(Five)
The X-men jumped down the hole, following the men who had rescued them. Kane tossed a grenade behind them so no more of the packs would follow them. It exploded and the hole was sealed in a cloud of dirt and smoke. The Dognan were lax in their security, Kane explained rapidly, as they quickly marched. If they moved away fast enough, they could escape with ease. One of the Clan men took Remy's body and they made good time. The Clan men were very strong and fast, they moved through the city at a rapid pace. Kane obviously had been this way many times and knew where to go.
As they traveled through the ruined city, the group was joined by another small group of Clansmen made up of women and children. They were heavily burdened with wood and skins, tent making materials, and supplies. It seemed odd to the X-men to see such crude living supplies after being flown in ships and surrounded by modern buildings, smashed or otherwise. In spite of being so heavily burdened, they didn't slow Kane and his men down at all. These folks were used to being on the move. Kane stopped them from time to time as Dognan ships passed overhead, but they weren't spotted. They went like this for a couple of hours before Kane allowed them to finally stop and rest.
They went inside a building that had a lot of tables. It might have been a restaurant once or a store judging from all the tables and shelves nearby. They lay Gambit across one of the larger tables and one of the women took out a small first aid kit. She started to clean his ugly head wound, but then shook her head. "This man will not survive," she said to Kane.
Kane had a backpack and he slid it off to rummage through it quickly. He took out a small head set and a tiny radio, again surprising Logan by the odd mix of old world and new age technology. He put the head set on and clicked one of the buttons. "Seth! Seth can you hear me?"
There was a crackle and then a reply. "Good morrow, Kane. Seth's downstairs with Fallen. Didja find yer alphas okay?" a man's voice pleasantly drawled. He had a bizarre accent, not quite Southern, not quite anything else. It was strange and unique as it rolled off the speaker's tongue, making him stand out.
Beast turned to Logan and rolled his eyes. "Oh, joy. Someone who speaks worse than you. I didn't think it was possible," he complained good naturedly. Logan just glared at him, not in the mood.
Kane smiled. "Yes, actually. They were waiting for us, they were so eager," he joked, looking at the X-men. "Made it very easy for us. Look, Kimble, one of them isn't doing well. We need a pick up. Is Fallen around?"
"She's here. Where ya'll at?" Kane didn't answer, but turned on one of the other buttons on the radio. "I gotcha but ya gots ta git past th' next marker b'fore she kin git to ya."
"We'll rest here a few minutes first. Have her meet us at the green fountain. We'll be there in an hour."
"Green fountin', one hour, aye. Kimble out."
"Kane out." Kane shut the radio off. "We'll rest and then move on. Won't be long." He had his men open their packs and they all had some food. The X-men were starved and Kane gave them the most to eat. He noted their enthusiasm. "How long were you in the pens?"
"Almost three days," Henry replied with a weary sigh.
"If we'd heard about you sooner we would have come faster. As it was, we only learned of you six hours ago."
"How did you know about us in the first place?"
"Your bar codes. Seth hacked the Dognan computers and saw you. He always tells us when alphas come so we can bust you out."
"Why're you so interested in us?" Logan grumbled. He was happy to be free but trusted no one.
"Selfish reasons," Kane answered honestly. He took a large gulp from a bottle of whiskey he'd opened and passed it around. "We save the alphas. The alphas join the Clan. You strengthen our people with your powers. Most alphas are very strong and make good warriors. Others bear us promising children like Jake here." He whistled and motioned. A child who had been standing nearby slowly came over, touching the furniture as he moved along. He was very young, maybe nine or ten years old. He smiled admiringly at Kane when the man touched him. "Jake, these men are alphas. Alphas like you."
Jake turned towards them and smiled. "I can make fire!" he said proudly. He held up his hand, palm up. He concentrated and a small flame burst over his hand. He held it there as if it was a ball instead of a flame. He closed his hand and the fire winked out. "Neat, huh?"
Henry smiled. "That's very clever."
"What can you do?" Jake asked. It was then that Henry realized the boy was blind. He should have guessed from the careful way he had come over.
"I'm a doctor," Henry replied.
Jake laughed. "That's not a power!"
"It is when you're sick and you need help. Actually, I am very clever, too. I help people solve problems. I am also very strong and well...furry."
