Notes: This is just a random piece, I'm not sure if it will go anywhere or not and it, like all my fics is liable for spontaneous rewriting :P Enjoy anyway, i appreciate all feedback, even flames. Ish...

Wolverine opened his eyes groggily and stared around the room. Computers… important sciency looking stuff… Shit. He remembered now, they had been fighting Sinister. That would explain the operating table he was strapped to. Obviously, something had gone wrong… He searched for the memory but his mind came up blank. He had no idea how he had gotten here except for a general assumption that Essex was involved. Turning his head the other way he saw Gambit lying limply on another table. He looked around for more X-Men but found the lab deserted except for the two of them. That wasn't too helpful, as Sinister could be holding the others anywhere, but he would have to assume they were all right for now.

"Hey Cajun, wake up." He growled softly. He received a slight groan in response and with a lot of effort Gambit managed to raise his head to look at him, his red on black eyes squinting in the bright light of the lab.

"Wolverine? Dat you?" He winced. "Dis Cajun don' feel so good…" At this point Gambit managed to look around the lab and obviously came to the same conclusion as Logan. "Sinister." he said resignedly, more used to being strapped down on operating tables then was healthy. "You 'member how we got here?" He gave as much of a shrug as you can give with your arms in restraints and his trademark grin. "De last t'ing Gambit 'member is someone yelling and den…. not'ing." He wrinkled his forehead in concentration but eventually seemed to give up "You?"

Wolverine's answer was forestalled by a hiss as the hydraulic doors opened and Essex himself stepped in. "Ahh, I see your both awake, good." He walked over to Remy, who had tensed upon his arrival and was now studiously avoiding looking at him, and began examining the monitor near him "How long has it been this time Remy?"

"3 years, 2 months an' 7 days.' Remy said resignedly, not even bothering to look up.

"A new record?" Sinister asked as he typed something in.

"Oui." Remy said in the same tired, flat tone.

"Over 3 years since I last got to examine you…. Let's see how your powers are progressing, shall we? " Sinister began bustling about reading data from the many monitors and machines hooked up to gambit, typing commands every once and a while. "Hmmm..." he muttered, frowning slightly. "What have you been doing now?" He muttered angrily. He quickly typed something into his monitors and one of the machines hooked up to gambits arm began whirring. Gambit bit back a cry of pain.

"Hey!" He hissed in outrage, "I won Essex, I get painkillers 'fore you do that." Sinister seemed unconcerned.

"Well, this wouldn't have hurt you if you hadn't been messing with your powers now would it have? I can't be responsible for pain you deserve." Sinister said mildly, going back to typing. Gambit narrowed his eyes.

"You not honoring our bet Essex?"

"Calm down my boy, I enjoy the interesting affects of our little wager on your psychology far too much for that. I know the terms. If you are out of my clutches for a record amount of time, when you finally return to me you are entitled to a handful of basic things. You receive painkillers and sedatives before any painful operations or tests, regular meals as long as they don't interfere with my research, the right to clothes as long as it doesn't interfere with my research, and a short outing every day as long as it doesn't interfere with my research. I have not forgotten our bet Remy." He said seriously, looking at Remy for the first time, with a look that was almost fondness in his eyes. "Be quiet now I need to monitor your breathing" he turned back to pushing buttons, ignoring Gambit, who glared balefully at him but was silent. Wolverine was watching this with interest and a small part of him wanted to laugh at the sheer craziness of it. Another, shrewder part was reanalyzing what he knew of the Cajun in regards to Sinister, and he frowned slightly. He was silent for now, figuring he could pound the kid for answers later, when sinister invariably threw them in a small cell that inhibited their powers. Sometimes he wondered if accepting things like this as routine was a good thing, but he wasn't really one for deep thoughts on that subject.

In a different part of the complex:

Arclight rolled her eyes at Scalphunter. "You're like a little kid that's getting a puppy, stop bouncing." Scalphunter, who had not in the least been bouncing, maybe grinning a little, but not bouncing, glared at her.

"I can be a little happy." He said, trying to get back his macho pride. "Remy's back.'

"He's not going to join the marauders. He'll be here for a few months until Sinister decides he's done playing and then he'll escape again and not come back for even longer. Why does it matter that he's back?" Philippa pointed out flatly.

Scalphunter was spared a response by Vertigo yanking the door open and flouncing into his room "Boss wants to see you" she said as innocently as she could despite her obvious enjoyment of his and Arclight's state of undress.

'Ever heard of knocking" Gray Crow groused as he rolled off the bed he had been sharing with Arclight and grabbed some clothes from the floor. He debated doing something nasty to Vertigo but decided to put it off until later since the boss probably wanted to see him about Gambit.

"I thought it was important." Vertigo said, the picture of wide eyed innocence. Even Arclight seemed to have found it funny today, although with her mood swings there was as much chance of her grievously harming Vertigo as laughing along. Vertigo appeared to be lucky today though, he thought as he growled and pushed past the two laughing women.

He muttered angrily about them as he stomped through the halls, but soon forgot about them as his thoughts returned to Remy. When he got to the main lab, he saw Remy passed out on an operating table, with Wolverine, the short vicious X-Man in the same state near him. Sinister looked up at him and nodded, saying, "Drop these two in a cell. The feral won't be awake for quite a while after what I gave him, but I don't want either escaping Gray Crow." He motioned with his hand and Scalphunter quickly unclamped the heavy, adamantium-laced form of Logan from the table, pulling out the many wires carefully, and half-dragged half-carried the X-Man to a nearby cell. He dumped the body into a back corner and went back to the lab. Essex didn't even look up from his work as Gray Crow entered and gently unlocked the clamps holding Gambit down. He pushed a little of Gambit's long auburn hair out of his face gently and scooped him up. He felt him stirring as he carried him to the cell and tightened his grip slightly. Once in the cell he propped gambit against the wall in as comfortable a position as he could find in the bare metal room and turned to go.

"Gray?" Gambit muttered sleepily.

"Rems?" He asked, quietly bending down beside the lanky Cajun. "You ok?"

"Gambit feels like he been run over by a truck." He whinged in a pathetic voice he knew would make Scalphunter laugh. Scalphunter ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Your own fault Rems." He smiled at the Cajun's expression of outrage.

"My fault? My fault?" Gray crow placed a hand over Gambit's mouth and looked at him, a teasing grin on his face.

"Yes. Now be quiet or you'll wake up your angry little feral friend in the corner."

Gambit raised his head, still weak from whatever sedatives Essex had been pumping into his blood stream and glanced at corner. "Merde, is that Logan?" he muttered. Apparently, the little bit of movement pained him as he clutched at his head and moaned.

Scalphunter smiled and said "Go to bed Rems, we'll catch up later" he rose silently and left, locking the cell door behind him. Remy nodded sleepily at his friends retreating back and then, as if lying down was too much effort, simply keeled over from where he had been leaning against the wall and began snoring gently.