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Chapter nine

"Why didn't we just bring Rogue?" whispered Lorna from behind him, her voice muffled as she slipped a scrub top over her head. "Her powers would have made questioning him a whole lot simpler." Remy waited to turn until she was decent and adjusted the drawstring of his own thin blue pants.

He grunted, non-committal. "Here. Your wig's all crooked." Through the dim light of the hospital supply closet a tumble of green hair was visible beneath the blunt brunette bob wig that was Lorna's disguise. Remy reached forward and tried to push it under the wig.

"Stop it," she said and swatted at his hand. "That's not going to work, you're just making it worse." Handing him the wig she stripped off the skull cap she wore, her neon hair a matted mess beneath it. She twisted her long locks and tucked them back under the tight cap. "I'll assume since you're ignoring my question that it has something to do with the fact that we're interrogating a Marauder?"

Holding the wig out to her, Remy gritted his teeth. "According to the report, John Greycrow was tortured by your father for hours. You think with her powers all wonky like they are I want her to absorb that kind of pain? You know how uncomfortable she is using it on people. Between Down Acres and our little throw down with the sentinels we already been pushing her too hard." Remy crossed his arms defiantly and stared her down in the near darkness. Sentinels. Remy's insides squirmed uneasily. He wasn't entirely sure they had made the right decision after their tussle with the mutant hunting monstrosities they had unearthed outside of Mountain Air, but he had done what he thought was best, what would keep them the safest. It had only been a couple of days ago, but the raw panic he had felt that night, the fear, still made his heart pound erratically in his chest every time he replayed the events. When his consciousness had finally rocketed to the surface on that forest floor, his ears groggily registering a fantastic explosion that had ripped through the still of the night, terror had gripped him with fingers of ice. Coming to, he had nearly become hysterical, realizing that his being awake meant Rogue had lost his powers, that he had sent the woman he loved alone after a five story killing machine. Lorna had calmed him, fussed and fretted over him, helped him to sit up, and together the two had counted each agonizing second until Wanda had spotted Rogue in the pre-dawn sky. When his love had landed, the expression on her face had been as ashen as the soot darkening her hair, a sight Remy wouldn't soon forget.

"Nothing left but a hole in the ground," was all she had been able to say. They had gone round and round over their next move, talked themselves in circles. Sentinels had been more than any of them had expected and maybe more than they could handle. If they had alerted the Avengers to the discovery SHIELD had been hiding from them in that California factory, their mission would have been over, a failure, and they would have been forced to return home, something Wanda and Lorna had not been prepared to do. They could hardly keep the encounter a secret, it would have endangered too many lives. In the end, for better or worse, they had decided to pass the information on to those better equipped to deal with the situation, and Remy had grudgingly conceded that they should continue their hunt for Magneto while they were still able. Rogue had called Hank McCoy, the Beast, fellow X-Man and sometime Avenger, and relayed what they had found, knowing he would find the best possible solution while still keeping their names out of it, ensuring their mission stayed hush-hush. Let people of a higher pay grade deal with it, Remy thought irritably. We're in enough trouble as it is.

Snapping him back to reality, Lorna angrily shook her head and took the wig. "Bullshit. You don't want her touching Scalphunter because you don't want her to see, don't want her to be reminded of all your little Marauder escapades." Childishly he tossed one of the hospital ID badges he had acquired towards her. "Come on, Remy. You think I like to be reminded? Who of all of your friends and teammates understands this better than me?"

He sighed harshly and clipped his own pickpocketed ID to his smock. Remy had been essentially blackmailed into service for Sinister's villainous band of mutants known as the Marauders, but Lorna never had a choice. Her body had been hijacked by the Marauder Malice, who had gleefully used the young woman's body for unspeakably evil acts. Though they had worked for Sinister at different times, never as teammates, this association was something shameful the two members of X-Factor rarely discussed. It also, sadly, was not the only experience of being manipulated by a supervillain the two had in common, both had also been chosen and changed by the eternal mutant Apocalypse.