"Furry?!" Jake giggled. He reached out to Henry and felt his arms. He laughed and pulled on Henry's blue fur. "Cool! I wish I was furry, too!"
"It's not always much fun, Jake. I tend to clog many shower drains."
"Go back to your mother, boy," Kane said gently and the boy left.
"Sure it's a good idea havin' women and kids out here?" Logan commented.
"We live out here most of the time. It's all they know. When we take this world, things will be better."
"Who are you? Who are the Clan?" Henry wanted to know.
"We are the decedents of Dognan slaves who escaped out into the wild. They banded together and became the Clan. They eventually formed an army and we've been picking away at the Dognan ever since. We own most of this world. Cerise is strategically placed. Once we've taken over this whole planet, we'll be ready to drive them away from other worlds, too."
"Pretty ambitious plan," Wolverine grumbled. He remembered Frishnan's comments about how the Clan foolishly believed they could drive the Dognan out. He wondered if Frishnan's opinion was accurate.
"We have plenty of fine fighting ships and a large army."
Logan looked at Kane's sword. "You have space ships, but you fight with swords."
"The Clan has a great love for bloody fights," he laughed. "We have technology we've taken from the Dognan. We have some of their pilots. This enables us to travel to many far away places."
Beast was immediately interested. "Pilots? Like that bird lady?"
"Yes. That 'bird lady' was a pilot. No doubt you've seen others. The Dognan use them to fly ships and so do we. The pilots are telekinetic, but more importantly, they produce Ristle; the energy used to power the ships. This ability can be passed onto their offspring, but it's never as strong as the ones who are made."
"The Dognan 'make' the pilots?" Beast asked, trying to understand.
"Yes. I'm sure you realize all the Dognan slaves are mutated humans. They are gathered from the many Earths and mutated. It's a lengthy process and very painful. Not all survive."
"What do you mean by many Earths?"
"The Dognan are very technologically advanced. When they brought you here, you not only traveled across space, but you crossed dimensions as well. Some of the pilots are exceptionally powerful. Band a few of them together, and they'll produce enough Ristle energy for the largest ships to actually jump from one dimension to another. It's only been recently that the Dognan have been going to your Earth. That's when the alphas began to show up. Your Earth is the only one with alphas, with humans that have powers. The Dognan always put the alphas in the pens because they fear your power. Plus they are fools for gambling. They play to see how long you will last against the packs. You are legends to the rest of us. Some of the Earths have stories about alphas that have been passed onto many generations even though they possess no real alphas at all. Fallen's was like that. She knows many legends of alphas such as yourself. Guess we all wish we were different."
"It's not always what it's cracked up to be," Wolverine complained. "Sometimes when yer different, people just use you or try to hurt you."
"The Clan doesn't 'use' alphas. We give them a good life compared to the horror of the pens. I've yet to see an alpha who wasn't happy to join us and help out. We integrate all we rescue. Everyone has value. Not all the slaves from the pens are so savage. Fallen was there and she's okay."
"Who's Fallen?" Logan asked, noting the eerie similarity between the name and the pack of white pilots from the pens.
"She's a pilot and the bravest thing I've ever seen," Kane said with a smile. He was obviously quite taken with her. "She's the only one with enough courage to help us raid the pens. The Dognan slaughter any freed slaves they find. If they catch her she'll be destroyed for certain, but she comes anyways. She's not afraid of anything. When Cerebus releases her I'm going to ask him to give her to me."
"Cerebus?"
"Cerebus is our leader, the head of the Clan. He is a brave and fierce warrior. Many years ago he freed Fallen from the pens. She owes him a ten year term of service. It's coming to an end very soon. When it's done, I shall ask for her. I know he will agree. I've earned her."
"How does Fallen feel about this?" Wolverine was getting the idea that Fallen didn't have much say in the matter.
"Fallen won't mind. I'm always around as it is. She knows I won't bug her about the guys."
"What guys?"
Logan's question was never answered. One of Kane's men approached. "Pika says ships are coming. We must get moving." They packed up quickly and departed. They were right to be worried, Wolverine could hear the whine from the Dognan ships flying overhead. The group of Clansmen stayed close to the buildings and so weren't spotted.
