What Someone is Willing to Give
By: Vainglorious696
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Disclaimer:
Gambit, the X-Men, Essex, and anybody else that you probably recognize is Marvel's. Sin, Dr. Kiltchner, Madeleine, and any unfarmiliars
are mine. Please don't sue me, Marvel- I'm poor. Besides, I spend more $ on
your comics than any lawsuit could possibly ever win.
This is a brutal story containing graphic violence, MATURE THEMES, and dark imagery. You have been warned, therefore, please use
your discretion accordingly. Thank
You.
~Vain
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Part Thirteen
The Summerset Motel was a series
of small buildings with peeling stucco and a nauseating combination of pastel
colors. The two small rooms smelled of
water damage, and the tiny pseudo-pool in the front was drier than the Mojave
and looked as though it had been that way for a very long time. Apparently, nobody had cared about
attracting tourists here in years. It was perfect.
The drive down the mountains from the complex had been almost two days,
nonstop. Tired and hot, all Maddie
wanted to do was go to sleep, but she had Remy to take care of, and every hour
he seemed to get worse.
"I need a room, please."
The shriveled old man on the opposite side of the reception desk gave her a
sour look, blinking owlishly through his thick glasses. "How long?"
"A day. Maybe two, but no more
than that."
His lips puckered. "That's $47 a
night," his mountain accent rolled. "Plus
tax."
She produced the money without hesitation and laid it on the counter. He
glared at her a moment before turning around and retrieving a rusty-looking
key. He handed it to her without grace.
Ignoring the man's lack of social skills, Madeleine exited the dingy little
reception area hurriedly, wondering where she could obtain medical
supplies. Happily, she had parked the
car in front of the building where they were going to lodge, which was as far
from the main road, and prying eyes, as possible. Remy was still strapped safely into the seat, sleeping. She opened the passenger side door.
"Remy? Honey?" She gently put
a hand to his forehead. He was
developing a fever. Damn you, Eli! "It's okay. It's going to be okay."
"What's wrong with him?"
Madeleine whirled around, startled. She
instinctively placed her body between Remy and the other person, hiding him
from view. The wrinkled Motel manager
from the reception building squinted at her suspiciously.
"He alright?"
"Yeah, he's okay," Maddie wondered how she was going to be able to
explain the presence of this ill-used young man in a hospital gown asleep in
her car. "It's my boyfriend. He just has no tolerance for the changing
pressure in the mountains." She
reached out her mind and gently touched the old man's, weaving a visual
illusion and anchoring her lie in his mind. "Plus he gets car
sick." She wrinkled her face
appropriately, "All in all, it's not really a good combination."
The hotel manager contorted his body as he tried to look around her to view
Remy. As if feeling the sudden
attention, the young Cajun began to move, struggling to regain consciousness.
Damnit, Remy! Why can't you just
stay unconscious like a good kidnap victim?
The old man frowned. "Well, if
you're sure he'll be alright…"
"Of course he will."
He began to leave reluctantly, curiosity unsatisfied. "Alright, then… You just remember that this isn't no
hospital. I don't want no corpse in my
hotel."
Maddie's smile became strained and she resisted the urge to simply rip out the
man's mind and be done with it. Eli
would definitely be able to pick up on her energy signature, and she didn't
want to leave a trail of bodies behind her. "He'll be fine. Do you know
where I can pick up some medicine, though? You know, upset stomach?"
"There's a general store about seven miles down the way. That's about as close as you'll get out
here."
"Thanks," she responded with false cheeriness, mental implanting the
idea that he needed to go do something else now.
The old man tottered off reluctantly, muttering under his breath about punks
being where they shouldn't and other things. Maddie ignored him, instead concentrating on Remy.
She couldn't keep knocking him cold every time he came to, but nevertheless,
she also couldn't allow him who know who she was. Moreover, his deteriorating
health, as well as her own lack of information only frustrated the
situation. She hissed out a breath and
flicked her hair from her eyes. What
had Eli told her the day they brought Remy in? She struggled to remember.
"This one belonged to Essex. How curious…"
"Essex? What's one of his doing
out here?"
"I don't know. He was captured
interfering with our operations in New York. Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser."
"You're rambling, old man."
"Of course you wouldn't remember; you never worked with him."
"Huh?"