"Sorry, Lorna," he said evenly. "You're right. I don't want her to be reminded of that garbage. We've settled the past, the secrets and the lies, it don't need to be revisited. But I am worried about the effect his psyche could have on her. She's been pretty good this trip so far, at least since her little outburst at Serval. The last thing I want to do is set her off again." He watched her green locks disappear as she settled her wig into place. "There's more, though," he continued. "For a time, Greycrow, the real John Greycrow, was my friend. I guess. Closest thing I ever had in that crew of murderers and psychopaths. I know this isn't him, it's a clone of the real man, but I want to talk to him. I need to talk to him without worrying about Rogue. I hope you understand."

She nodded and touched his shoulder lightly. "I think I do. It's so different for me. My memories of that time are so angry and disturbed. Malice was like being covered in saran wrap. I could see and hear, but everything was detached and muffled. I never felt anything beyond a sick angry hatred towards them all." She shouldered into a white lab coat and clipped the badge to the pocket. Remy was pretty proud of the likeness of the photograph to Lorna. The resident's ID he had borrowed had a facial structure that was similar and, thanks to the wig and some dark eyebrow gel, the likeness was spot on. "We should probably get going, Remy. Shift change is coming up."

He nodded in agreement. "You sure these look all right?" he asked, blinking at Lorna.

She stepped nose to nose in the dim light. "Yeah, best I can tell. It is kind of dark in here, but they looked fine outside. Besides, you're just bringing breakfast to him. I wouldn't think the cop on duty will pay that much attention to your beautiful brown eyes. Those can't be comfortable."

Remy blinked again to settle the over-sized contacts in his eyes. "Sure ain't. Hate to field test equipment like this, but it is what it is." But, contacts almost wasn't the right word to describe the pieces of film covering his eyes. Normal contacts covered the iris, but in Remy's case his blood red irises were surrounded by black sclera. In most situations, when he was trying to hide the only visible sign of his mutation, he would throw on a pair of dark sunglasses, but that move wouldn't work in the hospital when he was pretending to be an employee. He had been looking for years for something that would cover the visible part of his eye and make it appear 'normal' while not impairing his vision or damaging his eyes like those fake Halloween vampire contacts. Months ago, the Thieves' Guild had employed an engineering wizard who had taken it upon himself to give Remy a solution to his problem. The lenses currently in his eyes were so brand new the Guild had been forced to Fed-Ex them overnight to their hotel. He had tried them on and worn them last night for a brief period of time, but this was their first real world test.

"If you say these look okay, then I guess we're ready. You think you can put a magnetic muzzle on Greycrow if he tries to blow our cover?"

She snorted and straightened the collar on her lab coat. "Give me a break." Smoothing the crisp white fabric she set her shoulders back. "You go out first, Remy. That'll give you time to snatch a breakfast tray. I'll leave in a few minutes, my route should make me first in the room. 'Dr. Dane', new resident on the block, making her rounds." They had chosen early in the morning, the sun just peeking over the horizon. Shift changes for nurses and doctors, and according to Wanda and Pietro's surveillance, for the police guarding the Marauder's room as well. Fewer eyes, fewer chances of getting caught. The routes Remy had planned from their supply closet to their destination kept them both away from nurse's stations and kept their backs to most of the video cameras, meaning they should avoid any awkward challenges.

Remy teasingly tugged at Lorna's wig. "What, don't want to be seen leaving the supply closet with little old me?"

"Sorry, McDreamy, this isn't Grey's Anatomy. Besides, I'm pretty sure you're the one that's gotten laid this mission, not me."

"We weren't very sneaky back in Kansas, were we?" Remy grimaced.

"It was pretty obvious from how you two were acting. The condom wrapper was in the trashcan for God's sake! I just can't believe you…" Lorna bit her lip as she searched for the right word. "…managed...'it'. I mean, full-blown…" She pumped her hips ridiculously.

"Mon dieu, I hope I don't look that stupid doing it!" he laughed and Lorna pushed one of his shoulders.

"Seriously. She was always so freaked about her powers. No one could even stand close to her, let alone touch her. I figured she'd be extra weirded out after having control of them and then losing it, but a couple of hours alone…" Lorna waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Surprised me, too."

"Was…" She opened her mouth to continue but stopped herself.

"What? Might as well spit it out, you're already thinking it." Remy was impatient to get going and didn't want her distracted with this.

"I was yanking your chain before with Wanda, but, really, was Simon okay with what happened? You know, being in the backseat and all?"

Remy shrugged. "Rogue didn't say and I didn't ask about that. I'm sure it was a hell of a show. That girl always brings out my creative side." He winked at her.

