned in the doorway," I think there is no need to let Heather know what has transpired here today."

     James Hudson straightened himself to his full height. He was no fool, either. Any scandal, or potential scandal, could wreck Alpha Flight. What with the hassles he was getting from the government lately, he didn't need this headache. And why hurt Heather? "I understand. We'll all just forget it. Permanently." 

    With that, Snowbird felt herself propelled into the hallway and down the length of the corridor into the conference room. 

    Michael closed the door. Tightly.

    And for the next forty-five minutes, Snowbird received a stern lecture on the great harm she had almost done. How James Hudson had done a lot for her in training her to be a champion for the land. How Heather Hudson was her friend. How any scandal could destroy Alpha Flight -- did Narya want that? And did Narya also understand about the institution of marriage?
True, Narya's parents had never been married, and Narya had not grown up in a traditional family. But was that any reason to insinuate herself between a husband and wife? Did Narya understand now why any relationship between herself and James Hudson was an impossibilty?

    Yes, Narya understood. And she emerged from the experience totally chastened, and completely in control of her fiery impulses. Indeed, from that moment on, she pushed any such feelings down deep inside her, so far in fact, that she became known to her fellow teammates as "the ice queen".

    And then, Douglas Thompson had come along.....
 

    Snowbird stirred slightly, bringing herself quickly across the years into the present. So much had happened since those earliest days of Alpha Flight. She had met Doug Thompson. They had fallen in love, married, had a son. And then, tragedy.... No! No more of that!

    Richard had given her something to live for. And that would probably be enough.
 

    It was much, much later that night that Snowbird closed the door softly on her small son's room. She walked stealthily down the hallway. The full moon was up, she knew. Perhaps, she could get in a little hunting now herself....

   Then, she saw Judd's door open. Heather Hudson slipped out, followed by Judd. They turned to each other, embraced, kissed deeply. And kissed again.

   Snowbird stood still in the darkness.

   "I'll call my lawyer first thing in the morning," Heather was saying. 

   "All right,," Judd said matter-of-factly. "But, what I'm worried about is... how's Mac going to take it, eh?"

    "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Heather continued. "But maybe it won't be so hard on him after all. We haven't been together in so long a divorce won't be such a great shock to him as you might think."

    "Well, I hope not," Judd said, with some concern, "Well, good night."

     "Good night, darling Judd."

    Judd's door closed. Heather continued down the hallway. She didn't see Snowbird, who had slipped into a shadow before Heather passed by.

     Snowbird stood stock-still for a long time after Heather was gone. But while her form was still, her thoughts were not.

     A divorce... for all her mystic precognitions, Snowbird had never taken into account that this might happen to James Hudson. He and Heather had always been so devoted. But now... in a flash of lightning, everything had changed.

     Snowbird once had pushed aside her own feelings for James Hudson. She had long ago dismissed her love as part of a no-win situation. Now that James Hudson's world was about to fall apart, Snowbird realized that he might need comfort. A great deal of it.

      Snowbird began to smile in the darkness. She was beginning to realize that here was a game that she might win.
 
 
 

A graveyard, to many people's minds, is a place of peace and serenity, a place where you can sit and ponder the passing of a loved one, the thoughts of promises unfulfilled, what might have been, but for the indiscriminate stone-cold touch of death.

To the figure standing beneath the Yew tree, the graveyard had been like a beacon, the dank damp stench of decay and death, beyond the ken of ordinary mortals, had assailed his nostrils and the familiarity of the aroma had bought him a comfort unknown since his return to this plain of reality.  To him the graveyard represented opportunities not yet discovered and a possible source of future allies, but not yet, "Vengeance is mine sayeth the lord,.... not this time, for today vengeance is mine and I owe allegiance to a different being". 
Pushing away from the tree, he began a slow walk towards the man-made citadel, silhouetted by the clouded moonlight, "Tonight halfling cow, vengeance is mine!!".
 

