(Ten)

Remy stood outside the ship, waiting. The morning air was crisp but had no moisture in it, not like home. This area was little more than a wasteland now. The stark countryside did little to raise his spirits and he was not looking forward to what had to be done today. He wasn't much of a practicing Catholic these days, but found himself saying a soft little prayer, "Please, just dis once, Lord. Let dis pitiful t'eif do de right t'ing. 'E knows 'e ain't perfect, an' 'e knows 'e ain't never gonna be good enough to be wit you, but 'e needs so much to know dis is really okay, comprenez?"

He didn't get an answer, but was startled when he felt soft, gentle hands touch him softly. He turned to see Fallen standing behind him. "Yes, petite?" he asked quietly.

"Don't be afraid about today. I won't try to justify this for you with stupid, pitiful reasons, but just look at me, Remy. Look at me and see what they've done. They took me from my home, killed my people, and did this thing to me. Do you know how many human females die just so one pilot can be made? Huh? Eight. I don't know what kept me alive. I like to think that when God or whoever is out there decides that it's not our time, that there's a reason. I think he kept me alive for this. To stop them from hurting anyone else. You've come close to death so many times and walked away. Don't you think there might be a reason for that?"

"I used to t'ink so, chere. Now, Gambit ain't so sure. He ain't no killer."

"No, he's the saver of lives. Lives saved for the lives lost." Gambit shivered, and she gripped him tightly. "Yes, I know about you, Remy, but don't worry. You're in good standing with me. I know what it's like to fuck up and forever be apologizing for it."

"You couldn't know what dis is like, dis pain. Dere ain't no greater crime dan mine."

She kissed him gently with a sad smile. "Don't be so sure."

She pulled away from him and started to walk away from him, her head down. He watched her go, a pained, perplexed look on his face. It was true he did not know her well and couldn't possibly know the pain and suffering she had endured in her life. He recalled Valentin's savage beating and how she allowed him to do it. She had said something about a terrible crime to Kimble. He hoped she hadn't fallen from Grace as far as he had. He couldn't bear the thought of anyone else suffering his level of personal pain and internal persecution.

She paused when she saw him looking at her with all of that so plain on his face and said gently, "I know you'll do well today, my good Gambit. He's out there looking after you, your God. Do your best and He will see it."

"Merci, mon chere," he said, feeling a little better. "Maybe He lookin' out after us all, non?"

She nodded slowly and walked away to where the rest of the men had gathered. She began speaking to Valentin and Remy looked away, his spirits raised by their brief conversation. He laughed when he felt something large and blue bump him affectionately.

"Woolgathering so early? Not a good idea on a day such as this. I trust you slept well and are ready to dive into battle, flags waving?" Henry said with a laugh.

"Yeah, dat's me all right. Yee haw," Remy replied, rolling his eyes.

"Good. Remember your only mission for today is to come back alive. Don't do anything stupid."

"You mean, don' do anyt'ing Wolvie would?"

"I heard that," Logan growled good naturedly from behind Beast. He roughly grabbed both Henry's and Remy's hands in his own. "Nobody dies today," he said as a vow and released them. He didn't wait for their response but kept walking until he stood next to Fallen and Valentin.

"He's certainly chipper today," Henry commented.

"Dis is 'is t'ing, mon ami. 'E a closet general. 'E probably all bummin' dey won' be givin' 'im a medal for dis."

"No, they'll just stick that big sword tattoo on him."

Gambit grunted, "'E's too short, homme. It be comin' down round 'is knees."

"Too true, my friend."

Remy turned as he heard Justin come up behind him. "You ready?"

"Ready as Gambit's ever gonna be, mon ami."

Justin was going to be his partner on today's little trip. Fallen would be flying the two of them — hopefully in secret this time — close to the Dognan base where they would sneak in and plant more of Logan's explosives. Valentin and his group would create a diversion outside to draw out the soldiers and keep them from being detected. Unlike Remy, Justin seemed up for the job and was acting as though this was just an ordinary day and this a regular trip to the park.

Justin shook his shoulder roughly. These Clan guys were very strong and Remy staggered a bit, something that amused the Clansman. "Don't worry, I'll cover your ass, little brother," Justin teased and slid his pack on. He was carrying two sets of leather straps as well and he handed one to Gambit. "Put this on. Hope that pilot doesn't drop us on our asses. It's a long way down!"

