Summary: A terrible tragedy reunites Gambit with an old friend. Part five of the Game.
Rated M for profanity, violence and some sexual content.
Disclaimer : I do not own the X-men or any of their associated villains, but the Siskans, the Dognan, Jael and the Outkasts are mine. Please do not use them without my permission. Thanks. :)
Updated 10-25-13 to add (break)s as needed and to fix stuff.
(One)
"Ah, Dreamer. You're just being melodramatic again. You said, 'It was then that I began to realize that the things I would see in this window were for more than my simple amusement, they were messages, and I had better start paying close attention. I was right, it wasn't long before what they began to show me changed me forever.' Come on, now."
I have to laugh because I have been rightly accused of this many times. I am the Dreamer and yes, I am quite melodramatic. Yes, I also crave attention. But this was something quite different. I was learning that while I might not be a Rogue in the Game, I was still something special and unique in my own way. I didn't get it at first but I slowly began to understand that I was being shown things that might happen in order for me to change them.
It happened one day that I was once again in my little black room, seeking a vison and looking at my window when I saw a most curious thing. It wasn't something as simple as books I was looking at this time, I saw a house that was different than the one I was living in at the time. It was the Plantation house Trishnar would later take as his palace though I didn't know that then of course.
"This will be your new home," the voices said.
"But I do not wish to go," I protested. "I am happy 'ere."
At my words, the screen began to change. It grew larger and became less of a window and more of an open wall. The image there grew sharper and more real as it grew until I was literally standing in front of an open space I could walk through. I didn't immediately move, I am smart enough to know there are fates worse than death. I have lived through some of them and had no wish to experience something like that again. What if I stepped through that opening and was trapped there in that unknown place? Though the house seemed pleasant enough, who knew what monsters might lurk there?
As I stood there in my glorious indecision, I saw a blue shimmering double arrow suddenly appear in the grass in front of me and float there expectantly, as if I had called for it myself which I had not. One end pointed to the house, the other back at myself where I stood in my room. I didn't need the voices to tell me what this meant – I was to make a choice.
Stubborn then, and still afraid, I stayed as I was. When it was clear my decision had been made, the screen abruptly changed and the most horrible thing happened. I was riveted in place, bombarded by a sudden blur of snapshot images – I saw death and burning and dying and bombs falling and blood and gore and violence and hatred and torn bodies and dead animals and the smoke of a burnt out world. Worse than all that - as if those sights alone hadn't been enough - I heard her, my special one, cry out in such horrible agony. She was dying and I had let her die. Her and everyone else I had ever loved.
I screamed, I could not help it and woke in my bed, the howl of my emotional distress still ringing in my ears.
Babette and Trishnar came on the run, bringing me love and comfort and tonics. I was shaken down to my core and nearly inconsolable. I sobbed and sobbed. I swore then I would never sleep again.
(break)
"This address mean anything to you?" Logan said, handing Remy a scrap of paper. He already knew the answer, but he wanted to see Gambit's face as he read it.
It was only a few minutes after Logan had called Gambit about a disturbance that had occurred in New Orleans and Remy was still shaken from both the dream he'd had and the news that something awful had happened. It was late, just after two in the morning. He was rumpled and sleepy, dressed in a pair of loose jeans and a thermal pajama shirt, looking a bit more frail than when he was in uniform. Remy looked at the address scrawled in Logan's rough hand and nodded. Trishnar's palace.
About eight years ago now, Remy had had the pleasure of meeting Trishnar, a Dognan King who had a palace in New Orleans. The palace was hidden of course, to anyone else it had looked like any other massive plantation house planted on large acreage, but it was so much more. There Remy had had the opportunity to meet Trishnar's harem of Siskans, six lovely creatures who had gone leaps and bounds towards educating him on what a healthy Siskan was supposed to be like. This was at a time when Kimble had been so horribly shattered, when Remy really had little clue what Kimble's goals for recovery should have been. Remy's hands were now trembling, he just couldn't help it. Babette, Aiden, Marielle, Krista, Frashnay, Anise. He couldn't bear the thought of any of those beautiful Siskans being in trouble.
"When I saw the news reports from New Orleans, I crossed it with the file you made about your visit with Trishnar," Logan explained, keeping his voice easy. He didn't like the stricken look on Remy's face. "The news said there had been mutant activity outside, that's why it caught Seth's attention. He brought that up to me immediately. Then I called you."
Remy didn't answer Logan's statement, instead he reached to his belt and checked his cell phone. The phone was powered up, he should have been able to receive any incoming call. There had been none. On a whim, he dialed his old paging service. No, there were no messages waiting for him.
Wolverine watched this, not interrupting. He was glad he had thought to wake Karen as well, she was standing just behind the thief, ready if she was needed. Logan had no doubt she would be, he could see Remy's body shaking even though his hands were swift and sure as they glided over the buttons on the phone. Remy was dialing again.
