(Nine)
Kimble and Gail ran out onto the roof, laughing gaily. They were both quite drunk and silly now. Kimble's bad feelings had washed away as they chased each other about and he was happy now, pleased to be outside and with his new lover. It was at least an hour before the fireworks were supposed to start and the roof was empty, they had it all to themselves. Kimble snatched at Gail and spun her around, wanting to kiss her but forgetting that he couldn't. Her teeth simply made that impossible. Her smile faltered a bit when he hesitated, but he made up for it by rubbing his cheek against hers and licking her neck. She shivered from his caress and felt it when he activated the shield around his body. She knew it meant he wanted to make love to her again and she was thrilled beyond measure to have finally found someone who actually wanted her.
Kimble wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet, making her laugh. He did a nice slow barrel roll in the air, doing an aerial dance with her as he ran his hands over her playfully. They drifted slowly to the ground in one of the dark corners by the retaining wall. This area was blocked off from anyone coming up the stairs and was relatively private. Kimble went to work, stripping away her clothes and taking her right out in the open, his desire for her making him reckless.
Gail laughed and laughed, never feeling more alive than she was at that moment.
(break)
"What are they doing?" Cyclops complained. He was so bored.
Jean laughed. "Dancing. Has it really been that long, Lover? We need to get out more."
The two of them were perched on the roof across from Cameron's building, keeping watch. Anya had predicted that Kimble would be seen this night and the X-men wanted to be prepared. All the members of the Blue squad had been called out for duty. One half was out here to watch the roof top. Jean and Scott were here with Bobby on one roof, Nightcrawler and Angel were an another lower roof, hoping to get an idea of what might be going on inside. Both teams would report to remaining team members at the Dockside warehouse if anything happened – Storm, Rogue and Gambit were there waiting. Jean and Scott hadn't expected to see anything out here so soon, much less Kimble romping around with a girl more lizard than man.
Scott Summers was a quiet, serious man. He was really quite sensitive and emotional, but like Logan, had trained himself to a stony resolve. Cyclops' mutation demanded control, one wrong move and his powerful eye beams could blow a hole in a mountain. The glasses he wore allowed for control of those beams, he could change the size of the blast with a small click of a switch. It didn't free him from always having to be careful. His biggest fear was a loss of control that resulted in a death. So far it hadn't happened, but he refused to let his guard down. Jean was free spirited and had gone a long way towards lightening him up, but he was still very stern and rule abiding. It was easy for him to lose himself in the role of group leader and forget that some very real human beings were revolving around outside that world. Seeing Kimble romp with Gail had at once filled Cyclops with a sense of anger and dread. Kimble must be using her, it was all he had ever seen Kimble do. It was going to be difficult to get to him without hurting her.
"Why is he with her?" Bobby asked with false dismay. He was bored as well and only wanted to get out of here. This had been a pretty dull job since the first minute they had arrived and Kimble's little show had provided him with some entertainment. "I know he's desperate, but Jeez! She's not much to look at." He gave a mock shiver at the thought. He made gagging noises when he saw Kimble start to strip the girl down, Kimble was playing and making a game of it.
Jean was quiet at first as she dismissed Bobby's antics for the signs of his boredom they were, but finally spoke in a serious manner. She had reached out with her power the first moment she saw Gail and tried to make a link with the girl to figure out what Kimble's intentions were. She couldn't read Kimble, but she could tap into the mind of his companion without being detected. She was surprised by what she found. Surprised and happy. "She's in love with him. They all hate her but him. They think she's ugly, but he treats her like a queen." Her voice was dreamy with a female's sense of the romantic.
Scott and Bobby looked at each other, rolling their eyes.
Jean ignored them, feeling for the first time some appreciation of what Remy found so noble in this pilot. Kimble loved everybody - the beautiful, the fat, and the ugly. None of that was important to him, all he cared about was the person within. She remembered that first time he had reached out to her with his power. He was using it with Gail, but now she realized that the power was not a trap or lure, but an extension of what he was really feeling. Kimble had reached out to her that first day, not to sucker her in, but as a curious creature appreciating her as a living thing. She felt kind of bad now, knowing Kimble had been so misjudged.
"He's using his charm power on her, isn't he?" Scott asked, interrupting her thoughts. After Kimble had fumbled so badly with Bobby and Holly, he thought Kimble only capable of treachery. "The poor girl. He's using her."