"It's quite nice, the Fallen express," Henry said with a smile. "It's a nice view."

"Gambit wouldn't know. 'E slept t'rough one trip, got shot at de other," the thief complained unhappily.

"Well, try to enjoy this flight then. Just pretend it's Rogue." Henry patted Remy's shoulder and walked back up the ramp. He was co-ordinating the diversionary skirmish via head set with Bruce.

"Who's Rogue?" Justin asked, his teasing smile giving away that he probably already knew the answer.

"She a girl back home."

"I take it she can...fly?"

Remy grinned mischievously. "Among other t'ings, oui."

Fallen came up at a trot. "Ready?"

They donned their leather reindeer harnesses and were soon aloft. Henry was correct about the view. Even this savage wasteland had a kind of beauty from this high up. Fallen was swift and sure as she navigated her way to the drop off point. In the distance, Gambit could see the huge Dognan complex crouching in its crater. This building was further away from the city and better protected. It was a large star shaped structure with many out buildings and parked vehicles. He remembered how Logan had chuckled over the blue prints, saying how the place had been designed so poorly. It was too spread out to give a proper defense, the biggest weakness being the wide sprawling duct work. Maybe the Dognan guys who made it couldn't fit inside the ducts because they were so large and then assumed no one else could as well. Either way, whoever had designed it didn't count on having Clansmen move in like this for crazy guerilla warfare.

Remy prayed the cloaking devices were working as he could see patrols of Dognan soldiers running about. The Dognan slavers had an idea the Clan would up to something this day, but didn't know what. They had people spread out all over, but Remy saw with relief that none of them appeared to notice the arrival of their uninvited guests.

Fallen found the small out building that housed the air duct opening and dropped off her two passengers. They touched down lightly and Fallen collected her leather straps, hiding all evidence of their arrival. She checked her head set radio with the one Remy pulled out of his backpack, she would be keeping tabs on their progress inside and give them directions if they needed it. She had her own small backpack with a tiny hand held computer, a device she would be using to track them inside the building. She had given Gambit a transmitter just before they left the ship that was tied into that little computer, her hand held device had a map of the complex and she would guide them along if they got lost - or heaven forbid, come in after them if things got really bad.

After she was sure they were all set, she gave Remy a small kiss on the cheek. "Be brave. Be safe."

"No worries, chere."

She smiled gently and took off to hide behind some scrub bushes nearby. She would wait there for twenty minutes or so or until she heard a signal from them upon their return.

Remy took out a small leather bag of tools and began working on the screen for the duct, his fingers swift and sure. He missed the fine set he had back home, most of those were battery powered and he could work more quickly. Before they left, Fallen had given him free reign in the shop, letting him take whatever tools and equipment he might need for this job. He had grabbed a small set of screwdrivers and wrenches wrapped in a leather skin and tied with a thong. It was a decent set and he was pleased when Fallen told him he could keep it. He had also taken another good sized bag of ball bearings, he had no intention of letting any of those cat guys get close.

The screen came away easily and he set it gently aside. He slid inside and Justin followed. The ventilation shaft was very long and it would take some time for them to get to the energy generator. It was also quite dusty. He had anticipated this and had made sure they were both wearing some bandana sized rags around their necks to pull over their noses and mouths. One good sneeze could give them away.

Gambit was dressed in his regular working clothes, they had been made for this kind of work and he was grateful to have them. He still wore his chest plate for extra protection, but it was made of a thick, rubbery plastic that allowed him to bend to a point. It didn't restrict him from squirming around. He just hoped Justin could keep pace with him. Gambit was lithe and nimble, but he didn't know if his larger, older companion had the required acrobatic ability to follow him.

They crawled through the duct work as quietly as possible and weren't detected. Remy had memorized the directions Kimble had laid out, but wasn't worried. If need be, he could call up Fallen to get his bearings. This wasn't the first time he had to crawl through vast duct work to get to a destination and he was comfortable here. The only part of him squirming was his conscience. He just kept telling himself this was just another job, just another diamond or prized statue. He held Rogue's image in his mind. He was doing this for her, to keep her safe from another possible unannounced Dognan slave raid. No one else would be taken, he vowed.

