Disclaimer:I don't own the X-Men, I own Cain got it.
Note: Sorry this chapter is so long, but I couldn't find a spot to cut it in half. many thanks to those who have read this and may more to those who have reviewed it or e-mailed me personally.

Devil's Son part 6

Cain spent the next few days completely unconscious in the medlab, though Dr.McCoy assured everyone particularly a very distraught Clarice that he would be perfectly alright, if not without one of his eye's for about two weeks or so. He finally awoke on the third day, momentarily bewildered as to his surroundings. His vision lacking depth perception did not help his trying to make his way across the room, but he managed to compensate with the use of his other enhanced senses. Clothes his brain told him. Halfway across the room, clad only in his gown he ran right into a very angry Dr.Henry McCoy who insisted that he return to his bed and allow him to perform various tests.

After the furry physician finished all his "fucking useless poking and proding" as Cain dubbed it, he was allowed to make his way to his room. Exiting the lab, still clad in nothing but the medical gown he was interuppted once again in his quest for clothes. Although this obstacle was much more attractive. Clarice came out of seemingly nowhere to greet him with as gigantic a hug as the small elfin girl could muster. Then realizing how clingy and foolish she must look jumped back as if burnt by his touch.

Cain felt like a complete asshole because he couldn't seem to remember her name, so being one to never sidestep issues. "You are probably going to think I'm a complete asshole, but my heads still a little fuzzy and I really can't remember your name, but I know it starts with a B" he spat out rather nervously, being nervous was something completely new to him. "Actually it starts with a C, its Clarice Ferguson" she said crestfallen, he didn't remember her name. Seeing how disappointed she was, he took her hand ever so gently and placed a tender kiss on it and said in as charming a voice as possible "Truly sorry, Cain Isaac at your service, I owe you my life milady." He hoped he didn't look to ridiculous with a big bandage over his eye, but she smiled this fantastic smile and all was forgiven. "Now if you will excuse me, I need to get to my room" Cain said as he turned and continued towards the elevator. Clarice blushed a dark shade of purple with her complexion as she noticed the back of the gown hanging open as her eyes followed him down the corridor.

Cain made it to the lift, and greeted Betsy who was already aboard and she responded in kind and said she was glad to see he had made a nice recovery. They rode in silence till Cain's stop, as he was exiting the lift he felt her fingers pinch his exposed bottom and the words "Nice buns luv" escape her lips. As the doors closed he responded "I know" and licked his lips at her. He just caught the her blushing before the doors shut. No shame, he truly had no shame he thought as he strutted to his room.

Once inside and locking the door to avoid further interruptions, he disrobed and hopped into the shower and quickly cleaned himself and washed his hair. After towelling off, he proceeded to give himself a once over in the mirror. He ripped the bandage off his face and checked the healing of his eye, major organs and such usually took a couple of weeks to completely regrow. There was a pretty nasty scar which would be gone in a few days but other then that no need for that stupid bandage. His tattoos had faded a bit after he had shed the charred skin but that could be fixed with a quick touchup job. All in all not bad for being in the center of a mini atom bomb explosion. "I walk out of wars barely bruised" he half sung happily as he strolled over to get some clothes from his bag. "Oui ami, dat ya do" came out of nowhere.

He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw Remy nonchalantly sitting on his bed smoking a cigarette. "What the hell do you want Lebeau?" Cain spat. "Nothin' homme, Remy jus want to give you dis" he said holding a worn Ace of Spades with a bullet hole in it. "And what the fuck is that?" Cain questioned obviously confused by the gesture and why he had not picked up on Gambit's presence while he was in the bathroom. "Ya wound Remy mon ami, ya saved Remy's life" Remy paused "Remy owe ya homme" he continued obviously uncomfortable admitting this. Cain took the card and examined it with his one eye and placed it by his wallet on the dresser. "Alright, you can buy me a couple drinks before I creep outta this burg" Cain said "But get out now" he emphasized this point by pointing a massive finger at the door. "D'accord, mon ami" Gambit said rising and strolling out of the room.

