(Two)

Wolverine climbed up the slope to the top of the ravine. The view from up here was fantastic, he could see for miles in all directions. He could see the forest and the big lake they had flown over just yesterday out here to the Lucky Dragon. Even further out were the ruins of the City they had fled from. So far, there had been no sign of an advancing Clan army or incoming ships.

Logan was surprised at how barren this area was considering how close the forest had been. In these brown rocky canyons, nothing grew except scrub brush and a few scraggly dead looking trees. He could sense no large animals, only tiny mice and the occasional insect crawling around in the nooks. No birds flew overhead that he could see and he wondered if there would even be bats here at full dark. It was dim here, gloomy. The sky seemed like it was perpetually cloudy. He had expected that near the Dognan city because of all the fighting, but out here it should be clear. Weird.

He grinned to himself when he heard Henry slip and slide on the loose rocks behind him. He waited until he heard the big blue man come up behind him before he teased, "Climb much?"

"Very funny. You see anything?"

"Nuthin'. If this Valentin guy is comin', he ain't walkin' in with a big army."

"Maybe he has teleportation capabilities."

"Maybe he ain't comin' at all. Could be some kind of trick."

"Seth seemed to think something was going to happen."

"He ain't real, Blue," Logan replied, quick to show his viewpoint on that.

"Doesn't mean his opinion doesn't matter. We haven't been here long enough to dismiss him or Kimble so easily."

Logan just grunted. "What's Kane doing?"

"Not much. His people haven't packed up. He's waiting."

Logan scanned the horizon again. "We should keep watch up here."

"This is too far away from the ship. If something happens, we might get separated. The ship's cameras show these same views on the big screen. Come back with me. You can look out from inside."

"You go ahead. I want ta check the perimeter one last time before dark."

"Right."

Henry turned away and went back down the way he'd come. He wandered through Kane's camp, seeing how his people were milling about nervously. They looked to the canyon top anxiously as if expecting an attack. Some of the men were sharpening their weapons, others were packing up everything else but their tents while trying not to be obvious about it. The children were out of sight and probably hiding. Kane hadn't given the word to leave yet and they weren't comfortable with it. It didn't matter. Henry suspected these people could break camp quickly if they had to.

Henry walked up to the Lucky Dragon and went inside. He entered the Main Room and stood in front of the big screen there, pleased that it still showed the four different views of the surrounding area. Henry could clearly see Logan moving about and noticed that the camera views appeared to be following him as if he was being deliberately tracked. As if in answer to Henry's unspoken question, Kimble popped up on the screen at his work station. He was leaning back in his chair and had his furry pilot's feet up on the console as usual. He smiled up at Henry as a friendly greeting. "It's all clear, Henry. Don' worry, I gots ya covered. If Vally's cummin', it shouldn't be fer a while yet."

Henry returned Kimble's smile with one of his own. "Logan said he could see no sign of an army. Would Valentin teleport in? Beam down from a ship perhaps?"

" 'Beam down'? Dunno whatcha means by that, but if he's runnin' with Reese, he kin teleport most anawhere. Reese kin move a lotta people at once if he's got a mind ta do it."

"Who is Reese?"

"Reese is Vally's Third. He's an alpha like you guys. He kin teleports people from far away. 'S the only reason why Vally keeps that scraggly little bugger around. Reese ain't always with him, though. Sometimes Vally gots him runnin' 'round doin' other stuff. Tough ta say what's gonna happen, but don'cha worry none. Me an Seth're lookin' out fer him."

"How is Seth, by the way?"

Kimble's eyes brightened, he was clearly pleased by the question. "He's all right. He's gonna be shy 'til Vally's gone, then he'll come out. It's kind of ya ta ask, though. I'll mentions it to him."

"Tell him I'm ready for a rematch at chess anytime."

"You gonna let him win?" the pilot couldn't help but tease.

"Not unless he earns it."

"Good man," Kimble said with a snicker. "See ya round." He waved and clicked off.

