This is the prequel to "The Blood In My Veins" but you don't have to have read that to read this. I hope you do, though! :D And I just thought that this quotation was rather interesting.

Three Days Time

"Beauty is all very well at first sight; but who ever looks at it when it has been in the house three days?" ~George Bernard Shaw

Rue Drake hung her coat up on its customary hook by the staff door in Rick's Bar N' Grill and tucked her gloves and scarf into a pocket. Her light blond hair was windblown, despite her having pulled it back. She yanked the rubber band out and attempted to finger comb it, an easy task since her hair only came to her shoulders. She grabbed her apron and tied it around herself.

"Hey, Rue!" Her waitressing buddy, Sally, exclaimed. "How'd you get here?"

"Carrie dropped me off," Rue said, smiling. Carrie was her best friend, and though she had gotten married two years ago, they were still close. Rue breathed in the smell of barbecue, beer, and cigarettes and the smile dropped off her face. Ugh.

She could be photographing the beautiful sunset in the distance, soaring through the treetops, or walking among the snow-covered firs, anything except being here. Oh well. Rue grabbed her dishcloth and began to work on the large mound of dirty dishes by the sink. It was her last year of college, so hopefully she wouldn't be doing this for much longer. The things I do to get my bachelor's degree…

With steel wool in one hand and soap in the other, Rue attacked the dishes with fervor, rapidly diminishing the tall stack. After about ten minutes, Sal tapped her shoulder. "Rick wants you to take over at the bar." Rue nodded her assent and dried her hands, which were now red. Pasting a smile on her face, she pushed through the saloon doors into the bar and grill proper. Her mantra of "what'll ya have?" flowed easily out of her mouth, taking orders and filling drinks.

Occasionally, men would make a pass at her. Like this man. "What'll ya have?" she asked automatically.

"You, sugar," the blond soldier told her with a warm look in his eye. This little town got a lot of soldiers passing through. A training facility was a couple of miles out of town, and soldiers came in when they were off duty, plus soldiers shipping out or coming back home eventually passed through eventually.

"I'm not on the menu," she said; smile still there, but a hard look in her eye. "What do you want to drink?"

"Beer on tap." She got it for him and hoped he'd be smart and shut up.

He didn't. "Honey, why don't you come over here and sit with me?"

"Why don't you shoot yourself in the foot?" She snapped back, not trying to be nice anymore. She did not like being here and this guy was simply making it worse. Plus he was a total jerk.

"Look, baby…" he said, and tried to grab her wrist. She slid back and he missed.

"Is there a problem?" Rick, the proprietor, a nice guy but very imposing to look at, did not take kindly to people messing with his wait staff. "Look pal, when she says no, she means it. Badger her again and I'll bounce you outta my place."

The soldier nodded after a minute, picked up his drink, and went to go sit at his buddies' table.

Good riddance, Rue thought, and took another order.

"Boy, she's a real #*&$," Phelps told his buddies. "And that guy…"

"Look, Phelps. You got turned down. Deal with it and don't whine," James Logan said. "Let us drink in peace and dump your $&* elsewhere."

"Logan –" Phelps began.

Victor stared at him wordlessly, lengthening his claws around his beer bottle. Phelps swallowed his comment. "I don't like you, Phelps. Leave." Victor growled. "Now." Phelps glared wordlessly and left.

Logan took the last swig of his beer and said, "You know we ship out with his company in three days."

"Uh huh."

He shrugged. "Okay." He got the attention of the girl who had shot Phelps down. "Can I get another?"

"Sure thing," she said, taking his bottle from him. Looking over at Victor, she asked, "You want one too?"

Victor gazed at her. She smelled like a fresh winter morning. "Please."

"All right," she said, walking away to the bar.

Logan stared at his brother. Victor's eyes were bright with interest, and he tapped his claws thoughtfully against the wooden table. The young woman came back with two beers. "Here ya go. Let me know if I can get you anything else."

"Thanks," Victor said. His voice was low, but his eyes connected with the blonde's. She blinked and gave a hint of a smile before walking off to take another order.

A soldier poked his head in the door of the bar and grill. "Hey folks, the snow's getting pretty thick out here. You might want to think about going home while you can." A slow trickle of people began to pay and head for the door. Rue got caught handling the cash register.

Rick touched her shoulder. "You got somebody to come and get you, Rue?"

"Please. It isn't so bad that I can't walk a few blocks," Rue told the older man with a smile. "If worst comes to worst, I can call Carrie. I'm fine."

"In that case, I'd appreciate you staying on to help with the crustaceans."
"Sure." The 'crustaceans' were the old die-hards who wouldn't leave for wind or rain, snow or sleet.

One hour later

Victor was almost positive she was a mutant. She didn't have the human scent that everyone else in the bar carried. There were only a few hangers-on still in the bar-n'-grill, and Jimmy had left to hit the sack long ago. He wandered up to the bar where she was polishing shot glasses and sat down.

"You want another?" she asked, looking up.

He shook his head no. "Do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Polish glasses when you're nervous."