Lebeau wasn't that bad, a little soft and really really strange. What was the deal with the speaking in third person. He proceeded to get dressed, he contemplated how he would ever find Sinister again as he buttoned up his jeans. He half slid on a plain white shirt and then proceeded to hunt around in his bag for something. After a few moments he pulled out a stunning platinum chain with a diamond encrusted chinese dragon dangling from it. He stood admiring it for a few moments, it was gaudy, over the top but he loved it he thought as he slipped it around his neck and then fastened his equally guady Rolex on his wrist. As Cain left his room for the last time, he grabbed his wallet and the playing card from the dresser while sliding a expensive pair of sunglasses on his face to cover the hideous scar over his eye.

Cain met up with Remy in the front hall and was informed Logan would be joining them for drinks before Cain left town. Cain really wanted to say goodbye to Clarice before he left, but since she was in a meeting with Xavier as LeBeau had told him, he decided against it. Better that he get out of her life as quickly as he had come in he thought. The trio of men proceeded to the garage, Cain ran up to his car when he saw it checking for scratches. Logan hopped on his Harley and told him he meet them at Harry's, Gambit had decided that he wanted a ride in Cain's Aston Martin. "My baby" Cain whispered to the car as he started the engine, they peeled out to the sounds of Notorious B.I.G.'s "Things Done Changed".

As the black and chrome convertible sped down the country roads, Cain wanted to ask the wily cajun something but really didn't know how to. He turned to his passenger and turned down the blaring music "Remy", this stirred the acadian who was staring out the window. "Wha homme?" he questioned with his ever present smile. "I... I need you to do something for me" Cain said rather unsure. "Sure mon ami, wha ya want from Remy?" he questioned. "Ineedyoutakecareofclariceforme" Cain blurted out quickly turning back to face the road, "Remy didn't catch dat" the thief responded, Cain knew he did but repeated it anyways. "I said I want you to take care of Clarice for me, she's a good kid and I don't want her getting in any trouble" he said sheepishly, uncomfortable talking about it. "Remy tinks you sweet on da petite, no" it wasn't a question, Cain knew that full well. "Shut da fuck up Gumbo, you don't know what you talkin' about" Cain spat. He slammed down on the brakes, and turned to face his smiling passenger. "Look just look out for her, make sure she don't do anything stupid or anything like dat, comprende" Cain ordered. "Sure, den ya don' mind Remy making a move on da petite fille?" he questioned tauntingly.

That did it, the lanky thief never saw it coming. The punch snapped his head back, "You touch her and die, boy" Cain's eye flashed with energy behind his sunglasses. His rage was broken by Remy's laughter, "Remy knew it, you got it bad for da petite" he said clutching his face. "Alright so I like her, it's better if I leave though, ain't never fit in with dat group back there" Cain said, still mad at being tricked by the cajun. "Like Xavier would even offer me a spot" Cain said, slowly sinking into depression over how long he had be alone. "Remy not so sure 'bout dat homme" Remy interjected, "what?" Cain was bewildered, why would Xavier want him on his precious X-Men. "Mon professor want'd Gambit to ask you, so?" Remy questioned with obvious curiousity. "No, it's better this way" Cain said effectively ending the conversation as he turned the car back onto the road and continued on towards Harry's.

Later at Harry's...

They had spent the rest of the ride in silence except for Remy's directions. Remy hopped out of the car and Cain turned the car off, and followed his companion into the establishment. They spotted Logan over at a table in the back. As the duo made their way over Logan called out "What took you two so long, I thought that car o' yours was fast." Then upon seeing Remy's developing black eye he couldn't hold back that laughter "you got your ass beat by da kid" he choked out between labored breaths.