"No, he's not. Their feelings are legitimate," Jean insisted. She hated using her telepathy to spy on the couple like this, but now felt it was justified if she could make Scott understand Kimble wasn't the threat he believed him to be. "He's made a big difference in her life. She loves him."
"Then that makes things worse. He won't want to leave her," Scott said, understanding what Jean was trying to say. He had to think of the tactics of this, this operation had just become more difficult.
"Let's offer to take her with us," Jean suggested, knowing what Scott was thinking. She could do this without the telepathy, they had grown so close.
"Looks like he's got other plans for the moment. Let's wait until he's done," Bobby said next, still making playful gagging noises. "That's one girl I don't want to see naked!"
"You are so pathetic," Jean complained affectionately. She knew Bobby was just fooling around because he was bored. He was generally very accepting of new people and was merely being playful to pass the time.
"What are we doing, boss?" came a soft squawk from the radio on Scott's shoulder. It was Warren who was located across from them with Kurt. Warren's rooftop was slightly lower so he had no idea what Kimble was up to. The last thing he had heard was Scott telling them to hold when Kimble had first appeared. Angel wanted an update.
"He's got some company. We'll give him another minute or two," Cyclops replied to his teammate, squashing down his irritation. Kimble's loveplay was more than he wanted to see. Everything had its place, and making love in any form did not belong outside where it could be seen. It was sacred and private, not something to be held out on display. He closed his eyes in exasperation when Kimble squirmed out of his own clothes, exposing himself. Man, he hoped this wasn't going to take too long.
(break)
"You want me to take 'em now, boss?" Davis asked, looking at Creed with a wicked sneer. He was chewing gum and popping bubbles as he lay with his high powered, long ranged rifle on a stand and pointed directly where Kimble and Gail were having their little rooftop romp. The gun had been outfitted with a silencer, Davis' pride and joy.
Davis was a long standing member of Sabretooth's little gang of merry men. Half of that gang was now located diagonally from where both rooftop teams of X-men were situated, each party unaware the other was there. Sabretooth had taken every precaution, his team was large and spread out both outside and in the lower levels of the building, he also had a decent telepath masking their presence. The defense he had put in place to keep the Freedom Kings' from detecting them had also blocked them from the X-men as well.
Sabretooth grunted at Davis' question. "Naw, let 'em finish. It's the last thing she's gonna feel anyway."
"Right, boss. You just want to watch," Davis teased with an uncomfortable laugh. He was looking up at Creed with a strange light in his eyes. His boss had been acting strangely since he had started up with the Weapon X people again, doing small side missions for easy money. They had done something to him when they had started up again, but nobody in the gang knew for certain what it was, only that it made their volatile boss that much more dangerous. He was having nightmares and brooding way too much lately, not a good thing in such an unstable man.
It was true Creed had been preoccupied recently. He was happy to be here and working, but found his mind wandering when he saw Kimble with the girl. She was butt ugly, but Kimble was treating her like a precious find, a wonder to behold. Creed had never really seen anyone in love and watching Kimble now filled him with a strange sense of longing he didn't understand. He wondered what it would be like to be held and loved like that. He saw a fuzzy figure of a red haired girl in his mind, but it was lost in dreamland, another stupid memory he didn't want. The memories the Weapon X program had restored were coming back to him slowly, making him feel far more human and vulnerable than he had liked. The point of the restored memories had been to make sure he retained the maximum value of all the military training he had absorbed over the years, all the rest of the memories were something closer to a side effect than something that had been desired.
Creed turned his eyes away from the happy couple making love, feeling stupid for wanting some small piece of that for himself. As if anyone would dare love a sick freak like him. He didn't need any of that stupid wimpy mushy crap anyway. Nope, not him.
"Why would he fuck such an ugly girl?" Peter asked, breaking into Sabretooth's wandering thoughts. Peter was the obligatory teleporter on this trip. He was the transportation, the quick in and out. Creed never traveled without one and each team in place was similarly equipped. He was also heavily armed with twin silenced pistols and a belt of grenades around one shoulder. Peter shivered at the thought of Kimble's new love, Gail was truly hideous to the quick passer by. It was her inner beauty that had drawn Kimble to her like that moth to the flame, something a mercenary like himself would never be able to understand.
"Maybe he's blind," Davis offered with another laugh.
"Prob'ly just desperate," Creed grumbled. "Soon as he's done, take 'em out."
