Disclaimer: All X-men characters are created and owned by Marvel. I am gaining no profit for this.

A/N: ok yeah. Ch. 24 may be a bit graphic so be careful ok?

**************************************************************************

Ch 23: Final Vows

Sinister was back in his study making plans. Sabretooth had left for the time being, but he was told to return a while. He still had to make plans to capture Storm. Sinister also had to go check on Jean Summers. She would probably be in an irreversible vegetative state by now. It was a shame that he would only be able to perform one experiment on her, but it wasn't too bad. He had the rest of the X-Men to examine any way. But before he could have anymore fun, he would have to get the weather witch.

He had Mathen to thank for that. He had probably made some kind of plans with her. So he would have to go in quickly to capture her. Actually, he wouldn't do anything. Sabretooth would go. And maybe he would send Hellfyre as well. She probably needed to go out and get some air after today's recent events.

The whole thing had seemed a little odd. Sinister had never thought that Mathen and she had much of a relationship. They barely even spoke to each other. Yet for some reason, Sandra had been extremely distraught over his death. Of course, Sabretooth had made quite a mess of him. Maybe that was what had affected his daughter so much.

Sinister stroked the wine glass that he had set on his desk and was now deep in thought. Suddenly, he was interrupted. He heard the door open and then be slammed shut. He looked up to find that his daughter was marching right toward. She looked furious. Sinister had no idea what the cause of her behavior was, but he figured he would find out as she stopped right in front of her desk.

She stared at her father with deep fiery eyes. "Tell the truth."

He cocked his head to the side. "Hold on. What exactly has warranted such conduct from you?"

Sandra put both of her hands on the desk to steady herself as she leaned in. "You lied to me." She took care to accent every one of her words. She wanted her father to know that she was plenty pissed.

He remained calm. "What, may I ask, have I lied about, my dear?"

She was so disgusted. Here was her father cornered, and he still acted as if he had no idea what she was talking about. Should would fix that problem. "Well, Father. Maybe you could explain something to me…." She waited to see what he would do. Sandra finally saw Sinister for the snake he was, but she was not going to be foolish when dealing with him. She would have to confront him head on, but carefully.

Sinister grinned and gestured for her to continue. So she did "Could you tell me. How a man with claws in the middle of his knuckles is able to make five puncture wounds in a row, when in actuality he should only be capable of making three?"

She was angry now. And she would not back down, no matter what. Sinister didn't move a single muscle. He was smart. On one hand his daughter had him by the throat, but on the other, he was still in charge. He could still win this. He just had to remain calm. Sandra really had no real proof against him yet.

Sandra had waited long enough. She got off of the desk and reached into her pocket. She pulled her right hand out and slammed it onto the table. That had actually made Sinister jump. But only slightly. He stared down at her hidden treasure as she pulled her hand back. He was shocked at what he saw.

There sitting right in front of him was a small inch long claw. Now that it had been separated from its owner, it was completely harmless. But Sinister saw it as one of the greatest threats he had ever encountered. He looked up into Hellfyre's eyes and they continued to glow with hatred. He could lose everything because of this.

Sandra had finally seen it from her father. Fear. He was terrified. It was barely noticeable, but she saw it. She continued, "And tell me-" She aid it like it were a dirty word, "Father. How could a man with metal claws attached to his skeleton……..lose one!!"

How dare she. He had taken her in to his home. Treated her with nothing but love and devotion. He had treated her like a daughter should truly be treated. And now she did this. It was completely disrespectful and he would stop it at all costs.

Now Sinister was the one to show his anger. He stood from his desk and now leaned in toward Sandra. "True. I did lie. I did it to protect you. Everything I do is for you!"

Sandra took a step back as he stepped away from his desk and stalked towards her. "How dare you come in here, and act as if I did anything to harm you! Yes, Mathen was killed, but I had my reasons. And at the time they were not for you to know. But since you have proven yourself to be quite the little detective, I will share them with you."

He had backed her into a wall. Within seconds, Sinister had turned the entire situation around. Now instead of him, Sandra was in the hat seat.

"Mathen went against my orders. He could have ruined everything by trying to free those worthless pieces of garbage! I work for other people you know" He was mentioning the government. "Everything I do is an order that was given to me by them! I follow orders. And I refuse to have anyone, whether they are family or not, not follow my orders. Now Mathen has been punished for his crimes against this operation, but if I find that anyone else is involved……they will be punished too."