Remy sat down and shot a a nasty look over at the Canadian, Cain just slid down into the booth and began staring at a couple over near the bar. The look in his eyes was familiar to both of the X-Men sitting with him. It was the look of the hardened loner, of someone used to fighting to survive. It was also a look of complete and total loneliness, one forged with the idea that sooner or later, you were always left by yourself. Everything and everyone you knew and loved, would be gone, and you would have to stand on your own once more. It didn't stop one from hoping, but eventually hope was placed in the back of one's mind, it caused too much pain to keep hoping. Then you became a heartless bastard who didn't care about anything anymore, the kid wasn't there yet but emergency measures had to be taken. Logan and Remy shared a look between them that spoke volumes, they had to do something for this kid who had his life ripped apart infront of his eyes. The X-Men had saved them from facing that look everyday in the mirror, well not everyday but no one's perfect. Noticing Cain was off in his little world, sipping his beer Remy turned to Logan and whispered something in his ear. Logan contemplated the suggestion and then with a evil smile got up from the booth and made his way to the telephone near the washrooms.

As Logan strolled to the phone, he realized why he had become drinking buddies with the cajun. The guy had a pair of brass balls the size of Louisiana. Back at the table Logan's exit had stirred Cain from his reverie, and decided that he might as well enjoy tonight and go back to wallowing in self pity tomorrow. "Where's shorty off to?" Cain questioned, "don' know, Wolverine is tres strange mon ami" Gambit said jokingly, hoping that Cain wouldn't catch on to his little trap. Cain in turn eyed the shifty with his one good eye, "What you up to LeBeau?" Cain said, "nothin' why dey always suspect Remy up to no good, hmmm?" Remy drawled. "Why you smell so shook, hmmm? Cain replied refusing to drop the subject as he downed the rest of his beer. "Now your just paranoid kid" Logan said coming back to the table.

"Paranoid keeps me alive" Cain said proudly, "So what ya goin' do now kid?" Logan said coming back from the phone. "Don't know retire to the Carribean, LeBeau got me $100,000,000.00 plus all the money I got saved up" Cain replied finally relaxing. "Won't miss the action?" Logan added with a smirk on his face, "yeah but worse things have happened, you trying to recruit me to?" Cain inquired. "Yeah, why not? your good kid, but your outta control that little accident at Sinister's place should have showed you that. Chuck could help you with control and for once you could have a place to call home and some people who you can call friends" Logan finished his little speech and sat down. "What the fuck happened to you man, I used to hear stories about the great Wolverine, Patch or whatever you callin' yourself, you were the best in the business and now you just gone soft" Cain retorted disgusted. "I ain't gone soft kid, I just got tried of always being alone and got tired of walking around with all that blood on my hands, decided I needed to try and do some good" Logan growled, Cain looked unimpressed still but to Wolverine's enhanced senses he could tell he had gotten to the kid. "Mon ami, don' try and tell Gambit you walkin' around completely happy wit' how your life is" added Gambit "Gambit used to be like you, woke up one day an' found Remy only got half a soul, X-Men help Remy do some good." "No your not getting it, I kill people for a living, lots of people and I usually enjoy it, I'm not one of those types who have just realized its eating away at me, a long time ago I woke up and found that it had eaten everything" Cain said defeatedly, but maybe I never had much of a soul to begin with he thought to him himself as flashes of all the stomach emptying, no sane person would ever do acts he performed in short life raced through his head. "Kid maybe ya should try doin' some good, might find something that ya thought ya lost" Logan replied putting an arm around Cain's slumped shoulders "If you had no soul left, you wouldn't care about any of this shit" he continued. Logan could smell the war of emotions coming off the big man, Cain knew Logan could smell his indecision too. Logan thought they might just get him to join, if only they could promise him something more then ideals.

If this were the ninth inning of a baseball game, the small girl who just walked into Harry's would be the closer. Clarice Ferguson, Blink, X-Man from a alternate reality and one pissed off girl. She spotted him in the back with Gambit and Wolverine, he obviously had no clue who she was due to the image inducer she was wearing to disguise the lavender skin and purple hair she was born with as a result of being a mutant. All Cain saw was a cute teenaged girl with long brown hair with a thunderous expression on her face storming her way across the bar. He had faced down seriously evil people in his life, people who cared not for their life or much else and simply said "boo" and they had fled never to be heard from again. That wouldn't cut it with this girl, nothing like a women scorned or so the saying went.