"Look at the moves on that girl," Davis said, shaking his head. "She sure can fuck! Yee haw! Ride 'em, cowboy!"
"She may be ugly, but he's got her trained real good!" Peter crowed, making snorting noises in his throat.
Sabretooth raised his binoculars. Kimble had used his telekinetic power to flip them over and now he had Gail on top of him. It was easier for Kimble this way, actually. The less contact they had, the less shielding he required. Plus he could look up at her breasts shimmering above him, always a treat. Gail never seemed to mind, she liked the control the position gave her. Kimble's hands were on her hips, holding her and sending her vibrations of love she could feel.
Creed, of course, was aware of none of this. He simply watched them a few moments, deciding. That thing inside of him nagged at him again, making him angry. "You gotta lock, Davis?" Creed growled.
"Change your mind, boss?"
"Take her out. Make sure she falls on him. I want him pinned down."
(break)
Kimble cried out as he climaxed, hearing the thunder of her heart roaring inside of his head. He felt her cumming right behind him, his rush grabbing onto hers and taking her for a ride. He laughed and laughed with the joy and glory of being able to do this for her. She had been just like him, living as a ghost on the outside of everything, never quite belonging. He had broken down all of her barriers and brought her out into the light, bringing her more happiness than anyone else ever had. Her shine was so bright now, glowing and strong as she felt the rapture of just being alive in his arms at that moment.
"I love you, Kimble," she whispered boldly, making him shiver from the sound of her words. She wasn't sure how he would take so bold a statement from someone he had only just met.
She had nothing to fear. Kimble looked up at her, his eyes shiny with tears of love he was trying to hold back. How much he had wanted to hear those words from someone who truly wanted him this way. Her statement, it was as good as her claiming the position of Mistress. Gambit's suspicions were correct, Kimble was more than willing to accept such a declaration from anyone he sensed was true. "I loves ya too, girl. Yer the sweetest thing, the most precious spark of light in this whole stupid place," he said, meaning it. Now that she had claimed him for hers, he would do anything for her, even if it meant going to boring old classes and swallowing down the pain of the hatred that was shown to him each day in pictures and movies. It had taken her a nano-second to pull his loyalty from Cameron to her, it had happened the moment she used him the way he had wanted. Her love would make all the rest bearable. "Keeps me forever."
Gail laughed at that, her shine sparkling all the brighter with happiness. She bent down to kiss him, or rub her cheek against his, the next best thing. "Of course."
He smiled as he saw her come, but then laughed suddenly when he saw a small bead of red light dancing on her forehead. He didn't know what it was, but it was pretty. If he had paid more attention in class he wouldn't have been so calm. He raised a hand to touch it.
"What?" she asked with a laugh, right before her head exploded in blood and gore.
Kimble screamed in horror, covering his face as her blood and brains poured down on him in a torrent. Her body fell on top of his and twitched, shocked by its sudden departure from the living to the dead. Kimble shrieked hysterically and used his power to clumsily free himself from her trap. He wasted precious time untangling himself from her dead weight and wiping the gore from his face, he still couldn't quite believe that she was gone, his precious Gail. Shards of her bones cut his skin and he cried out again. He was instantly in shock, too numb to fully register what just happened.
(break)
"Kimble! Oh, my God!" Jean screamed. She didn't need to be telepathic to see Kimble would be destroyed by that bullet just as surely as if it had struck him itself. She had no idea who had fired the nearly silent shot, but wasn't about to wait to find out, that she had to get to the Siskan immediately. She snatched at Scott and Bobby and they flew across to Cameron's building without a thought.
(break)
Kimble heard Jean's scream in a daze and looked around him, bewildered. He couldn't tell where it had come from. Was he surrounded? He was in shock and saw nothing as he whipped his head around, trying to take in everything at once. He gave up on trying to fathom what had happened and opted instead to run. He vaulted to the air, but screamed as more bullets ripped through him, forcing him back to the ground. They made no sound, they just came at him with hardly a whisper, bringing heat and pain. His wings were shredded by the oncoming spray of hot lead, the pain was enormous and he howled in agony and frustration. Whoever it was that was doing this wasn't going to allow him to leave by air so he bolted for the door to the lower level. He only got one step before he took another bullet in the knee. It spun him and he crashed to the rough tiles of the roof, screaming in confusion and agony. Were they going to kill him? He tried to crawl, dragging his ruined body behind him, leaving a trail of grey gel blood that shimmered and vanished in the night.