He looked directly at his daughter and waited for her to do the same. During Sinister's whole speech Sandra had clenched her eyes closed and tears had begun to flow from them. She noticed that her father was waiting for some reason, so she opened her eyes for a peak. And was locked into his eyes.

"If I find that anyone was assisting Mathen in his actions, or…." He brought his voice down to a menacing whisper, " if I find out that someone knew what he was planning and didn't notify me about it……..they will be punished in exactly the same way he was!!!"

Sandra flinched. Did he know that she had known. Or was he just trying to scare her. She didn't know. So she looked back at him. His stare was intent. It was almost as if he were reading her mind right then. But she had to be brave, for Mathen. Her lip trembled and she began to shake, but she didn't give up entirely. Instead, she nodded her head in compliance with what her father had just said.

Then his hands were rubbing her arms. "I think we're finished here. I have a test to begin. Why don't you go to your room and rest."

Sandra was so frightened that she couldn't speak. So she only nodded again and slowly walked out of the room. But while her father's back was turned, she scooped up the offending claw.

Sinister stared at the close door with contempt. Mathen had ruined everything. He had never wanted to show that side to his daughter, but what choice had he been given. It didn't matter now, the moment had already passed. From now on Hellfyre would always be somewhat afraid of him. And he would have to find a way in time to change that. But for now, he had to go and make a visit to his friend. Remy LeBeau.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sandra hadn't gone to her room. She would never again do what that man told her to do. Never. Instead she was in the morgue again. And already, she had spent a good twenty minutes wrapping Mathen's body and then lifting him into the incinerator. She wished that there were a better way to take care of his body. Such as burying him, but she just didn't have the time. Sandra could only hope that Mathen would understand.

Sandra lifted her ring finger towards her mouth and blew on it. Magically her ring tiny ring appeared. And she looked joyfully ay it. Then she went towards the opening of the machine and placed Sabretooth's claw on top of Mathen's chest.

Sandra bowed her head and began her final vows to her love. "Mathen, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me most. I was a fool. I had the greatest thing that I will ever possess standing right in front of me and because of my childish actions….I lost it. I lost you Mathen. You are my only love, my life." A few tears fell from her eyes once more.

"I don't know how I will survive without you. If I had only come to you when I knew I should have……I may have been able to save you. You see, Mathen, you thought I was the strong one between us because I am a mutant, but really…..you were. It was you who got me to see what kind of a man my father is. And it was you who gave me the strength to love you." She held up her hand for him to see. Proudly, she wore his ring on her finger unhidden.

"From now one I shall not be afraid. And I will be strong. For you……because of you. And I swear this to you now Mathen. I shall have revenge on those who would have us apart. And I won't stop until it has been fulfilled. And I swear that this ring will forever stay as it is now. It will never leave my finger and I will never hide it from anyone. Because I am proud to call you my husband and you always will be."

Her heart ached as she finished her vow to him. She lifted the lever that would turn on the chamber. She desperately wanted to be with him, but knew that Mathen wouldn't want it to be from her suicide. So she pushed the start button and stepped back.

Her eyes never left him as he began to set fire. And she lifted head and proudly showed her tears as her first and only love slowly faded from sight. Forever.

**************************************************************************

Ch 24: Dead Red Eye

Remy moaned again kept his eyes shut. He really wasn't doing so well. Time had kind of just ticked away since Sinister had broken his jaw. It hurt so bad that it could possibly have been shattered as well. All Remy knew for sure was that he couldn't even open his mouth to spit out his lost teeth. There were five that had come out. Even though he couldn't see his broken smile, Remy knew he would never be able to pick up girls on just looks alone anymore.

Remy groaned as he had to swallow again. His mouth had been filled with saliva and blood. And since he couldn't do anything about it, he had been forced to swallow it. By now not only was his jaw throbbing with pain, but his throat was on fire and his stomach was beginning to feel queasy.

Jus' when Remy tink tings goin' better fo' him, Sinister gotta jump in an' knock my jaw out! Man, how we gonna get out o' dis? Stormy ain't tried to save us yet, and dat Mathen got killed fo' tryin'. Remy finally gave up on the situation. We all gonna die here.