A few minutes later, they came to a large bombed out building and went inside. It looked like the remains of what had once been a two story shopping mall. Open ruins from the store fronts could still be seen and there were broken boxes and tables all about. In the center of the complex was a large green marble fountain. Logan looked up to the ceiling and could easily see to the sky through an open hole made by whatever had wrecked this place.
Kane's men spread out and, feeling safer in here, relaxed by the fountain. The fountain was still functional, water was running out of it and it was good to drink from. Unfortunately, there was no one here to greet them as had been promised. Kane got on the radio again."Kimble, where's Fallen?" he demanded.
"Ain't she there yet?" Kimble asked from the radio. He sounded surprised.
"Don't get your panties in a bunch, guys, I'm right here."
The new voice came from somewhere above them and Henry looked up in time to see a small white figure wink into view. She must have been cloaked, he reasoned.
Fallen certainly knew how to make an entrance. She dropped down into the middle of the Clansmen with a soft rustle of leathery wings. She was indeed a pilot as Kane had said. Her body and hair were white and bleached out, and she was as tiny as Shayla had been, just over five feet tall. She was painfully thin, scrawny and underfed, and it made her seem ugly and out of proportion. Her upper arm muscles were heavier, as if she was used to heavy lifting. She was dressed only in black leather pants as the men were and some kind of leather harness, like a reindeer ready for the sled. The pants she wore were tight fitting and showed the odd bend of her legs. She was no longer human and never would be again. She was bare chested and not shy about it. In fact, she arched her back almost seductively as she landed.
The reason was soon obvious – she had a large colorful tattoo of a sword that ran the whole length of her torso, from the notch of her breastbone to the waistline of her pants. The ink of the tattoo was very bright and stood out in sharp contrast against her white, white skin. The sword was black and an emerald bird woman lay stretched along the blade, her wings spread out across the hilt and over Fallen's tiny breasts. It was apparently a mark of some significance and she wasn't going to hide it. On one bicep, she had another small mark. It was an X in a box with lettering on each side too small to be read from where the X-men sat. Fallen wore a headset radio and carried a bundle of extra leather straps in her hands. She tossed them down to the floor and started to sort them out.
"You're late," Kane complained good naturedly.
"You're early," she replied arrogantly with an easy smile. Wolverine thought Fallen's mutated body was ugly and unattractive as he did all the pilots, but he saw why Kane wanted her. Her spirit was very strong. She seemed to attract the attention of all the men in the room, they were all looking at her in admiration. She didn't appear to be aware of it or want to exploit it. She just ignored the reaction of the men around her.
"I tell you, Fallen. These alphas are getting weirder looking all the time," Kane teased, patting her on the back. "Look what we caught this time."
Fallen glanced at the X-men and smiled at them politely. She was busy so she went back to the straps but then stopped suddenly. She slowly looked back at them, her eyes wide. Henry saw that this was not fear, but recognition. "My, God..!" she breathed.
"Fallen?" Kane was alarmed by her reaction. He looked at the X-men now with suspicion.
Fallen looked at Henry with a warm smile and pointed at him. "Dr. Henry McCoy, I presume?"
Henry smiled back, his surprise obvious. "Why, yes. I am Henry McCoy."
Fallen's wonder turned next on Logan. She tilted her head, inspecting him with a wry smile. "You'd be Wolverine. I'm surprised there are any Dognan still alive. You must be losing your touch, old man."
Logan didn't return her smile. He cocked his head arrogantly and checked her out now that she had moved closer. Her eyes were a pale washed out blue and very bright and alert. She looked to be about thirty or so, but he had the sense that, like himself, she was much older than she appeared to be. She was looking him over with great interest. Fallen was confident and unafraid of him even though she seemed to know him for the killer he was.
Not to be subdued by the fact she was a woman, he sniffed her openly, testing her air. He bared his teeth in a sneer, letting her know he felt he was dominant. Her scent told him a lot about her quickly. She smoked cigarettes, drank heavily, and frequently used some kind of powerful narcotic. She was very clean for a junkie, he could smell the soaps she used, but he'd been around enough addicts to know the smell. He wondered if Kane knew she used, maybe the guy wouldn't be so eager to marry her if he did. She smelled of machinery, oil, and tools. He looked at her tiny, clawed hands, and noticed they were stained with grease and calloused, marking her as some kind of mechanic. This was an unusual trait for a woman, but Fallen was anything but feminine. She appeared to have more in common with the Clan men then the women. He figured she was probably a real pain in the ass, too.