He hadn't gotten very far when suddenly there was a heavy thud beside him, he was no longer alone. The pilot turned, looking up behind him up into the grinning maw of Victor Creed's mouth. "Did ya miss me?" Sabretooth chuckled and snatched at him with one of his huge, clawed hands.
Kimble gasped in fear and reacted instinctively, he phased down through the roof, never seeing the bright red blast of energy that hit Creed square in the chest and sent him flying backwards. Cyclops had let fly with a good sized blast the moment Jean had set him down, not taking any chances. He knew Creed could heal quickly.
Scott and Bobby had landed neatly from Jean's arms and gave chase. Iceman went into full combat mode, icing up his body and making protective icicles stick out like barbs all over his body. The ice covering his skin could act as a shield, allowing some projectile weapons to just skid off of him without hurting him. He also had the ability to use the ambient moisture in the air to cause the ground to freeze, tripping up his prey on small slicks of ice. He did that now in the hopes of adding to Creed's faraway flight.
Creed's buddies had come across with him, courtesy of the Peter express. They opened fire but Jean was quick to shield herself and her teammates from the oncoming spray of bullets. The silenced bullets hit her barrier with odd thwicking noises, not loud enough to alert anyone below that the Freedom Kings' territory had been invaded. That was fine with Jean, she didn't want to have to fight on both fronts.
Bobby was doing his best to help out. He had slicked the roof quite nicely with a fine layer of ice, but cried out as he passed over Kimble's small slick of Gail's blood and tripped. He cursed in mid-air for falling for his own trick, but he simply hadn't realized the blood was there. He had no way of knowing that Kimble could only phase himself, not the bloody remains of the girl who had once loved him. Bobby went down hard, scraping his elbows painfully. He shrieked in horror when he found himself covered in frozen, slushy gore, but the others paid him no mind. They were in pursuit of Creed and his men, they had bailed when they saw the X-men weren't going to go down easily.
Sabretooth, meanwhile, had been tossed by Cyclops' blast and skidded quite nicely thanks to Bobby's little ice slick. He had come to an awkward stop, but rolled neatly to his feet, a smoking hole now burning in his chest. He coughed once, only once. The blast had been powerful, but the one shot hadn't been enough. He just grinned and showed Scott his teeth with a laugh. Scott was about to fire again when he saw the man blow him a kiss and then wink suddenly out of view. His crew had vanished as well.
"He's got a teleporter!" Scott shouted in frustration.
(break)
Kimble tumbled down several floors before he finally was able to control his descent. He was still screaming, still stained with the blood of his murdered lover, though he left most of the larger chunks of her up on the roof at Creed's feet for Bobby to slip on. He came to a stop on the floor where the dorms were, a good choice since Kyle was close by.
Kyle heard his racket and came running, shocked at Kimble's condition. The Siskan was naked and stained with blood, he was shrieking hysterically and he was flailing his arms around. Kyle grabbed at him and shouted, "What happened?"
"G-Gail! They shots her! They shots her!" Kimble wailed, his voice trailing off into an incoherent rant as hysteria robbed him of his senses. "On the roof! They shots us!"
Kyle dragged Kimble to his feet, but stopped when the pilot howled with pain. It was only then that Kyle saw Kimble had been wounded, his leg had been seriously damaged, probably in an attempt to keep him from going too far. It looked bad, but Kyle knew Leon would fix it easily enough. He never saw the terrible rents in Kimble's wings, there was no time. "Fuck!"
Kyle ducked down when there was a loud explosion from above and more screams. Stealth was no longer an option as Creed's team arrived and were now doing a sweep of the floors, still seeking Kimble out in spite of being in a den of super powered mutants. Kyle wasn't about to wait to see of the building could handle the structural damage that was sure to follow. He grabbed Kimble and dragged him along, unmindful of his pain. They had to get Leon and get out of here now. He paused to grab a blanket from one of the bedrooms and wrapped Kimble up in it. Kimble was leaking gel everywhere and flopped about, not being helpful at all as he sobbed and sobbed.
Fortunately, Leon came running along himself, frightened by the noise. He had been hiding out all day, fearful of being punished for what he had done to Kimble that morning, but now came out when he realized the team was under attack. Kyle didn't hesitate, but snatched at Leon and took off out the nearest window, leaping out into the sky.