"Bonjour?" came a sleepy voice on the other end.
"Bonjour, Etienne. Dis's Remy."
Logan nodded now, a little surprised. Etienne was Gambit's cousin and head of a faction of the Thieves' Guild located in Boston. Remy had been brought up in the Guild and had maintained some of his ties, using those connections in his work for Xavier from time to time. Logan was wondering what was on Remy's mind. Wolverine felt he was capable of investigating this without dragging the Thieves' into it.
" 'Ey, what's up? Kinda late innit?" Etienne was saying, words easily picked up by Wolverine's enhanced hearing.
Remy closed his eyes in exasperation. Was there an edge to Etienne's voice? The boy sounded nervous. "Look, we 'ad some trouble up 'ere at de house. We all packed up, moved to a safer place. Was t'inkin' mebbe I'd best come get Skye fo' safe keepin'. I wake Fallen, we can be dere in an hour."
Ah, yes. I almost forgot, Logan thought bitterly. Cripes, this just keeps gettin' better an' better.
Skye was yet another Siskan hologram Remy had met years ago. Skye had belonged to the Games Master, a Dognan boy that Remy had sought out to have Kimble repaired. When Remy had managed to track the Games Master down, Skye had been among the kid's personal harem. The Dognan boy was young, too young to appreciate the Siskans in his possession. They were merely an inheritance to him, not creatures he had actively sought out for himself. Skye was there among them, shy and a little lost. He wore no Mark, leading Remy to believe he wasn't part of the Game. However, it was readily apparent to one in the know that Skye had been damaged and then repaired as Kimble was now, making him a powerful Lushna-esk 'gram. The signs of that abuse made Remy sympathetic towards him and the two were attracted to one another, their Kundatesh spirits seeing each other and finding kinship. Remy and he had hit it off and Skye wanted him. He shifted to a female skin to better suit Remy's tastes and Gambit, being as free as he was at the time, took the Siskan for a spin. It hadn't escaped the Games Master's notice and on a whim, the Games Master gave Skye to Remy, eager to be rid of him.
Gambit hadn't been sure what to do with Skye once he had been freed, he'd had his hands full with Kimble. He decided to give Skye to Etienne for safekeeping, wanting to keep Skye away from Kimble and potential danger. Etienne had moved from New Orleans to Boston to run his own Thieves' Guild, not so far from the Westchester Institute that he would be out of reach. Remy needed Skye gone, the Games Master was working on Kimble at the time and Gambit had wanted to keep Skye out of it. Remy didn't want Kimble to be jealous either, the pilot was going to need time to heal after the repair. He gave Skye to Etienne and kinda forgot about him, really. All these years Skye had been happy there in Boston, working in a whorehouse that catered to mutants, a Siskan Courtesan's paradise. If Remy had had one thought at all that Skye was a legitimate part of the Game, he would have picked him up long ago. Even with all that had happened, Remy hadn't considered that to be a mistake until just now. Now things were worse. Gambit didn't think any Siskans were safe anywhere anymore.
"De boy real 'appy where 'e is. Mebbe you best be leavin' 'im 'ere," Etienne was saying, trying to keep his voice jaunty and light. He wasn't succeeding.
/ Uh oh, Shi'ow-ri whispered. / This is bad. /
" 'Ow long 'e been gone, cousin?" Remy asked, keeping his voice level.
There was a moment of silence from the other end before Etienne finally spoke. " 'E took off right after de attack in New York. I got t'ree teams out lookin' fo' im, but de guy... 'E's like a ghost. Got no idea where 'e gone to. 'E don' know nobody. I can't figure it."
"Dat was more dan a month ago!" Gambit cried out in exasperation. He had never once questioned Etienne's reliability until now. This was a mess. " 'E got my address up at Westchester?"
"Oui, an' all yo' numbers. De guy can shift you know? 'E got at least t'ree skins, mebbe more. It gonna be 'ard to track 'im down. I was gonna tell ya, but I didn' want you to worry. We'll get 'im back, je promets. We de best T'ieves, you know dat. We just wasn't expectin' 'im to be any trouble."
Remy hardly heard him. Yeah, he knew that Skye could shift, he had seen two of the skins himself, it never occurred to him the Siskan might have more. This was going to be impossible. I never should have left him. What was I t'inkin'? Gambit thought to himself bitterly. How could I 'ave been so stupid?
Shi'ow-ri was quick to soothe. / It wasn't safe to keep him with us. He's not part of the Game, he could have been taken. It's done, it's over. We'll go and find him. /
"You still dere, Remy?" Etienne was asking.