She held up her hands defensively. "All right, okay, I don't need details. Let's get moving here."

Opening the door a crack he found the hallway vacant and quiet. He slipped softly from the supply closet and casually walked along the hall, mindful of the video camera positioning. Down a ways and around a corner he came up behind an aide pushing a cart piled with food trays. He smiled to himself. They had definitely chosen a good time to come to the hospital. So far the aide was the first person he had seen, it appeared almost no one was roaming the halls. When the aide pushed the cart to the next room and stepped inside to deliver breakfast to the patient, Remy quickly but stealthily overtook the cart she had left in the hallway. He grabbed a tray like he owned it and walked away. He quickened his pace without looking like he was rushing and rounded the next corner out of view. Visualizing the layout of the hospital he had memorized, he found the elevator he needed and headed for the room.

According to Wanda and Pietro, they had lucked out. SHIELD, the squad of suits chasing Magneto lead by one Agent Haines, was no longer guarding Greycrow. There was merely local law enforcement to contend with, only one guard on duty at the nearest nurse's station. Remy had been uneasy sending the twins to do surveillance, had really wanted to do it himself, but, as Lorna had pointed out, he couldn't very well hang out and watch the hospital for days on end and then pretend to be a member of the staff. There was no way he would have been able to avoid the security cameras for that long. He had pushed his luck hitting the employee locker room and lifting the IDs they needed. Too many appearances, even in disguise, upped his chance of being made. He had sent Wanda and Pietro incognito. Not getting his own intel made his stomach hurt, but he pushed the thought from his mind. Wanda and Pietro were professionals; both had been heroes for most of their adult lives. They could surely handle a stakeout. Truthfully, the information they had come back with was good. Shift change times, personnel numbers, meal times, all were incredibly useful for their plans. Wanda had sketched maps and noted security guards, nurse's stations, cameras, supply closets, and locker rooms. Her sketches filled in the blanks on the maps Rogue had found online. He grimaced thinking of Rogue. She would have been great at surveillance, the girl had a good eye, but Lorna was right, he selfishly wanted to keep her away from the hospital. The calmer he could keep that girl, the better off they all would be.

The elevator binged and the door swished open. Remy walked down the hall like he belonged there and made his way to Scalphunter's room. As he stepped closer he could see what was left of the man John Greycrow through the windowed walls that surrounded his hospital bed. Remy's heart jumped into his throat. He knew this man wasn't the man who had been his friend, was just a copy, but the clones of the Marauders seemed to retain the memories of the original through some manipulation by Sinister. Remy didn't know if the feelings associated with those memories were a part of the process. Scalphunter had at times been a very bad man, had done horrible things, but Remy felt a stab of pity at what Magneto had done to him. Greycrow's mutant powers included an accelerated healing factor, so under normal circumstances he recovered quickly from minor injuries and eventually from major ones. The attack had been days ago, but the four bandaged stumps that were all that remained of the man's limbs told Remy Magneto had made sure Greycrow's powers never had a chance.

Remy paused and rebalanced the breakfast tray. He stiffened. Where is Lorna? He belatedly realized. He had been so distracted he hadn't noticed that she wasn't already in the room. If Greycrow wanted to be difficult he could get Remy in a lot of trouble. Lorna. Girl probably got lost or something, dammit. Couldn't stand in the hallway too long and wait for her, the hospital was going to start getting busy and they needed to get out soon. He took a deep breath and prepared to enter, but Greycrow stirred on the hospital bed. One of the Marauder's eyes was covered in a bandage, the remaining orb caught Remy in a steely glare. Holding Remy's surprised eyes for a few seconds, Greycrow's eye deliberately looked sideways, motioning to the left. Remy frowned. What the…? He had barely formed the thought when he heard the click of a bullet siding into a chamber.

"All right, Gambit," an icy female voice broke the silence. Fuck, Remy thought. Greycrow smirked silently through the glass. "Set the tray down," the voice commanded. "Nothing funny, no powers." Remy slowly placed the tray on the floor in front of him and stood with his hands in the air. He turned his head and caught a glimpse of a sharp blonde woman in a dark suit before her gun pressed roughly into his temple.

"Agent Haines, I presume?" he asked, inwardly cursing at himself for being so damn sloppy and distracted. The head of SHILED's anti-Magneto squad herself. The gun bit into his skin.