"This is Omega Two. He worked very
closely with the Marauders, close friends with the one called Scalphunter, if
memory serves me well. I believe he
turned in his 'pink slip' shortly after we took our leave. Rumor had it that he also blew a large chunk
out of Seattle in the process."
Madeleine closed her eyes at the memory. New York… There were
possibilities there, but it was also very tempting to just contact the
Marauders and allow them to take care of their own. If Eli discovered her
betrayal, he would beat her within an inch of her life, and she knew that the
doctor had plenty of ways to make her scream.
Remy stirred again, drawing her attention back to him with a soft mew of
pain. Glancing about to make sure she
couldn't be seen, Maddie knelt down next to the younger man and removed his
seat belt. Then, using telekinesis to
support the majority of his nonexistent weight, she carefully lifted him out of
the car and, cradling him like a child, walked to the door to their room. A minute or so of telepathic manipulation
and the door swung open with a tired creak.
She staggered slightly as she entered, her eyes rapidly adjusting to the dim
confines of their room. There was only
one bed dominating the center of the room that was accompanied by a rather sad
looking night table with two long out dated magazines collecting dust on its
surface. She moved over to the bed and
carefully deposited her precious load there. He settled down into the ancient mattress with a sigh and she exhaled in
relief. His breathing gradually evened
out underneath her watchful gaze and Madeleine eventually moved away from him
to settle down on a chair across from the bed.
She studied him while he slept, deep in thought. Remy was truly a beautiful man, just as Le Diable had been as a
child. The hair, the eyes... all of it
was the same. Even that intent soul
searching look he had given her in the lab had been Diable's. Would you? he had asked her.
Maddie shook her head, trying to clear it. Would she have hurt him if necessary? Her duty and her emotions clashed viscously within her. Yes, it was her job. No, he was Le Diable. Without Eli, she would be nothing: she owed
him. Without Le Diable, she would be
dead: she owed him. She didn't know
this man. He might not be Le Diable at
all. She didn't know this man. He was a
stranger to her- an innocent victim. She didn't owe anything to this man. This man owed her nothing. Would
she have hurt him?
Madeleine put her head in her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. Would she? Well? "No." She looked up to the still form on the bed.
"No. God... I'm so sorry, Eli."
"Really?"
Maddie lurched to her feet and fell back towards the wall, eyes wide. "What?"
Remy opened his eyes without pain in the dim room and turned to regard her in
silence. The darkness provided no
barrier for his night vision and he absorbed the sight of the young woman
before him uninhibited. She was a woman
of average height, maybe 5' 6", not slender, but rather muscular. She had short cinnamon colored hair streaked
with natural auburn highlights that framed her face and fell in tight curls to
her shoulders. Her skin was a creamy honey color and she had large brown eyes
lined by long thick lashes, a pleasant, well-proportioned nose, and a wide full
mouth with obvious dimples and an animated appearance. While not beautiful, she
was quite possibly one of the cutest women he had ever seen, despite the fact
that she also looked like one of the most capable women he had ever seen.
"You really sorry, petite? For savin'
me?"
"Does it matter?"
"Non, guess not." He closed his eyes in
exhaustion. "Ya right, dough."
"Huh?"
"Ya wouldn'ta hurt me, chere. Go on to
da store. I ain't goin' nowhere soon."
"Wha-"
"Go, chere. Not feelin' too hot, me."
Maddie started towards the door, feeling frightened and alarmed, but strangely
compelled to obey him. "I'll be back
soon, okay?"
He swallowed and nodded.
"You'll be alright?"
"Oui."
She opened the door without turning her back to him and disappeared into the
brightness outside. Remy opened his
eyes again to stare at the stained ceiling over the bed. Without the inhibitor collar on him he could
read her every emotion like a book, and knew that she presented no threat,
despite the fact that she had shot him earlier. Nonetheless, he had no intention of sticking around her any
longer than necessary.
Dere's sometin' weird 'bout dat femme, he thought tiredly. He knew her mind, had felt her before
somewhere. But where? He tried to think back, but it was no use;
he simply didn't know where to begin. A
sudden shooting pain flashed through his body and he arched his back, biting
back a cry of pain. Consciousness began
to slide through his fingers and he realized that he couldn't stay awake much
longer. He let his eyelids flutter
shut, still thinking of the odd young woman as darkness encroached.
"Hurry, chere. Je suis si fatigué..."
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Je suis si fatiguè- I'm so tired
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