(Four)
Henry was busy as he dealt with all of the wounded in his little hospital Lab and was feeling more than a little ragged. He was a good doctor, efficient, and for the moment, he wasn't allowing himself to fully reflect on the day's events. He knew that if he did, it would simply take too much out of him. Like all well trained X-men, he had compartmentalized his pain, but one room inside the mansion of his mind was howling, echoing with cries of grief. He knew this day had been bad, that the X-men had been decimated. The one thing sparing him most right now was that unlike Asher, he hadn't yet seen the list of casualties being carved on the Solarium wall.
He might have been good at keeping a handle on his mental stress, but his body was another thing — his feet were killing him. He stitched up his last patient for the moment and allowed himself the luxury of taking a break. He found a seat not in his office – it was simply too far away – but in a quiet area not far from the Lab holding cells.
Beast dumped his large blue body into a chair, removed his sanitary medical booties and rubbed his feet, smiling a bit at how much better that felt. Having furry, clawed feet made it difficult when it came to shoes and most often, he simply went without. While that was okay most days, times like this when he was on his feet for hours, he could really have used some real support. He rubbed harder, growling softly with pleasure.
His little quiet moment alone was interrupted however - a flicker of movement caught his eye and he looked up to see Star peeking out at him from one the tiny holding cells, her face lit with a kind of playful curiosity.
She hadn't been returned to him long, and quite frankly, he had forgotten she was back here. She had been placed in a cell but hadn't been sealed inside. The program controls had been set so that she could lock the door herself if she wished or felt threatened, but it wasn't required. She had been ordered to stay inside and had been good. Even now she hadn't slipped outside, she was just poking her head out, watching him with great interest.
"Yous okay?" she asked softly.
"Yes, it's just been quite a day," he replied, smiling a little. Even from her distance, she had cheered him up a bit. It was in the brightness of her eyes.
"I kin helps you."
"It's okay, I'm fine," he answered automatically. He was concerned for her safety and didn't want to trouble her. There was little she could do for him really, what he seriously needed was some rest and that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, not with the crowd of people still flooding his Lab.
There was a soft rush of air and then she was there, standing in front of him. She had broken her orders and had come out, gliding across the floor in that graceful Siskan way and was next kneeling down to take one of his large clawed feet into her hands.
"That isn't necessary, my dear. You should go back..." Henry started to say, but was forced to halt as those tiny hands of hers worked their magic and he was flooded with relief and pleasure. The reality was, he couldn't possibly remember the last time he'd had a real hands on foot rub and well, for the moment anyhow, it was possibly better than sex – not that he'd had all that much of that lately...
"Yer funny," Star chuckled softly, amused by his obvious pleasure. She was well trained in the many arts of Courtesanship and she was no slouch when it came to massage. His feet were large and clawed, but she had touched enough Dognan men and women that it didn't faze her in the least. His fur was soft and plushy, a joy to touch.
"Only one of my many talents," he gently teased in return, feeling much better now. While he hadn't intended to be flirtatious, he saw by the slow slant of her widening smile that she had taken it that way. More than a little embarrassed, he tried to make his escape, stammering, "I really should get back to work..."
Star wasn't going to let him go so easily. Emboldened by his words, pleased that he had enjoyed her ministrations enough to let his guard slip just a little, she squeezed his foot just a little harder, releasing a small puff of sparkling Morrowhiem from her fingers, just enough to ease the ache in his bones. She wasn't trying to take him over or bind him with her magic, she was just impressed enough by him to want to make some sort of move. She wanted him to like her.
The moment her glitter sank into his skin, Henry's eyes opened wide and he shuddered hard, he couldn't help it. The massage alone had been heavenly enough, but this was real heat and pleasure. She hadn't hidden her actions, he knew well enough what she had done. This was no different than that time Kimble had touched a badly broken Sabretooth, only this time the Morrowhiem was visible. He had seen Asher use this for both Kimble and Aiden and he knew well enough what it was. He just hadn't expected it to be used on himself or that it would feel so wonderful. It felt great yes, but it had done more than that – he was a bit aroused by it and couldn't trust himself to stand. It momentarily stunned him, he wasn't sure what her intentions were. Did she do this because she wanted to or felt she had to? Was it a trick?
Star glanced up at him, her smile shy and without guile. While she had wanted him to like her, it had been because she was interested in him and wanted to keep his attention, not because she was planning trouble. Her smile dimmed a bit when she saw his confusion. The truth was she had never been in the company of someone so sexually restrained, it hadn't occurred to her that even this small exchange would unsettle him so. "I kin helps people," she said in the hopes that it would ease his mind. "M' title, it's Rejuvinator. I kin makes people heals. When m' Master wuz hurt, I made it goes away."