Cain had no clue who this girl was until too late, a knee to the groin too late.Then her scent hit him, why couldn't it have happened a minute earlier. "You were going to take off without saying goodbye, I thought you liked me, you fucking tease" screamed the normally pathologically shy girl at the massive man clutching his family jewels writhing in the worst pain there is for a man. All he could muster was a single tear from the one eye he had left and a very unmanly squeek, all Remy and Logan could do was cringe at his pain. Clarice then proceeded to pummel the fallen giant which proceeded to send the other two X-Men into hysterical laughing fits. "I'm going to beat you up until you come back" she shouted at Cain, who at this point was trying to hold his balls with one hand and ward of her small fists with his other hand. "I'm really sorry" was the only thing that he could think of. "Well that's not going to cut it, buster" she said firmly positioned on his chest, "buster?!?!? who uses the word buster" Cain said trying to hold in the laughter that threatened to burst out. Laughing at this girl would only get his ass kicked again, "I do" Clarice proudly stated. By now the entire bar was staring at the two mutants.

Cain tryed to reason with her, "listen if you let me up, I'm sure we can straighten this out" he said calmly. "Ok, but you better have a something good to say" Clarice said glaring at him violently, which would have been comical on her small elfin face at any other time. Damn, she is one sexy lady he thought to himself, nothing more sexy than a woman who can kick ass. Only one way outta this he thought.

As Cain got up the crowd went back to what they were doing except a group of college kids who were laughing at him, "what cha laughin' at little bitches" Cain said staring at them from behind his sunglasses. "You man, you got your ass kicked by a little girl asshole" said the biggest one. "Wrong thing to say little bitch" he said shaking his head as he slid off his sunglasses. He opened both his eyes, one a cold grey and one a vacant blood oozing hole in his face and let out a bonechilling roar that resulted in them pissing their pants. He laughed as they fled the bar screaming and then put his glasses back on and sat down.

"A'ight so your saying you want me to come back" He questioned but realized that was a stating the obvious from the look on Clarice's face and what had just taken place. For the first time in his life someone wanted him for more then a one night stand, his ability to cause mass destruction or as some science experiment. He was stunned, these people wanted to help him for absolutely no reason. "I...I was about to tell these guys that I would like to join the X-Men if the rest of them will have me." The instant smile on her face made him feel better than he ever had before, maybe these guys were right. Joining the X-Men wouldn't be that bad, plenty of action from what he had seen on the news and heard from people in his line of work, a beautiful girl and as annoying as they might be a couple of new drinking buddies. Most importantly a place to call home and a reason to live.

"So two questions, how did you know I was here and why do you look uh...normal?" Cain asked as he wrapped his huge arms around her slender form. He was so caught up in her beautiful eyes that he didn't notice Logan and Remy making an escape. "Oh that's easy, Logan called the mansion and told me that Remy and him would keep you busy until I got down here and Beast put together this image inducer thingie for me" she purred as she ran her hands through his unruly brown hair. "What?!?!?" Cain said in a low unreadable voice, "You see it's this little thing that looks like a watch...." Clarice let her explanation tail off when she looked up he was already running for the door.

Cain ran outside just in time to see Logan speed off on his bike laughing with Remy screaming for him to come back and pick him up. Cain smiled an evil smile, he was about to pound the shit out of that dumb bastard Cajun when he sniffed the air and looked at the sky. Clarice showed up moments later, questioning his sanity as he seemed to be laughing at absolutely nothing. "Come on let's go home" he said to her as he put up the top to his convertible. Clarice hopped into the luxury car and he yelled to Remy "Hey looks like it's going to pour, I'd get home soon mon ami." Gambit yelled back "Have pity on po' Remy give him a ride", Cain shook his head and laughed "Sorry only two seats, shoulda thought a that before you invited her along" pointing at his much better looking passenger. Cain drove off towards the mansion just as the rain began to fall. He got back to the mansion and dropped Clarice off and told her to tell the Professor he wanted to talk to him, then sped back and picked up one soaking wet swamp rat.