Remy was on the verge of passing out, but once again even that slight pleasure was taken from him as Sinister entered the room.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sandra stood in front of her bed room mirror. She was ready. Her Hellfyre uniform was on her and she looked like she was ready to kick ass. By the time the sun sets on this day, both Sabretooth and Sinister will be dead. I swear it!

She glared at herself in the mirror and clenched a fist into the air. She would show her Father no mercy. It didn't matter anymore how he had cared for her. The only thing that did matter was that Mathen was dead. Because of him. He was no long a father to her.

He was Sinister. And today he would die.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sinister looked down at Gambit and chuckled when he saw what predicament the young man had been left in. He admired the brutality he had used on him. The thief deserved any type of pain that he could inflict. And now he was about to inflict more. Sinister turned gave Remy's cheek a slap.

Immediately Remy's eyes opened and stared threateningly at Sinister. Good. I want Mr. LeBeau to be wide awake for this. Sinister turned and began gather the supplies he would need. He spoke to Remy as he was working. "Come now Mr. LeBeau. Do you really think any kind of heroic acts can save you now? You saw what happened to the last person that did. There's no way any of you can escape."

He had everything he needed placed on a tray. He put on a surgical mask and turned back to Remy. "Normally I put my subjects under an anesthetic while I am performing surgery. Only because screaming and shouting can distract me, but it seems we shall not have to do that today Mr. LeBeau. You can be wide awake for the entire procedure."

Sinister pulled out a scalpel and held it in front of Remy's face. "I don't think I ever repaid you for betraying me for those morlocks." He grinned underneath his mask.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Things had just turned from inescapably horrible to terribly frightening. Remy didn't like to admit it, but he was terrified of Sinister. The man had never seemed right to Remy. Even when he had worked for him. Whenever Sinister was around, Remy would get chills down his spine. Sinister was pure evil and right now he was about to prove it.

Remy would not let this happen again. Sinister had performed tests and surgeries on him before. And true they had always bothered him, but he had never been awake during such things. Remy's body began to tremble, but he wouldn't let his fear get the best of him.

He tried his very best to squirm from Sinister's grip on his shoulder. But his bonds held him tight. Sinister leaned in and stuck the scalpel right into the top of Remy's chest and viciously pulled it all the way down to his stomach. Remy did his best to yell behind closed jaws, but at only came out as a muffled groan. Sinister looked at his patient and gleamed with joy. He was going to have so much fun.

"Now Mr. LeBeau, I am going to need you to remain calm. I shall be exploring your chest cavity today. I have designed a new implant that I shall place in you. It's quite large, so I will have to separate your ribs quite a bit. I will also need to remove some lung tissue as well."

He picked up a large metal device and attached it to the cut he had made on Remy's chest. It had two long blades that followed and connected to the cut and in the middle was a hand crank. Remy closed his eyes. He hated waiting for pain that he knew was about to come. Then Sinister grabbed the crank and began to slowly turn it. As it turned the two metal blades began to move apart, which ended up opened Remy's chest.

Remy couldn't believe what was happening. In his life time he had had to endure many types of pain. He had been shot at, strangled, cut, beaten to a pulp, he had even been in a few cave ins. But he had never experienced this before. It was unbearable. He let out a lifeless moan and began to lose any coherent thoughts.

All of his instincts were kicking in. His mind was only interested in staying alive. Remy's eyes shot open but only rolled into the back of his head. His entire body tensed up but all he could do was clench his hands into fists and curl his toes. All he could feel was pain. He no longer had control. Sinister did. And all he was doing was slowly turning the crank even more.

Remy could feel his ribs popping. They weren't breaking but they were being moved into positions that they hadn't been meant to be put in. Suddenly, Remy got a weird sensation. His chest had been opened by almost an entire foot and it was now exposed inside and out. Remy could feel his heart beating, but it was different. Now his could feel it moving against his tissue. He could feel a breeze go past it and it shivered. Was that right? Had his heart just gotten a chill?

Remy's eyes glazed over and he felt like he was no longer connected to his body. The pain was now only a dull whisper. He knew he couldn't hold onto himself for much longer.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hellfyre left Sinister's study. That was where she had expected to find him, but he had left. So she was now on the hunt for him. Her gold shoes clicked on the floor as she headed down the hallway. If he wasn't in his study then he was probably in the main lab.