(break)
Scott blew the door to the roof and they bolted down the stairs, but judging from the noise down below, they were woefully outnumbered here. The building shook with human created mortar fire and explosive blasts. He looked up at his wife who was right behind him on the stairs. He could see she was game to join the fray, but it was much too dangerous. He paused and halted his team, reaching for his radio. They would call for reinforcements, Kurt and Warren were right there just waiting for orders if they weren't on their way over here already, alerted by all the racket. As he spoke, he received a transmission from Warren and Kurt who had been watching the building from their lower vantage point. They hadn't teleported over, they had news instead - Kimble had left the building, Kyle had carried him out with another man and they were following him. They weren't heading to Dockside, they were going somewhere else.
(break)
Sabretooth ran through the building, his anger growing with each empty room he found. People were fleeing in his wake, unfortunately none of them were Siskan pilots. Whomever he did manage to catch was slashed and left for dead. Victor Creed was venting his frustration.
"He's gone, boss!" Davis shouted from behind him. "This building is too big! He could be anywhere!"
Creed ignored him and plowed on. The target had no real smell, that was the problem. How was that possible, he couldn't help but wonder. Twice now he'd had the guy in his hands yet neither time had caught a decent scent. Tonight, all there had been was the smell of Gail's blood. There must be some kind of mistake, to not be able to track this guy would be the ultimate frustration.
He grabbed for his radio and called the downstairs team, they were making their way up while Creed was making his way down. "Hardy! Call in! Have ya seen anything?"
"Looking for somebody?"
The voice didn't come from the radio. Creed whirled and saw Michael there, loaded for bear. Michael had used his mutant ability to phase himself and any objects he could carry through walls to catch up to Creed quickly. The guy was a walking mountain of guns and ammo. Not wanting to be caught unprepared, he brought everything. He grinned and let Creed and Davis have a full clip from his Uzi. Bullets sprayed out in all directions, barely covering the sound of Michael's maniacal laughter.
Peter reacted quickly and managed to 'port them out to another room, but not without cost. They had all taken hits from Michael's guns and despite wearing body armor, they were all panting and bleeding.
"Here, Kitty Kitty! Hah! Sabertooth! Ya big pussy!" Michael howled from nearby. He let fly with another volley of bullets just to intimidate.
It was working, Peter was too badly wounded to take them far. He had taken one in the chest and his lips were bloody. There was an unhealthy sucking sound from each tortured breath he took and he was shaking all over. He knew this was going from bad to worse, but was hanging in there, doing his best to hold up for the team.
Sabretooth took one look at his damaged teleporter and wondered if the guy was going to be able to get them out of here. He heard Michael cackle again nearby and fire off some shots, the man was moving closer to them with each step.
"I'm gonna kill that guy!" Creed snarled in frustration and headed for the door. If he wasn't going to walk out of here quickly he wasn't going to go quietly either. He paused only because his radio went off. It was the second team from the outside of the building, Mary was chiming in. He grabbed the radio. "What!"
"Elvis has left the building, darling. Time to pull out," she purred in her silken voice, not the least bit concerned this mission had gone all to shit.
"Where'd he go?"
"Couldn't see. Franks took off with him and disappeared. Brian's working on it now."
"Damnit!" Sabretooth howled. He stepped back and pulled out a large wad of plastic explosive. He was going to make Cameron pay severely for pissing him off. This was twice now Kimble had been stolen from him and he was quickly running out of patience.
Davis backed up nervously, dragging Peter with him. "Uhm, boss. Don't think the 'porter's gonna make it. You sure you want to do that?"
Creed didn't answer but set the timer for thirty seconds and let the bomb fly.
Michael made it around the corner just in time to see it bounce between his legs. "Holy shit!" he gasped in surprise and beat a hasty retreat, phasing quickly down through the floor as Kimble had done.
Creed just stood there grinning. He had found Michael's reaction amusing and felt better now.
"Peter, boy. I sure hope you got some juice left," Davis whined. Peter grinned his bloody smile and they all winked out of view.
(break)
"Let's bail!" Cyclops bellowed as the whole building shook beneath them. His team was still in the stairwell, but thankfully still close to the roof. They hadn't gone very far. They ran and made it out just in time, a fireball of smoke and death burst out of the door behind them. Jean snatched at them once more and off into the sky they went.
The fight continues in Secrets.