Outside the Professor's study...

Hours may have passed maybe minutes, Cain had no clue. Why the fuck was he so nervous, maybe because they refused to allow him on the meeting that would decide his future. And the fact could hear everything single nasty thing they were saying about him thanks to his enhanced senses wasn't helping his mood.

Cain could hear that stupid stuck up fuck Worthington saying that he was a danger, he could hear Summers saying much the same thing just not as colourfully. The voices saying anything good about him were very few in fact, he needed a cigarette.

He got up and walked outside, patting himself down looking for smokes. He found them in his pant's pocket, cursing when he found only one left. He stuck it inbetween his lips and lit it with a flash of energy from his fingetip. At least his mutant powers were useful for more than tearing people into pieces he thought with a chuckle. He inhaled deeply and savored not only the taste and feel of the thick smoke filling his lungs but the sound of the dry crackle of the burning tobacco.

He would have never cared for what these people thought of him a week ago. He would have just given them his official salute, the ever classic middle finger and torch their asses. But things had changed, they had something he wanted. Clarice. Normally girls were just something to fuck, he had never felt anything remotely close to love for them. Ain't never loved no hoes, but then Clarice was no hoe and so unlike any girl he had ever met. But the class of women he met left something to be desired. Saving his life helped too. Cain couldn't stop thinking about what he would do if they told him to hit the road.

How would he recover from the lose of her, how would he pick up his life. In a mere few days, hours even this girl had managed to destroy his simple, emotionless if not horribly lonely life and make him yearn to be a better person. This situation had him royally fucked, if they said no which they most likely would he would be lost.

Cain was just standing there surrounded by smoke not noticing the cigarette burning away in his fingers when the door opened. "There you are, thought you ran off" Scott said really hoping that Cain had taken off, "a decision has been reached" Scott sounded all holier than thou, what a suprise Cain thought.

As he made his way back to the study, he couldn't help but feel like a man walking that last mile to the electric chair. But that was this basically was, without Clarice you go back to being a worthless shit that ain't nobody ever cared about, worse then death. If Cain knew how to cry, he wouldn't have been so suprised by the tear rolling down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away and entered the large oak doors to face his fate.

He stood amidst the earth's most powerful mutants and waited. "We have come to a decision Cain" the professor voice resounded throughtout the study, "So I've been told" Cain said with his head down expecting them to toss him out on his ass. "Well I will not lie to you and say that everybody here wants you to stay but this is my school and I have the final word" Charles spoke, his voice didn't betray any emotion.

"So I have decided to let you stay, seeing as you are in need of our help and truly want to change your ways" The Professor continued, all Cain could do was stand there with his eyes wide in shock "Qwa??!?!!" he managed to choke out, he wasn't sure it was english for that matter he wasn't sure what english was at this point. This caught him totally off guard, then all of a sudden it clicked. "You can stay" Clarice said excitedly from her position to the left of him. Out of nowhere he broke into a strange dance that was one part Micheal Jackson, one part Crip Walk and a little Chicken Dance thrown in. He chanted "Happy Dance" as he spun in a circle to the bewilderment of the gathered mutants.

When Cain realized this was not the reaction they had expected, he quickly tried to compose himself and maintain what little dignity he had left infront of his new teammates. Clarice launched herself at him from her chair and he embraced her, while the rest of the X-Men burst into laughter even the ones he knew didn't want him here. Cain thought as he kissed his new girl in his new home, that he felt complete for the first time in his life. Yeah, the Devil's Son was walking on the side of the angels now.

The End for now!

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