"Oui, Gambit still 'ere. I'm gonna fly out -"
"No yer not," Wolverine gruffly interrupted. "Kimble's locked up. You ain't goin' nowhere. That was probably Jael raising that ruckus in New Orleans. We don't know what he's going to do next and we need ya right here."
"I've got it covered," Etienne insisted, scrambling to recover his dignity. He could hear what Logan had said. "Stay dere. I'll call you, d'accorde? I won' let nuthin' appen to de boy."
"Guess I don' 'ave no choice. Gambit's got trouble all over."
"Je suis de'sole, cousin. 'E was 'appy 'ere. Got no idea why 'e took off."
"Keep in touch."
"I will. Au revoir."
"Au revoir," Remy clicked off and looked at the floor.
"You still sure yer buddy Skye's not in the Game?" Logan couldn't help but ask.
Gambit's negative reply was so quiet, Logan almost didn't hear it.
Wolverine leaned back in his chair with a soft sigh of frustration. The Siskan situation here was becoming more complicated by the day. "I'll talk to Chuck. Maybe he's got some folks we can send up to Boston to help out."
Remy nodded, but his eyes were still down. He really didn't want to know but had to ask, "How bad was it in N'Awlins'?"
"I don't have the details but it sounds like a total loss. Jael cleaned out Trishnar good. There's nothing you can do about it now, SHIELD is probably swarming all over the place. It won't do you any good to go out there. I'm sorry."
"Merci," Remy replied, taking a step for the door. "Gotta go back. Molly was upset when I left, she knew it was bad news."
"You okay?" Karen asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Remy nodded and fled, just wanting to be alone. He walked briskly out and instead of heading back to the apartment, made for the nearest Men's Room. He couldn't contain his anger, his pain, his frustration. The sense of loss was so great now, far more than he could possible handle with a straight face for long. He didn't want to bring this home to Molly, he chose instead to pop in here for a quick meltdown. He needed to vent.
It wasn't just the loss of Skye, although that was part of it. It was all of them. All of these Siskans he had considered his own in one form or another. Now they were all gone. All of them. He claimed the largest stall for himself and locked it, crawling into the corner to cover his face.
Babette.
Kimble may have been the first Siskan Remy had met, but Babette was the first he had been intimate with. They had crossed paths quite by accident in New Orleans, she happened to be cruising around in a bar that he had gone to. Their surprise at one another had been mutual, she had sensed the power Kimble had boosted in him immediately and he had been shocked to discover she was a Siskan like Kimble was. Later, Remy convinced her to bring him to meet her Master, Trishnar. Trishnar was taken by the young thief and invited him to stay for a while. It was there that Remy's real education in Siskans began.
Trishnar had six Siskans in his personal harem — Babette, Anise, Frashnay, Krista, Marielle, and Aiden. While Remy had met and was intimate with them all, it was Babette that stuck the most in his mind. She had been the one who had showed him how best to control his newly acquired Kundatesh powers. A dark haired beauty, she had burned her way into his heart, forever to stay. She had trained him as best she could in the short time they'd had, teaching him how to blunt those vibrations he didn't want to feel from others and how to tune in on the ones he did. He had been all the better for her help, he had regained a lot of confidence that he had lost from being so confused by his new talent. He was deeply indebted to her, to his precious Babette. A kind and loving Siskan, she was a real treasure, a live person in his eyes always. Remy had spent most of his time there with her, learning from her and growing to love her deeply, much in the way that he loved Kimble.
He thought of the rest of Trishnar's harem as well, but not as fondly. They were all a pleasure, but they were not as strong with the Kundatesh as Babette and Aiden, they were not as special. Gambit did have some warm memories of Frashnay and Krista - they had pair bonded, making him realize all the more just how real inside these 'grams really were. Aiden had jokingly called them the Bimbo Twins for their obsession with one another. Would they be separated now by Jael? The Master decided such things, all control of their lives taken away. The thought of it made him hurt deeply inside and the floodgates broke, leaving him sobbing against the tiles like a child.
The biggest liability of being an empath is that it takes a supreme effort to maintain any kind of emotional control. An empath is sensitive to the moods of others and can at times be swamped and influenced by them if they are not careful. Remy had unconsciously built mental shields throughout his life, fearing mental invasion by the telepaths around him. While it helped to keep prying eyes out of his head, it wasn't enough to block out the emotional vibrations of those closest to him. The worsening situation with Kimble was crumbling his defenses. Kimble's pain was his, Seth's pain was his. Now he was being burdened by a horrible sense of responsibility for everything. Maybe he could have prevented the attack on Trishnar's palace or at least given some kind of warning. The fact was, things were such a mess here, it hadn't even occurred to him to contact Trishnar at all. This new loss was devastating to him. He had always been an emotional creature, he loved and hated hard. He had loved these Siskans too much and now they were gone. He was coming apart under all of the pressure and couldn't stop himself from breaking down and bawling like a child whose favorite toy had been taken away.