"Don't even think of calling for your cohort, Magneto," she warned.

"Cohort? I think your information is…a little out of date," he spat cheekily.

"So, it wasn't his children my undercover agents made two days ago casing this mutant's room? Or another of his spawn that my team is currently dispatching? Come back to finish Daddy's work for the mutant cause?" Remy's thoughts buzzed angrily. Goddamn sloppy Pietro, he'd kick his ass later. Avengers. Worthless. "Don't think I won't use this gun," she continued. "What that monster did to officers of the law, the path of horror and violence he's carved across my country? We'll use any means necessary to stop him. This gun and the bullets in it? Non-ferrous materials. If you flinch, I promise even the man himself wouldn't be able to save you." The gun barrel twitched suddenly and violently against Remy's skull, but didn't fire. He threw himself to the ground and rolled to face Agent Haines. The woman's body was frozen in place, her eyes blazing furiously.

Lorna stepped from the shadows with one hand outstretched. "Like someone recently reminded me," she whispered low. "Non-ferrous won't stop me. It doesn't matter if the gun isn't magnetic if the finger pulling the trigger is human." She twisted her hand into a fist and Agent Haines's body shuddered. "Sorry I was late, Remy. Some SHIELD agents got a little handsy in the elevator."

Remy stood and tried to calm his jackhammering heart. Getting shot in the head once this year had been plenty, he wasn't looking for a repeat. "S'okay to be fashionably late, chere. Important thing is you still came."

"I'll loosen her grip on the gun enough for you to grab it, and then I think we should probably go." Lorna moved her fingers again and Remy pried the firearm from Agent Haines's stiff fingers. He un-cocked the gun and slipped it in his waistband at the small of his back. He gave the immobilized woman a very quick but professionally thorough pat down and removed a communication device from her jacket pocket.

"I know we don't have much time, but we need to get all the information we can get from Greycrow and from her," Remy stated flatly. "We're probably not going to get another chance."

Lorna nodded. "Okay. Make it fast, I don't know how much time we'll have before more of her people come looking for her. I scrambled the nearby cameras, but let's move this party inside the room, the hallway might get a little public." She shifted the SHIELD agent with her powers, causing the frozen woman to take awkward steps as Lorna controlled her movements like a puppeteer. Remy picked up the breakfast tray and followed the women.

He set the tray on a side table and pulled the room's large curtains. "Hello, John," he said sadly. Lorna moved Agent Haines to stand at the foot of the bed.

"Cajun," Scalphunter grunted. "Thanks a lot. My damn eggs are cold." He glared at Remy and then shifted his eye to the two women. He started in surprise. "Well, I'll be." He smiled at Lorna, causing her to shift uncomfortably. "I almost didn't recognize you without Malice smothering your soul. Working for Daddy now, sweetheart?" Lorna moved angrily forward, but Remy held up a hand in warning.

"We ain't working for Magneto, John. We're trying to find him, to stop him."

Greycrow laughed harshly. "Stop him? That's rich. Thought you were all buddy-buddy on Utopia?"

"Things change, John." Remy smiled forlornly, memories of a diner and the smell of Claire's perfume floating to the surface of his mind.

Smirking, Greycrow nodded. "Oh, I almost forgot. You're sweet on the skunk-hair, ain't you? Hard to be friends with the man bangin' your girl, huh?" Refusing to rise to the bait, Remy stared daggers into Scalphunter. "I'll tell you what I told SHIELD. He ain't coming back for me. Not this me, anyway." He turned his attention to Lorna. "Your poppa's a sick, twisted fuck, girl. Way I remember, it runs in the family." Remy reached across the bed and grabbed hold of Lorna's wrist before she struck out at the man.

"Just words, chere. They're the only weapon he has left. You gonna hurt him in the state he's in?" He saw Lorna reign in her anger and compose herself. Remy turned his attention back to Scalphunter. "What do you mean, John, 'not this me'?"

"You know as well as I do, Remy, Sinister's always got a spare." Remy swallowed thickly. The clones Sinister created seemed almost limitless in supply. No matter what Magneto had done to the Marauders, they would all resurface, shiny and new. He ran a hand through his hair and shut his eyes. The bothersome film obscuring his vision was dry and uncomfortable. "You were right, Lorna. This was a mistake. We're not gonna get anything out of him." He turned to face Lorna and Agent Haines. "Think she'll be any more forthcoming?"