She finally reached it and walked in. He was there alright. He back was turned from her and he hadn't even noticed her entering. Slowly, she crept up to him. Hellfyre planned on touching him and then killing him all before he could even turn on her. She stretched her hand out as she approached him. She was within mere inches of his exposed neck when all of a sudden, she realized what he was doing.

Below him, was Gambit. His chest was wide open and right now Sinister was scooping out tissue and lung from inside of his chest. She lost her concentration and gasped at what she saw. Sinister quickly turned right toward her and she jumped back in surprise.

He was also shocked at his daughter's quiet entrance and at her appearance. She for some reason was in her full uniform. Sinister was truly perplexed. "Sandra. What are you doing?"

She had blown it. She couldn't attack him now, not while he was facing her. There was no way should would be able to touch him before he could kill her. So she did the next best thing. She lied. "Oh um…I thought maybe I could go and capture Storm for you. Or do you need any help here?"

She was definitely worried for the man on the table. She had looked down at him and realized that he wasn't sedated. He looked like he was in critical shock. If he didn't receive help soon, he could die. She looked back up at Sinister and tried to give him a loving look.

Sinister noticed that his back was feeling a little cramped so he stretched it while he spoke to Hellfyre. "No I don't really need any help here. I'm almost finished. But wait here once I'm done we can call Creed in here and the two of you can go an collect Storm. Alright?"

Hellfyre bowed her head and stepped to one side of the table. Her blood began to race as Sinister continued and Remy moaned. Sinister slapped Gambit's cheek. "Now be quite Mr. LeBeau. This part is tricky."

Sinister had picked up the implant. It was about the size of a soda can and it was shaped like one too. But it had all kinds of wires attached to it. Sinister was very excited to test this device. Once installed, it would give him complete control over the mutant. It also monitored thoughts and mutant capabilities. So it basically turned any one into his own personal slave. Remy LeBeau would finally be under his control.

Putting the device in was dangerous however. He would have to quickly disconnect the heart attach the machine and then quickly reconnect the heart. The subject would be dead for a mere second if things went right. He picked up his scalpel and began to sever Remy's heart.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sandra didn't know what to do. She had come into the lab to kill Sinister but now all of her plans were fading away. She was doing the same thing she always did. She was standing back and watching as he destroyed someone else's life. That couldn't happen. Not again.

Sinister had the blade on Remy's heart. And was slowly cutting.

"FATHER!"

Sinister was startled. So startled that he had fallen forward with the blade in had and had accidentally plunged it into Remy's heart. With amazing speed he pulled himself back. But it was to late. The scalpel had gone right into the heart and now it was frantically pumping blood out of the opening. Sinister was furious. He grabbed the scalpel, yanked it out, and threw it across the room.

Remy began making gurgling noises, but slowly quieted down. His heart slowed as well. It beat once………..twice……………and then stopped. His eyes had been wide open but now the red on black eyes were slowly hidden as his eyes drooped closed.

All Sandra could do was stare at him. She felt horrible. She had tried to distract Sinister so that she could do something. But she hadn't thought of what to do. And anyway her distraction had turned out to be deadly.

Sinister was enraged and grabbed Hellfyre by the neck and threw her to the ground. "What is the matter with you girl!!! I told you to be quiet!! You have just ruined my most important experiment ever!!!"

Sandra remained on the floor. "I'm sorry Father. I didn't mean to. I looked at him and saw that he was awake and I didn't know if you knew or not. I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" She began to cry.

Sinister's look remained cold. But instead of attacking her he decided to leave and get some air. "Get up and clean this mess up right now!" He left the room without looking back.

Sandra jumped up and immediately went to Gambit. He wasn't breathing and his heart had stopped beating over three minutes ago. She put a hand to his now cold cheek. It was hopeless. There was no way that she could revive him. Remy LeBeau was dead.

TBC

**************************************************************************

Author's Note: How to get your reader's mad at you- kill the best character ever. How to make them happy again- give it a twist.

Ok you are all probably pretty frustrated with me by now, but don't worry all shall be resolved in the final chapter. Which is actually all that is left! Whoo-Hoo!

I've also decided to reveal what I'm gonna do with the whole Romy situation. And maybe I'll give you all some more good info! So stay tuned!

CyborgSmeet-your wish shall be granted. Actually maybe both will be.