"I had these two lugs slowin' me down," he offered as an excuse.
Fallen ignored Logan's scrutiny and response as if she'd expected his rudeness. She glanced at the man sprawled on the ground next to him. She rose, holding a set of straps and walked over. She crouched down next to Remy and looked him over, taking note of the ugly head wound. She gently touched his fevered face with her clawed fingers and looked concerned about his sickness. She carefully opened one of his eyes and then blinked in surprise.
"The Cajun....the guy with the cards..." she mumbled. She snapped her fingers, thinking. Remembered. "Ah, yes. Gambit. That's it. Remy LeBeau, thief of hearts. Best get him well and back home in one piece before Rogue worries herself half to death."
"I'm impressed," Henry replied, surprised by the extent of her knowledge. Rogue was one of their team mates and Remy's current girlfriend. "But you have us at a disadvantage. You know us, but we don't know you."
She leaned back and gave a tiny hand to Henry to shake."Please, excuse me. Too busy being blown away. I am Fallen, Captain of the Lucky Dragon and First Pilot of the Clan. I don't really know you, just about you. You're all X-men. I enjoyed the stories of you very much. I never dreamed you'd be real."
"Well, we are very much real and are in need of your help. Remy is gravely ill."
She smiled at him gently. "Not to worry. Maylee will take care of him." She took the straps and carefully fitted them around Gambit, moving her hands skillfully as she worked. The straps formed a harness similar to the one she was wearing. She pulled the leather tight and surprised Beast by heaving Gambit's limp and lifeless body over her shoulders with ease, supporting him with her wings.
Beast rushed up to her. "Please, allow me to carry him -- "
Fallen looked at him like he was an idiot. "I've got TK. You don't," she said using the slang term for telekinesis. "He's nothing for me to carry."
It was true. It was like Remy weighed nothing at all. She shifted his weight and clipped his harness to hers, using what looked like dog leash clips.
She turned her head set radio on and spoke, "Hey, Seth. This is Fallen. I'm coming back trip one, one heavy. Tell Maylee to be ready. He's hot and has a serious head wound. Gonna need some thread, I think."
"I've got you, Fallen. Stay low around Red Bay, I've spotted some ships there."
"No problem. Fallen out." She clicked off and turned to Kane. "I'll be back in about twenty minutes."
"Take it easy."
"Piece of cake." Fallen jumped and lightly took to the air. She pressed a button on her head set and blinked out of sight.
"Isn't she something?" Kane beamed, proud. He tossed the rest of the straps to the remaining X-men. "Put these on. She's coming back for you."
"Where did she take Gambit?" Wolverine wanted to know.
"To her ship. The Lucky Dragon's parked about ten miles from here."
"And it's only gonna take her twenty minutes to get there and back?"
"Yeah, Fallen's pretty fast when she has to be. She'll pick you up and the rest of us will join you later."
-----------------------------------
Twenty minutes later, Fallen touched down among them again. She was sweating from flying so far so quickly. She took a water bottle from Kane and drank heavily thirsty from the effort.
"How's Gambit?" Henry asked.
Fallen touched her head set. "Good morrow, Seth. This is Fallen. Can I have an update on the alpha please?"
"Good morrow, Fallen. It's yer Kimble." As if he needed any introduction with that accent! "Seth's workin' with Maylee. He says yer alpha's gots a high temp but Maylee's icin' him down now. Gave him a shot of anti-biotic. He's got a small skull fracture, but it's healin' normal. Maylee's cleanin' the head wound now. He's stable. He'll be all right."
"Thanks. See ya in a bit."
"Fly safe. Wasayachay natooroo, Fallen."
"Wasayachay, tay kunda." Fallen laughed softly to herself and clicked off. She looked up at Beast. "Feel better?" Henry nodded. "Let's go, then." She then moved the two X-men until they were side by side. She stood behind them and clipped them to her harness. She tugged on them, checked her clips until she was satisfied. "All set."