She lay, bathed in the afterglow of lovemaking, a tiny tear escaped from the corner of her eye, a tear of joy?.  She had not intended to return after leaving his room earlier, she had wanted time away from the unbridled passion she felt while around him, time to perhaps take stock of all that had happened and try and figure out her conflicting feelings.  Either thought or urgings had drawn her back to his room, he had been surprised to see her so soon, but one look into his eyes had weakened any reservations she might have had, this time the love making had been more primal in it's form, his fingers and tongue had awoken instincts within her she had never thought possible, this time emotional love had given way to the need to pleasure each other in other ways, now she rested.  Regular breathing from behind her, a pointer to Judd's slumber, his breath an intermittent breeze which just added to her comfort, a left arm draped over her, nubbed fingers brushing slightly against her breast, his member, now flaccid, nestled in the small of her back. For now she was contented, but she knew the hardest part was to come, telling Mac.  She rolled over and stared at the stunted figure beside her, his scent, a familiar thing, but now with added connotations, she kissed the hairless dome and sighed, once more she breathed in the scent, it triggered a sense of well being, sleep claimed her before the aroma faded.
 

2 am
Snowbird laid the sleeping child down, tonight, for some reason he had been agitated.  Even now, asleep, he fidgeted, his arms and fingers a constant whirr of movement.  Maybe it was a consequence of his first kill, she thought back to that moment, his wings a blur, a swoop and the cry of triumph, he had talked about that moment for most of the evening, but now his agitation seemed centered elsewhere.  If he was still this restless and unsettled in the morning she would have to ask Michael for his opinions. 
She slumped in the chair, five minutes to let him settle and then she would take herself to bed.  Her thoughts turned to Heather and Judd, should she say anything, what could she say?, she had a task to finish, then there was Doug in the realm of the Gods, waiting for her return, but more and more she felt that she belonged here, would she be called back when her earthly endeavours had been completed?, her re-awakened feelings for Mac another part of the ever evolving equation, a flashing red light drew her from her thoughts, it was the intercom which every quarters within the building had, pulling her protesting body from the chair, Snowbird made her way across to the intercom.
"Yes....., don't you know what time it is?", "Sorry, this is reception area, we have a man down here, who says he knows you and that he must see you now",
"Who is it?",
"He won't say, all he said is he must see you and you would know him when you saw him",
"OK, I'm coming down, can you send someone up to watch my child while I'm gone", 
"No problem, I'll have someone stand by the door until you get back".
Snowbird enjoyed the Department at this time of night, she heard the humming of electricity, feeding countless systems, as it passed along cables hidden by the walls, data was being constantly fed along parallel fibre optics, yet for all this, the absence of human activity gave her a sense of serenity.  The elevator stopped and gave her access to the ground floor, through the reinforced wire glass, she could just make out two figures, the receptionist and one other.  A sense of familiarity overcame her, for a brief moment dizziness overwhelmed her, steadying herself she pushed open the doors.
"Snowbird, I'm sorry to disturb you, but this man says..............." Narya, was no longer listening, she was trying to take in what she saw before her,
"Doug?",
"Narya, I, I err......",
Conflicting emotions rose through the turmoil in her mind, Doug, but how?
and what of Mac?, Richard's reaction, should she rush to Doug, human mind versus Godlike logic, instead of outpourings of feelings, a simple phrase was all she could muster.
"How?",
"Later, please.......... could I see our son?" He walked slowly towards her, arms outstretched, a flash of eldritch fire, tinged with feral yellow blazed briefly in his eyes, they came together and held each other tight.  Walking back to her apartment he explained his reappearance as best he could,
"I don't know how long it was after I came awake that total knowledge of all that had happened came back to me, I wandered for days and eventually managed to make my way here, I've spent the last few hours trying to think what I would say when I first saw you, but it completely left my mind, seeing Richard will make everything complete".
Arriving back at her apartment, she waved the security guard away, "It's OK, you can go now, thanks for looking out for him".
 

Shaman came awake suddenly, something was wrong, he didn't know what, but somehow there was great danger close at hand, he rose and hurried to get dressed.

Heather shook the inert form next to her, "Judd, wake up",
"Mrs Hudson please, I am but one man, I need my rest", "No!!, Judd, the alarms are sounding".