Moments later, warm hands came against him and not for the first time he found himself wondering, Why is it dat whenever I go off to a bathroom and cry, somebody always comes in lookin'?
"Cuz yer a lousy liar, no matter what ya say," Wolverine grumbled. The thief had partially vocalized, garbling his complaint, but he was able to make it out.
"Fuck!" Remy complained in exasperation. He had expected Karen, not his gruff and oh, so manly teammate. But then again, he was in a Men's Room. He stood up abruptly, feeling the strain in his leg as he rose awkwardly, jerking away from Logan's touch. It was one thing to let go in private, quite another to have someone else see it. It might make him seem that much less credible in the eyes of his teammates than he already was.
"Easy, Gumbo. I ain't tryin' ta make out with ya 'r nuthin'," Logan growled, trying to use a little humor to ease the uncomfortable situation. He wasn't about to show just how much Remy's little breakdown had spooked him. If Gambit was losing it, who was going to keep the Siskans that were still here in line?
Under other circumstances, Wolverine's one liner might have been funny, but Remy still stung from the comment Logan had said earlier about him and Kimble. He wasn't sure what had been worse, the implication that he hadn't done his job, or having a teammate speak so openly about his sexual relationship with Kimble. It made him uncomfortable. He didn't want to be thought of as bi-sexual or gay, it wasn't how he regarded himself. "Wouldn't have ya nohow, too hairy," Remy weakly joked in return, not even trying to make it come out right.
"We'll find Skye."
"It ain't Skye," Gambit corrected, wiping uselessly at his tear streaked face. He was worried for Skye too, but not in the same way. Skye hadn't been taken, the Siskan had fled in terror instead, no doubt frightened away by the horrible battle that had taken place in New York City. It was just that Skye was out there alone and helpless as Kimble had been once. Kimble hadn't taken it well, how could he expect the gentle, soft spoken Skye to fare any better?
"Trishnar's kids?" Logan asked, his voice a little more gentle.
"Oui. Dey was...dey was special to me. Don' wanna t'ink what Jael do to dem."
"We're gonna kick Jael's ass, don't you worry. We'll get them back."
"Shouldn't 'ave de right!" Remy sobbed suddenly as an angry thought blasted through his mind.
"What?"
"Nobody should 'ave de right to decide what 'appen to a Siskan but demselves!" Remy spat out bitterly. He went to a sink and began to angrily splash water on his face. "Dis 'ole Game, it's fuckin' sick! Merde!"
Logan grunted, agreeing with him for a moment, something they didn't often have in common. "Lots of things ain't right, but that's how they are anyways."
"You, you t'ink Gambit look after Kimble like 'e do cause 'e all in love wit 'im, eh?" Remy stabbed at him, his voice bitter. He was glaring at his teammate through the mirror now, water dripping from his chin as he leaned over the sink. Those demonic, red on black eyes were the spookiest when the thief was as furious as he was now, they showed the deep dark depths of his anger and the worst of his suffering.
Logan squirmed, uncomfortable with all those powerful emotions. He was not like Remy, he shut most of his feelings off and wasn't used to dealing with these things so openly. Logan did not normally discuss sensitive topics like this, but it looked like he was wasn't going to get out of this. He crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the metal framing for the bathroom stalls and braced himself. This wasn't the conversation he had expected to have here. "I don't really know what to think," he replied honestly, keeping his voice neutral.
Gambit snorted at him angrily, not buying that for a moment, and grabbed a handful of paper towels to dry his face. "Gambit just try to give dat boy a chance. A chance to be 'is own person, comprenez? Too bad de rest of de world fightin' me, sayin' 'e ain't real, sayin' dat 'e ain't got no rights."
"I never said he didn't have any rights!" Wolverine complained, taking the dig personally. "He fights and he lets people beat him up. He just killed someone- " He held up a hand defensively when he saw the heat in Remy's eyes. "He's got as many rights as the next person. The next crazy person, all right? Ya don't see me lockin' Seth up, do ya?"
Gambit couldn't argue.
"We won't let anything happen to Kimble," Logan said, sliding back into the more comfortable role of security officer. "I'll send a team to Boston and to New Orleans if you want."
"Dey must be gone, Trishnar's 'grams. Jael look at dem and say Master and dey go, just like Kimble done wit Saby. Dey won't fight it," Remy said, his voice low and tired.
Logan patted his shoulder, keeping his distance. "You never know with Siskans, Kimble never fails ta surprise me."
"It would take some kind of miracle, homme. We seem to be a bit short on dose."
"Keep prayin', Gumbo. We'll find a way. Maybe they will, too."