"Be well, Fallen," Kane said. "We will join you before dark. Some of the men want to go hunting."
"Later, then," she replied and jumped.
Logan grunted when the straps snapped tight as he and Henry were yanked into the air. Fallen was very strong. He felt her telekinesis touch him like a giant helping hand and he was no longer dangling at the mercy of the leather. She really didn't need the straps to carry them, it seemed, it was more for the peace of mind of her passengers. Fallen tapped her headset and Logan's vision turned red as the cloaking field she was using covered them. She eased them out of the building, careful not to snag them on any jagged edges. Once in the open air, she flexed her wings and took off in a huge burst of speed. Fallen didn't flap her wings to fly as birds did, she used her telekinesis. Her wings were used for maneuvering and short sprints of extra speed. It was clear she loved to fly, she had a big smile on her face and was very relaxed and comfortable in the air even though they were quite high.
Logan wasn't so happy. He hated to fly. Really, it was that he was uncomfortable in any situation where he was at the mercy of someone else. ell, it was nice when his teammate Jean carried him, but that was just because he loved to be near her. Fallen wasn't even close to being as pretty and wonderful as Jean. Too bad Jean was married to Scott, one of their other teammates. Her loss, Logan figured. Jean and Logan had a passion for each other that had never materialized into anything more than a close friendship. She made her choice and took Scott to be her husband, leaving Logan frustrated and on the outside. Logan still clung to a feeble fantasy that she'd come around and they'd be together someday. He'd wait.
From this height, Logan could see pretty far. They were leaving the ruined city behind them and were now heading towards a rural wooded area. The air smelled much better now, cleaner, and he felt better. He had never been one for the city anyway, he preferred wide open spaces with as little human interference as possible.
They neared a small body of water and Fallen dropped down to avoid some Dognan ships cruising around. They skimmed the water so close Logan could almost touch it. It was clear and beautiful and the setting sun shimmered red across the waves. He was sorry when they passed over it too quickly and headed into the forest. They reached the tree line and Fallen moved up quickly, not wanting to hit them on the tops of the green trees that now swept under them at amazing speed. Logan saw mountains in the distance and the trees thinned out. Fallen took them very close to the mountains, but then swooped into a hidden rocky area with a deep ravine. There was a large river flowing in the canyon sparkling and pretty. She slowed her speed and landed in a boxed off area. Logan couldn't figure out why they were here in the middle of nowhere until he realized that there was a ship parked here. It was well camouflaged, almost cloaked. She unclipped them and helped them remove their harnesses. She walked up to the ship, slinging the leather straps over her shoulders, and humming softly to herself.
The Lucky Dragon was crescent shaped, being thicker in the middle than the sides. It was fairly large, but not a warship. It was a scout ship or transport of some kind. Fallen and the X-men walked up a short ramp to a locked door. There was a security pad there that took a palm print and she scanned her hand. The door opened, allowing them inside.
They entered a large central area in the body of the ship. This was the Main Room of the craft and was divided into three sections. The first section was on the left and consisted of six rows of paired seats along the wall, going deep into the room.
The second section was to the right of that and just as long. It was an open room with chain link fencing for the two walls that faced into the Main Room itself. The wall that faced the seats had a doorless opening while the other had a the whole middle section open to a large viewing screen that covered the furthest wall of the Main Room. This cage room was quite large and took up most of that side of the Main Room.
As they walked down the walkway that separated the cage room from the seats and led deeper into the ship, they could see the cage room was actually a small living area. It had a bed, a small table and a doorway that led off to another small room, presumably a bathroom. Next to the bed on the east wall was another small viewing screen that could be seen from the seats. Inside the cage, facing the big main screen were two of the strange sticks Henry had seen the pilot use to fly Frishnan's ship.
Fallen led them past the seats, past the cage, and up to the third and last area of the room. This was a large open space with the huge viewing screen that took up the entire back wall. The screen was on and electronically divided into six windows. Four of the windows showed four different views of the outside of the ship.
The fifth and sixth portions in the middle showed two views of a control room, almost like a cockpit of a plane. The room was large and spacious, not confining, and had real furniture in it. It could be assumed that two people worked in there because each had a work station, although both were currently empty. The windows showed each station from the front even though they were back to back to each other. Each station could be seen clearly and both had computers and various other gadgets that were probably used to fly the vessel.