"You are not my husband!!",
The creature turned, mocking, using Doug's voice, it's face laid open to the bone,
"Don't you know me mother?, why, I have you to thank for life, do you think I would not come and see my own brethren".
Snowbird backed away, it had all happened so fast, they had entered her home, no warning of the danger to come, the pseudo Doug had walked to where the child slumbered and picked him up.  The child, it's eyes suddenly wide in terror had transformed and raked Doug's face with a savagery she had not seen before, Doug had released the child and now stood before her, mocking.
"Come mother, hug me, hug the fruits of your labours", "Pestilence!, you are no brethren of mine, what do you want", "I thought that would be obvious mother, I want you and that thing," he gestured towards Richard's bed," dead, you didn't have the decency to stay dead last time, maybe this time you might get the message", "It will take more than a sad pathetic man with delusions of granduer to kill us, Crozier",
"Oh mother, I thought you were better than insults,............by the way, do you like my form?, I chose it especially, don't you think I wear it better than that sad pathetic man you called darling?", Snowbird had managed to manoeuvre herself towards her bed, with a sudden dart, she pulled the alarm cord hanging by her bed.
"Did I ever tell you the joy I got, when I infected his flimsy human form with corruption, you left him, you left him to die in his own filth, .........now you entertain thoughts of the half man, Hudson.  Your Doug?, you no more care for him than you do for your children, come mother show some passion, show me you have fire in your belly, I am going to kill you and then I intend to take my time with your son, first I'll corrupt his soul and when he is ready I'll show him what could be his, then tear it away from him, I'll take it all, imagine my power.", "The first time we met, I was weakened, with child, the second time, I made a mistake, I assumed a form you could manipulate, now look hard Pestilence, remember what you see for the rest of your life, I call these my true fires, look hard at my face for it is the last thing you will ever see".
Her face transformed, for the first time since he returned, he was no longer sure of his supremacy.  Snowbird walked towards him,  her right arm, extended before her, drove hard against his chest, he felt bones crack, her hand entered into his chest searching for the pulsating organ, found, she twisted and pulled until it lay in her hand.  She raised the now still heart above her as if making an offering, a bestial cry seemed to grow in her throat, pulling her hands towards her, she prepared to feed.
"Narya, no!!",
Shaman and Hudson stood in the doorway, again her face transformed, tears came to her eyes,
"Michael, it was......", 
sobs broke from the young woman, at that moment Puck and Heather arrived, he in boxer shorts, she in Puck's dressing gown, "What's happened?",
Mac looked, realisation spreading across his face, firstly at his wife and then at one of his closest friends,
"Heather...?, Puck....?", 
he walked past them both and out into the corridor.  In the room Snowbird rose and approached her sobbing child, he had curled himself up into the feotal position, the position, that in his short life had offered him the most security,
"Richard, it's all right, mummie's here", The child's true fires burnt across his face, "Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!",
the child collapsed, repeating the same word, over and over, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, da............."

A cloud-like wraith, stole into the night, like the predatory hunter it was, it was already hunting it's next prey.
 
 
 

"Mr. McCauley, I do believe if we were to have our skirmish now, I would be at a disadvantage", Donavon said from the corner of the lab.

"You, your that punk kid cop who attacked me", McCauley growled as he transformed back into his sasquatch form.

"How did you get back in here?" Moira Harrison asked.

"I let myself back in.  I couldn't, in good conscience, let you keep creating clones.  Oh and before you do anything stupid, I've rigged the base with enough explosives that would even take you out big guy", Donavon mentioned as he lit a cigarette and smiled.  "By my watch you have about five minutes to get everyone clear of the base."

McCauley looked around confused. 

"Were not through yet punk.  I'll catch up with you some other time.  No one beats Traction and gets away with it."  Then Traction jumped through a wall on the fifth floor and ran into the woods with thundering foot steps.

"Your bluffing", Moira yelled.

"You willing to take that risk?"

"Your a government agent for crying out loud.  This is treason."

"This is RIGHT!"

Moira Harrison turned and ran out of the room.  Walker looked at his watch.
Damn, two and a half minutes, this is going to be close, Donavon thought as he ran down to the secret cloning lab.  As he turned the corner of the hall he ran straight into an armed guard.

"Don't move," the guard ordered.