Rue's fingers tightened on the glass. She had only met the man's eyes once before; now she stared, surprised, into the brown orbs. "…I'm not nervous."

"Then why could I smell you across the room?" Something in his gaze made her shift her eyes to his hands. She could feel her eyebrows rising at the sight of his claws that lengthened as she watched. Her eyes shot back to his face, and he smiled with elongated canines. Rue felt a thrill run through her, not of fear, but of excitement. This was someone like her, someone who would understand.

"I'm nervous about getting home in all this snow," Rue answered honestly, smiling hesitantly. "Is… ah… have you…always had claws?" She said softly, interested.

"Pretty much," he answered. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"You don't smell like a frail. Like them."

She wasn't sure what he meant by frail, but she gathered that he wanted to know if she was like him. Rue looked down at the counter and murmured, "I change."

"Change what?"

She looked up into his eyes. "Myself. Into birds and horses. I'm Rue," she added.

"Victor Creed."

Rue tilted her head to the side. "So… you're a soldier? Are you stationed at the fort?"

She looked really cute when she did that, and he wanted to know what she tasted like. "No, just passin' through. Shippin' out in three days." There was so much mystery about her –a shape shifter, but one that did not change to violent animals. He could see her as a bird, soft and sleek, flying free. The horse was harder, but he thought he could picture it, a proud, regal mare galloping along a mountain stream, the wind whipping through her mane. Both forms had things to do with wind, and that's what Victor thought she was, a creature of the wind, cooped up in human form. He wondered what she was like in a gale.

"Oh." Her voice was soft and regretful, and she picked up another glass. Suddenly, the lights began to flicker, and everyone froze. "Nobody panic," Rick said, dashing into the kitchen and returning with gas lanterns and candles. He had just lit one when all the lights went out. Rue froze in the sudden darkness, not knowing where anything or anyone was. A hand wrapped around her wrist, and she almost jumped, but recognized at the last second that tips of claws were barely brushing her skin. A trail of warmth shot through her as she realized it was his hand. Slowly, more lights were lit and flames burned, eating up oxygen and gas and giving off beautiful glows. "Well, folks, I guess this is the time to close up," Rick said. "Take a light with you when you go, on us." As customers got up to claim a lamp to light their way in the blizzard outside, Rue slipped away to find her coat. After buttoning it up all the way, she tugged on her gloves and wrapped her scarf around her face.

"The phones are dead," Victor said, coming up behind her. Rue looked up at him in the light of the gas lantern he carried, still a little surprised at how tall he was. That meant there would be no call to Carrie to keep from walking in the snow.

"Oh well, I suppose I'll have to walk," Rue said with a forced laugh.

"Do you want me to walk you home?"

"I'm sure I can manage; it isn't that far," Rue said.

"Then I'll follow you, just to make sure." He smiled that feral smile that sent shivers down her spine –exciting shivers.

"If you really want to," Rue said, and opened the door.

Stepping out into that cold wind as ten times worse than sticking herself in a deep freeze container. Rue gasped and sputtered, but walked headfirst into it anyway, grateful for the small glow of the lantern Victor carried behind her. She made it to the end of the street before the wind whipped her away onto icy ground. Her feet slid out from under her and she fully expected to land on the cold hard ground. Unexpectedly, a pair of strong arms caught her about the torso right before she hit the ground. Struggling to stand on her own, she hung onto his overcoat, trying to right herself. Thinking she had it, Rue took another step and would have been shoved over by the wind again, if he had not pulled her to him.

After catching this girl the second time, Victor decided to just take the easy way. He grabbed her knees and shoulders and swung her up in his arms. Rue yanked on his coat and yelled in a muffled voice above the blizzard, "I can walk!"

He put his mouth close to her ear and said, "No, you can't. Now, which way?"

She pointed with a gloved finger and he strode off. Now, why was it he could smell her still, even in this blizzard? She smelled of flowers.

Rue turned her face toward his chest, away from the harsh wind and snow. He was warm. Intrigued, she burrowed closer. Why was he so warm, and she wasn't? Mmm, this was nice. If it wasn't snowing, she could stay this way for a long time. But her house was approaching. Darn.

He let her down so she could fish out her key and open the door. Flicking on the lights, she motioned him inside. She wouldn't let him freeze on her porch! After she shut the door behind him, she shivered and went in search of her thermostat. She shed her coat, and found he had too, after she turned the heat up. "Thank you very much," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She was cold again.

"I told you that you needed me."

"I don't recall you saying anything of the kind," Rue said, rubbing her arms.

"Ah, well, I thought it." He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. "Better?"

Rue was suddenly warmer, and not only from his embrace. "Yes," she whispered, "Much." Her breathing had become shaky, even though she wasn't cold anymore. She knew one of his hands had moved up to her head, and claws slowly ran through her blond hair, making butterflies sprout in her stomach. She rested her hands on his shoulders, staring into the warm brown eyes that sent tingles down to her toes. Rue's lips parted, and her gaze dropped his eyes to his lips. Suddenly, the one thing she wanted most in the world was for Victor to kiss her.

And then he did.