Lorna nodded. "She seems like an agreeable gal. I can still hold her body but allow her limited use of her mouth and vocal cords. It'll sound funny, but I don't want her to start screaming or make trouble if I release her."

"I think she'll behave herself. We had to have made our case, proven we ain't working with the man. At least let go of her head. If she starts kicking up a fuss, shut her down permanently." Agent Haines's eyes widened. "Oh yeah, she can do that. Blood clot to the brain, you stroke out before anybody gets to you. She can do that, but she doesn't. We don't work like that. We're the good guys. All we want is information. You gonna behave?" Agent Haines's eyes seemed to acquiesce.

"Here goes," Lorna whispered.

Agent Haines sucked in a shaky breath and shut her eyes. "What…do you…want from me?" She managed to get out unsteadily.

"Like I said, just information. Old thief like me don't like getting caught. Where did we screw up?" He hoped to get her talking freely. This whole mission his biggest worry was their gaining attention from the wrong sort of people. The fewer that knew what they were up to, the closer they could get to Magneto, the easier they could talk to him on their terms without it turning into an instant shit-storm. Approaching the villain with just their small group looked less adversarial than having a network of Avenger's squads and SHIELD agents following them. If SHIELD had made Wanda and Pietro days ago, there's no telling how many mentions of them had made it onto the wires.

Agent Haines head lolled forward and she chuckled. "You people always think…you're so good at what you do, but let me tell you, we're better. My people spotted the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver…before they even stepped inside the hospital. Their disguises were good…Gambit…but a little pointer for next time: a wig can't hide you from…facial recognition software. What we lack in super powers we make up for in technology." Remy grimaced, angry at himself. He had made a big mistake, assumed that SHIELD was long gone, assumed that they didn't care about John Greycrow, assumed too fucking much and it had gotten them caught. "Don't feel badly, Gambit. You and you're team are just a little…rusty, that's all. We were gone, long gone. We had no reason to stay, all the evidence said that… Magneto had done what he came for and wasn't coming back. But something didn't…smell right to me, so I left a small squad in plainclothes…just in case."

She panted as if she were running a frozen marathon. "My agents called and reported your group two days ago. I told them to just…watch you all, find out what you were up to. I had them follow you until I could get here, observe and…contain if things escalated. From what they reported all you were doing was dancing around Greycrow here…polishing your fancy airplane out on that private airstrip. Our last intel had said Magneto was one of you now, but, to me…two Avengers and three members of Serval's X-Factor squad didn't really scream band…of mutant vigilantes. Even if most of your crew is…bloody related to that bastard, they've worked damn hard their whole careers to prove they're nothing like him." Her smile was ice as she pierced Remy with her blazing eyes. "But, Gambit, one thing I've learned in this business? Never make assumptions. A lesson to take to heart?" The woman's eyes widened in shock and she grunted awkwardly, her head slumping forward. Remy rushed forward in alarm, his fingers darting to her neck to check the pulse of the now unconscious woman.

"Relax, Remy, I just put her to sleep by slowing the flow of blood to her brain." Lorna waved him off Agent Haines and used her magnetic powers to float the woman's dangling body to the nearest chair. "It's past time for us to leave and I was getting sick of her voice." She crossed her arms and scoffed, "We're rusty? Her people are corrupted. My father's good, there's no denying it, but he's been miles ahead of the world's most sophisticated spy network for weeks with sputtering powers and driving a broken-down bronco. Really? He somehow manages to avoid investigating all of the fake stories they planted in the media. Really? Seems like he's had a helping hand, my guess from within their organization."

Remy nodded grimly in agreement and turned his attention to the stonily silent Scalphunter. "John…I'm so sorry…" he stepped towards the injured man but paused at the vicious expression on Greycrow's face.

"Get out of here you fucking hypocrite," Greycrow hissed venomously. "You think your lip service to Xavier's dream is going to save you from him? You're the one who's fucking dreaming." Lorna tugged insistently on Remy's arm, turning him away. "He's coming for you, too, Gambit," Greycrow spit Remy's codename. "What he did to me? Ain't nothing compared to what he'll do to you! I'm not the one that fucked his little girlfriend!" The Marauder's hysterical laughter followed them out the door and into the elevator.