It was obvious two very different individuals worked there. One station was neat and orderly, everything in its place. It was almost sterile as if it was rarely used. The other was cluttered with small glass and metal figurines, books, and pictures of nude women. Logan chuckled softly at this. On one side was a rack with music CDs, and a guitar on a stand. The station wasn't messy, just lived in.
"Seth? Kimble?" Fallen called out.
Kimble answered, "In here, Fallen."
His voice came from a room that branched off to the left of the Main Room. Fallen followed it into another room that looked like a small barracks. It was a long narrow area that paralleled the main room and had four beds and its own bathroom. Gambit was laid out comfortably on one of the beds. He was undressed and cleaned and had an IV drip attached to one arm.
Seated next to him was a young girl of only twelve or thirteen years old. She was odd looking and Henry realized that she was a half breed. She was both human and Dognan. The combination was not unkind. She had a gentle cat face and soft brown fur lightly covering her body. She had short cropped hair and yellow slitted eyes that winked up at them with curiosity. The child was dressed in a simple undecorated shift of soft leather. The leather was well cured and the dress finely crafted in spite of its simplicity. Her legs were straight as a human's and she wore leather moccasins on her feet.
Her hands were small and clawed, but it didn't keep her from using them with some skill. Henry had already guessed that this was Fallen's doctor from the protective way she sat over Remy and had a hand resting gently on his chest, measuring his breath. Remy's head was not bandaged and Beast could see that she'd put five stitches in to close his ugly head wound. The injury had been cleaned properly and the swelling was already well on its way down.
She and Gambit were the only two people in the room and she smiled up as they came closer. "Hey, Fallen."
"Maylee," Fallen greeted warmly. She walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked down at Gambit. He was sleeping peacefully and he looked much better. "He looks good."
"This is your doctor?" Wolverine asked sarcastically, shocked by her youth.
Fallen looked back at him sharply. "Maylee has been training since her tenth year. She is quite skilled for one so young in age. Don't be so hasty in your judgments," she scolded.
"Easy on th' new peoples, kiddo," Kimble drawled casually. "Don' wants ta scare 'em away."
The X-men turned in the direction of his voice. There was another viewing screen on the wall. It showed one side of the same control room as the screen in the other room had. Seated at the cluttered work station was a strange looking man. Fallen seemed to collect half breeds – he wasn't a pilot, but he wasn't fully Clan either. He was both. He had Fallen's alabaster skin and wings, but his hair was black and striking because of his pale complexion. It fell very long and straight, tied back in a pony tail draped over one shoulder and down the front. He had the same long black side burns as Wolverine, but cut very close to his face. He looked like he was about thirty years old or so, judging by the worn laugh lines around his eyes. He was dressed a dark colored sweatshirt cut off at the sleeves. This was odd because none of the Clan men wore shirts. A pair of pilot's wings snuck out the back of his shirt, tucked low to be comfortable in his chair. His arms were heavy and muscular as if he exercised regularly and he had Fallen's X mark tattoo on one large bicep. His eyes were a bright and merry pale blue, and he had a teasing, arrogant smile.
Kimble had taken the chair from the other work station and was leaning his elbow on it comfortably as he smoked a hand rolled cigarette. He looked over their guests with obvious interest and curiosity. He had an air of easy confidence and casual arrogance.
Fallen turned to the screen and smiled at him. "Good morrow, Kimble. Natay laskarat faroo edectk a set. These are the X-men. This here is Dr. Henry McCoy and this is Logan. They are also called Beast and Wolverine."
"Yer from Fallen's legends. I kin recognize the names well enough though I don' unnerstand why ya'll gots ta have so many," Kimble said with a soft chuckle. He bowed slightly in his seat and said, "Good morrow an' welcome to th' Lucky Dragon."
"Good morrow to you," Henry returned politely. "It's nice to finally put a face to the voice. And yes we do have a lot of names. It's a hazard of being an alpha."
Logan said nothing, but looked at the screen with suspicion. It came to him as no surprise that Kimble was sitting at the cluttered work station. He had that punk kind of attitude. The teasing smile never left Kimble's face as he endured the scrutiny.