"What the hell are you doing here?  Haven't you heard that we're evacuating the compound?  Some psycho is planning on sending us straight to hell," Walker bluffed.

"But…"

"No buts about it pal. You maybe older than me, but I'm your superior.  So get the hell out of here now before I have you arrested, understand?"

"Yes sir!"  The guard left his post.  

Donavon Walker smiled as he looked at the thick metal door blocking his way.  God, I love explosives, he thought as blew the door open.  The lab was empty, empty except the female, floating in the greenish liquid. 
Walker looked at his watch again, one and half minutes.  Sweat started to bead on Walker's forehead.  He pressed a series of buttons and the glass chamber began to empty its contents.  The blonde female spilled into Donavon's arms, unconscious and naked.  Donavon lifted her effortlessly and ran.  He had to time this perfectly.  The way he had rigged the explosives would give him a clear path out of here, but he couldn't be off by a second or a centimeter.  One or the other and he was dead.  

The compound exploded.  Flame and debris shot by Walker missing him by inches.  Within five minutes he was in his car, watching the flaming RCMP station burn to the ground.  He had taken off his trench coat and covered up the clone sitting in his passenger seat.  His cell phone rang.  

"Agent Walker."

"Walker?  Where the hell are you?  We send you to find Alpha Flight and you get lost?", came the voice on the other end.

"General Clarke, how the hell are you?  For your information, I was with Alpha Flight for a while.  They just didn't know it.  We were both captured by Flashback.  They escaped, and I escaped later on my own.  However sir, I have been doing a little investigating, and found some rather shady goings on with in the government."

"Walker, don't going but your nose where it doesn't belong," Clarke ordered.  "Hold on, I have an important call coming in."

Donavon smiled as he lit another cigarette and watched fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, and paramedics drive up to the devastated RCMP station.  He turned his head to look at the woman beside him.  He couldn't stop staring, she was so beautiful.  She was approximately the same age as him, around twenty-five, they must not have finished aging her.  She had very delicate features with long blonde hair.  

"DONAVON!!, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Clarke yelled into the phone.  It jarred Donavon back to reality.

"Huh, what sir?"

"You blew up an RCMP complex?"

"Uhm, yes sir, I did.  They were doing something immoral so I stopped it."

"Walker, get your ass back here and turn yourself in," Clarke ordered.

"Yeah, right.  Oh if you haven't figured it out yet, I quit"

"You got nowhere to run Walker, I'll have every authority on your ass before sunrise.  I'll even get Alpha Flight to hunt you down."

"You forget baldy, I've been collecting secrets since I started working for the government and the position of "watcher" let me learn a lot of secrets.
 I'd sleep with the night light on now if I were you General.  You never know what's lurking in the shadows, and you never know what's watching you.
 Remember this is the kind of thing the government trained me for." 

With that Donavon hung up the phone and though the cell phone out the car window and started driving down the street.  The woman in his passenger seat started coughing.  Her eyes opened and she looked around.  She appeared to be frightened.  

"It's okay, your safe now", Donavon tried to comfort her.

"Who, who are you? Where am I?  What's going on?"

"Well, I'm Donavon Walker, a government agent, uhm make that former government agent.  Your in my car, headed towards Toronto.  And we are on the run from the government.  I plan on destroying a government complex that is less than spotless.  So, now onto you.  What's the last thing you remember?"

"I, I, I don't remember anything.  I don't even know my name", the woman answered almost in tears.

"Hey, that's okay.  We'll just call you Anne.  How's that sound?  Don't worry everything's going to be all right."

Donavon reached over and placed his hand on Anne's and gave it a squeeze.

"Everything's going to be all right", Donavon said aloud again.

Oh man, if Department H sends Alpha Flight after us, we're screwed!, Donavon thought to himself.

In a bar somewhere in Toronto a man drinks to forget his problems.

"Give me another!", Mac ordered.

"I think you've had enough," the bartender retorted.

"DO I LOOK LIKE I'M DONE," Mac yelled.  He was usually a calm man, but the events of tonight have left him a bit unsettled.

The bartender placed a half empty bottle of whiskey in front of the cyborg.

"Knock yourself out."

Mac picked up the bottle and smiled.