Henry smiled, amused by Kimble's all too realistic humor, and went into the galley. Fallen and Maylee were there, seated at the large metal table. Fallen was eating a light snack and Maylee had some photos of Gambit's injuries and was filling out some kind of report. Henry sat across from her and tugged on one of the photos. "What is this?"

"When we go back to Station Nine, I'll go back to my class. Any confirmed reports of any medical work I did out here will be added to my scores. I'm sorry your friend was hurt, but he's really going to boost my grade this quarter," she answered with a short laugh.

Henry wasn't offended, only curious. "They have regular schools here?"

"Yeah, though the classes are pretty small and I only get to go when we come to the station. My instructor is really nice and he holds all my lessons for me. I do most of the work out here."

"That must be difficult for you."

"Not really. Momma and Seth help me out a lot."

Henry smiled at Fallen. "Maylee is your daughter?"

"Not in the real sense," Fallen answered. "Valentin gave her to me when she was four. He said he found her in a ditch someplace. I was still pretty low after the Red Sky went down --- that was a ship I had been piloting. I was recovering from a serious injury and not quite myself and he figured that caring for her would take my mind off things. He was right. Maylee was one of the best things to happen to me." She gave Maylee a hug. "May and my boys. They're the best."

"How did Remy get those big scars on his chest?"Maylee asked Henry next. She had seen five large silver slash like scars that crossed most of his chest and abdomen when she'd undressed him. It was an old injury and she guessed it had almost killed him. "Was he clawed by a monster?"

Henry nodded. "Why, yes. He'd been clawed by a monster...in a manner of speaking. We've fought many enemies in our time. It would be impossible to walk away unharmed."

Henry was aware of Remy's scars, but hadn't thought of them for some time. It had been a long time since he'd seen them. All the team members were expected to report for regular physicals, but Remy, like Logan, often dodged them. The one time Henry had managed to drag the thief in, he'd been quite shocked by the signs of that old injury to say the least. In spite of his training, Henry had been unable to hide his surprise and the thief had seen it. Remy didn't allow the doctor to ask about them and never showed up for a physical again.

The other team members had taken longer to find out about them, if they even knew at all. It had been clear early on that in spite of his flirtatious nature, Gambit was a shy boy. He never walked around the house or anywhere else without a shirt and he never used the communal showers, even after a grueling workout session with the team.

When the X-men finally learned of Remy's checkered past and his most serious crime, Henry knew then the claw marks had come from Sabretooth, a vicious killer mutant that Remy had been known to be with on one memorable occasion. Judging from the depth of the scarring, Gambit was lucky to have walked away from that encounter alive.

As unsettling as those upper body scars were, Henry was surprised they were all Maylee had asked about. There were a pair of more devastating scars that Gambit possessed -- one on each wrist. Those were still tinged with pink and far more recent, the sign of a serious suicide attempt, no kidding around there. Henry, with his deft medical eye, had surmised those had come during Remy's trial in Antarctica or in the beginning of his exile. Again when Henry tried to question the thief in private about them he was brushed off and not allowed to ask about them again. If Logan or anyone else on the team had seen them, they hadn't dared to ask.

Kimble came up on the galley screen, interrupting Henry's thoughts. He spoke Fallen's name and waited, saying nothing more.

"Yes?" she replied, her eyes glancing up to him.

Kimble didn't answer, but looked at her intensely. She met his gaze and slowly shook her head. He swore and said, "Better haul ass an' hide, May! Vally's comin'!" He clicked off, vanishing into the system.

Maylee reacted immediately to Kimble's warning. She got up in a rush, snatching her things hurriedly from the table and fled from the galley, disappearing down the trap door to the lower level of the ship.

Henry stood, trying to control the hammering in his chest. There had been no mistaking Kimble's fear or Maylee's reaction. This was going to be bad. "Are you going to do anything to stop this?"

Fallen lowered her chin, a sad sort of defeat in her eyes. "No. Stay with Remy. This isn't your quarrel and I'm certain nothing will happen to you. Whatever you see, whatever you hear, don't try to fight Valentin yourself. You won't win and it will only make things worse."

"Fallen, please."

"Go. Stay with your friend."