Kimble spoke to next Fallen but his eyes were fixed on Wolverine. "This area's clear. No ships followed ya. Kane's in the fourth quadrant. Seth's got what he thinks might've been a transmission from Valentin to Station Nine. Didn' catch the message, but he thoughtcha should know he's in the area. He's checkin' on it now."
"Valentin can go fuck himself," Fallen snapped, ignoring the fact that young Maylee was there. "He won't find us here."
"We can move, it's not a problem," Seth suggested as he walked into the cockpit room from a door that opened in the back.
Seth was obviously a close relation to Kimble, a brother or cousin. He was too old to be Kimble's son. They looked exactly alike except Seth's hair was shock white like Fallen's and he was clean shaven. He had a much slimmer build and as he entered, Logan saw he had wings, too. Seth's hair was long and tied back as Kimble's was and they were dressed the same except Seth was completely in white, making him seem small and pale. He was as neat and tidy as his station. He went to sit at his desk, but saw something was missing. He smiled impatiently and rudely yanked his chair out from under Kimble's elbow, taking it back to his station where it belonged.
Kimble grunted a laugh but never faltered, he simply readjusted himself. He greeted Seth with a strange unfamiliar word and leaned back comfortably in his own chair, putting his feet up on the table. He was wearing black jeans and had Fallen's pilot feet and legs.
Seth waved his hand at Kimble's smoke. "I wish you wouldn't let him smoke in here," he complained wearily. It had a familiar ring to it as though he was too often ignored. Henry noted that Seth didn't have Kimble's garbled speech patterns and figured maybe he wasn't related after all.
Kimble just grunted again in amusement at Seth's comment and made no move to put the cigarette out. His eyes crinkled with laughter and he said proudly, "That's cuz she loves me best."
Fallen turned to the X-men with a laugh at Kimble's playfulness and introduced the new arrival. "This is Seth, Kimble's twin."
"Good morrow," Seth greeted politely, bowing slightly as Kimble had done.
"Good morrow," Henry replied. He was surprised by her statement, in spite of their similarities, he never would have pegged the two brothers as twins. Kimble clearly appeared older and more mature, his playful behavior aside. Perhaps there was a good story to go along with this.
Seth returned his attention to Fallen. "Valentin's definitely here. We should go." Seth looked concerned for their safety and tried to get her to see it.
"Forget it," Fallen said, not seeming to notice. "Don't want it to look like we are avoiding him."
Kimble snorted sarcastically and blew smoke out of his nose. "We are avoidin' him!"
"We'll wait here until Kane returns and discuss it with him."
Kimble shrugged in irritation. Whatever. "Why don'tcha get these guys cleaned up. Maylee made a nice stew. Bet they're hungry."
"Right."
Fallen smiled up at Seth and spoke to him in that other language. As they chatted, Logan began to feel a little sorry for Kane. Fallen spoke to Seth warmly and her eyes were bright. Whatever Kimble and Kane had to say about it, it was obvious where Fallen's heart lay. He knew Kimble was probably just kidding around to tease his brother so he thought to Kane, You poor sucker, you don't stand a chance. Kimble sat patiently and smoked, looking over the new arrivals with continued interest. He was listening to Fallen and Seth but added nothing. Finally, Fallen turned to Maylee. "Stay here with Gambit. I'll care for the others."
"Is Valentin coming here?" she asked in a small quiet voice. Like Seth, she was afraid, too.
"I don't know, May. I don't think so. We'll just be careful. Whatever happens, happens. No stopping it." She bent down and kissed the top of her head. The gesture made Henry wonder if Fallen was Maylee's mother. If she was, she didn't say. She led Henry and Logan to the bathroom and showed them around. There was a shower and a small machine that would wash their clothes quickly while they cleaned up.
"There's plenty of hot water so take your time," Fallen offered. "There's a razor there if you want it, some tooth brushes in that drawer. Help yourselves."
"Who is Valentin?" Logan asked quickly before she could leave.
"Valentin is First General of the Clan and an asshole." It was all she'd say. She left them and Henry and Logan just looked at each other. They didn't have to say what they were thinking. Trouble.