She had Henry's attention now. His moods shifted quickly, the scientist in him automatically shoving all other concerns aside. "You can heal people by touching them?"
"Yeah."
"From serious injury or just aches and pains?" he asked, unable to hide his excitement. He was thinking of all the wounded he still had out there in the Lab, some of them gravely so. Any hope he could be given would be enough to rob him from any other thought.
Star blinked at him, hesitating. She could see he was focused on her completely, his embarrassment forgotten. She wanted him to pay attention to her yes, but this was dangerous ground. "From both, but when I use m' powers real strong..."
"Yes?"
"Sometimes... sometimes the one bein' healed kin ... kin hurts me back without meanin' to."
"Hurt you back in what way?" Beast asked though the idea was already dawning on him quickly enough. Just that one taste of Morrowhiem had aroused him, though that had been squashed quickly as his focus had shifted. He had been able to overcome that, but if she had used more... would he have been able to hold himself back?
"It's okay, cuz I knows they don't really means it," she replied, not answering him directly. She could see in his shine that he was already beginning to understand. Already he was showing far more intelligence and awareness than any Master she had known. It made him that much more attractive to her, though who her next owner would be hadn't been yet been decided. "I only fix m' Masters on account that they use me that way anyhow..."
"Then all the more reason to keep you apart from everyone," Henry suggested. He was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to use her for healings, but he wouldn't see her come to harm. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
Star's smile brightened at that, she could see he genuinely cared for her and it made her happy. "Will you come sees me again? It's awful lonely back here by m'selfs."
"Yes, I promise," he said, rising to his feet. He had to get back to work, he had tarried here too long as it was. He felt wonderful now, refreshed, as though he'd had a long deep nap and a nice warm shower. He was amazed that with one touch alone she had made him feel so much better. He would keep his promise, he had enjoyed this brief moment with her and wanted more, but for now, he simply had too much to do. "I'll bring you something to eat. Would you like that?"
Her whole face lit up with happiness. "Oh, yes!"
"Excellent. I'll be back shortly." He gently brushed his hand over her head with great affection and then he was gone.
Star watched him go, her heart filled with happiness and for the first time in a long time – hope. There might be a chance that he would want her and take her for his own. Nothing would please her more. Unlike the Dognan warriors she had known all her life, this one had a gentle heart and a loving soul in spite of a drive that kept him to isolation. He would never hurt her or neglect her, she knew that. Only time would tell the rest, if he would choose her or not.
(break)
Gambit tried to run, he really did, but today just wasn't going to go his way.
He had told Seth he was going to wash up, but instead had headed right for the nearest doorway out and away. What he hadn't counted on was that the doorways out were being watched and not necessarily by X-men.
He had gone straight up through the Complex and towards the big front lobby, all gleaming with glass and elegant indoor shrubbery. The lobby was really for show and was empty most of the time, but it was now momentarily congested with people - not all of the Outkasts that Butch had left behind were being allowed to roam freely and were now bargaining for clearances to the lower levels.
Remy, intent on his escape, blundered his way into the lobby, his head down and his mind on other things, thinking only of the door. He made it halfway into the crowded room before he froze, his hackles rising immediately as alarm bells suddenly went off inside his brain, his self preservation gears whirling swiftly into action. There had been a rather lively conversation going on in here when he first entered, but it dropped off sharply after his first few steps. He had been daydreaming as he had walked in here - he had a lot on his mind, so he did - but his mind emptied rapidly at the sudden silence and he was riveted in place, unused to the attention of a whole room being focused solely on him.
"Well, well, well. Look what the cat drug in."
Gambit looked up at the familiar gravelly voice and the last of his blood drained from his face.
The man before him was horribly disfigured from an unfortunate accident - the accident of his being born a mutant. His face was all brown scales and one huge jaw, sprouting enormous fangs. A face only a mother could love... or one a thief could never forget.
A flash of images passed quickly through Remy's brain, almost too rapidly for him to see. For the second time today he was back there, back in time to that fateful day. The day he had lost his soul forever. Gambit saw again the stone cold Morlock tunnel, heard an impatient growl that could only be Sabretooth's. "We in yet, punk?"
"Just 'old y' water, M'seau 'Tooth. We got de one last door, den we in."
A rusty door moved open, unlocked by a clever thief's aid, and a group of people were revealed, standing on the other side, bewildered at the unexpected intrusion. One of those faces had belonged to the man who was standing in front of Gambit now. "Intruders!" he had screamed that day, just as Creed lashed out with his claws. Only quick reflexes had spared his life. Spared it so he could stand here now and accuse.
"As I live an' breathe! It's him!" the man gasped, bringing Gambit back to the cold harsh reality of the Xavier Complex lobby.
"Who is it, Barley? Why are you looking at him like that?" said one of his companions, another of Butch Madison's people.
Barley didn't answer him, but shouted to the back of the room instead, "Hey, Marrow! Get yer boney ass over here!"
Gambit was still just standing there, his body rudely ignoring his flight or fight response by keeping him locked in place, the only thing moving on him was the thunderous beating of his heart as it threatened to accelerate itself until it burst. His shame and humiliation kept him immobile, kept him here to see what was coming, something he surely deserved. He watched numbly as another of Madison's people came forward, a young girl. Like Barley, she was disfigured and clearly a Morlock as well. Bones protruded from all over her body and Remy watched in horror as she raised her arm and yanked one of those protrusions out from the limb itself, a jagged shard of herself, a living knife. She was responding to the tone of Barley's voice, a man she clearly respected.
"What is it, Barley? Do ya want it dead?" she replied, her eyes full of malice and hatred. Her smile was wicked and cruel. She was as feral as they came, a young murderess, Remy could see. That wasn't all he saw, no. His mouth was hanging open now, the shock of her appearance too much for him to hide.
"C'est impossible...!" he wheezed in recognition, a sharp stabbing pain slicing right through his chest.
It was her! The child he had grabbed on the way out of the Morlock tunnels! Creed had ripped him open and he had fled for his life, but not before he had grabbed a child on his way out. How could he forget her? She had been little more than an toddler then, four years old at best. She had been hard to hold, not so much because she was terrified and crying, but because she was covered with bony plates, plates that had protruded from her even then. Her hair was a bright magenta, just as it was now only it had darkened some with age. She had been taken from him at the hospital by Social Services when he had said she wasn't his. They were aware of the Massacre by then and figured she was an orphan now. He never saw her again, not until now. Here she was, that very same child, fourteen years older and showing all that 'I'm an orphan, my family's been slaughtered hate' clear as day in her eyes.
"Marrow, meet Remy LeBeau. The Remy LeBeau," Barley sneered. "Might need more 'n one bone fer him, my dear."
"You!" she snarled. "You killed my people!"
Remy was still frozen, even as he saw her launch herself at him. That bone dagger came towards him, held in one outstretched hand. It was all coming to him in slow motion - her sneer of hatred, her bared teeth. Bone shard dagger, still red with blood from her own body. It came at him and he made no sound as it plunged toward his chest, striking him and shattering against the Kevlar body armor he had so thoughtfully put on that morning. It was like being shot by a bullet against a bulletproof vest. Sure, it deflected the blow, but he felt the impact of it as if she had hit him with a sledgehammer.
Right over 'm 'eart, just where it should've been, he thought to himself as if in a dream. He was falling backwards to the floor, splinters from the now shattered dagger cutting his face. He felt the impact of his body hitting the ground from a great distance, like it was happening to someone else.
/ Close your eyes, Shi'ow-ri whispered with a terrible sadness. It's over now. /
There were shouts now all around him, words like weapons flying around the room. A scuffle was taking place, but he didn't hear them. Instead he felt them as powerful vibrations of anger and murderous intent and was swamped by it, choking on that right along with the renewed guilt from his terrible crime. His lungs locked up tight, robbing him of air. It was a fine companion to the horrible pain in his chest, a pain that was shooting all down the left side of his body, his heart was bursting as if her dagger had actually struck it. Stars sparkled across his eyes and blurred his vision.
The girl had traveled with him to the floor, her body weight adding to the impact. She was torn from him a moment later, foam flying from her mouth as she continued to scream curses at him. He thought he saw a flash of Molly's face, but it was so unlike her - this face was howling and claws were flying, and Molly just wasn't like that. Not his sweet precious wife, so loving and fine. The one he had never deserved. The shouts increased, crushing him, even as he felt warm spatter on his face, drops of red colored rain coming down on him from above.
Remy lay as he was, hearing none of it. He was only dimly aware of the lights fading away and a strange whooshing sound in his ears, like too many people shouting at once. He tried to breathe, but it just wasn't happening. He was slipping away when soft warm fingers were brushing his face, turning his head. Flash of red hair, bright green eyes. Jean.
Remy, you in there? her telepathic voice came to him from a great distance. Remy!
He had no will to respond. Darkness took him.
To be continued in Learning To Fly part two - Flight.