Good thing he had no fear of tight spaces. At times the duct work narrowed and he had to stretch and flex to get around corners. To his amazement and relief, Justin maintained a steady pace behind him, grunting softly here and there. At one point, Remy heard Justin's back crack with a loud pop as he navigated a particularly obnoxious bend in their path. He waited for the yelp of pain, but instead got a low chuckle and heard Justin calling himself an old man. In spite of the danger, Justin was having a blast.

They were halfway to their destination when the heard the alarms go off. Right on time, Valentin had begun his diversion. Remy paused for a moment, happy as he listened to the sound of Dognan soldiers galloping by behind the wall, away from where they were hiding. He moved faster, not wanting to put Valentin's efforts to waste.

Remy and Justin had no trouble until they got to the reactor room. The shaft they were in ran along the ceiling and Remy looked down through a large grate. He gave a soft cry of dismay when he saw that the room had easily twice as many workers as they had anticipated and more than a few guards as well. This was becoming a regular bad habit, always being outnumbered, and not a good sign. He used hand signals to communicate this to Justin, but Justin motioned for him to keep going anyway. They could do this, but would probably lose their advantage of stealth. Remy opened the screen quietly and they entered.

Remy dropped down first, falling silently behind a pair of guards. He was quick and soundless as he dropped them efficiently with a well placed series of blows and nerve pinches. Justin was just as proficient and far more lethal, he was a well trained soldier with many years of experience and knew full well what would be required here. He went at the Dognan workers with gusto, taking down three of them quietly with his bare hands before he was even detected. He moved on, not even hesitating when the alarm was sounded in this area and they could hear the sound of heavy boots come running from outside the energy generator room's door.

Gambit did his best to cover himself but couldn't help but balk at the idea of actually killing these men. It just wasn't in him to do it even though he knew these Dognan guys would just get blown up anyway. He bashed them about, knocking them senseless to the floor, but couldn't bring himself to finish them off.

A small squad of soldiers came in and Remy was left with no choice but to bring them down, they were waving those horrible energy guns around, moving this to the next level. Remy gritted his teeth and shut off all of his emotions, using all of his training he'd received as a X-man and a thief to clear a path to the reactor.

Justin and Remy were like two engines of death, coordinating things wordlessly as though they had been teamed up all their lives. Gambit kicked and spun with lethal accuracy, sending an energy gun flying. Justin grabbed at it almost instinctively and began firing, vaporizing three Dognan men before the tide stopped flowing, the next wave of soldiers lingered near the door without going in. Justin was a good shot and the Dognan soldiers learned quickly.

Taking advantage of opportunity, Justin tossed the gun to Gambit. "Cover me while I plant the charges!"

Gambit did as he was told, holding the weapon like it would burn him. He had never liked guns and thought of them as the coward's way out, though like today, they did sometimes come in handy. He cringed with every blast he fired, but held his own. He was a good shot, having practiced shooting as a means of improving his own accuracy with projectiles back home. He was keeping the soldiers at bay while Justin got the work done. The problem was, this was taking too much time. Justin was swift, emptying both his pack and Remy's quickly of their bombs, but he was still eating up precious minutes. Remy wondered, how were they going to get out of here?

Things did not improve when one of the Dognan soldiers proved he was just as good a shot as Remy was. Clever enough to shoot high, he fired and hit some of the machinery above where the two men were crouched. These guns melted metal just as well as flesh and it rained down on the pair in a molten torrent. Gambit's quick reflexes saved him from serious injury but Justin took the brunt of it, howling in agony as he was burned across his legs by the gooey mess.

Remy was immediately concerned for Justin, but he still had to cover the door, Justin's cries of pain were inspiring the Dognan soldiers to try that much harder to regain access to the room. Gambit snatched at Justin's gun, now being left with no choice but to use it, and was forced to almost continually fire shots that way to keep their attackers at bay. This was going from bad to worse. "Justin, you goan' be okay? Should I call Fallen in to get us?"

Justin had quieted and was doing his best to clear the molten mess from his legs. It was a useless effort, he was only making this worse and was going into shock. "No, there's no time. Give me the gun back and go back. I'll stay here and cover the bombs."

Gambit blinked, trying to fathom what Justin was suggesting. It wasn't that bad was it? "Quoi?"

Justin gestured to his ruined legs, he wasn't going anywhere, not like this. "You heard me. We can't leave the charges unprotected. If we do all this will be for nothing."

"You stay, Gambit stays," Remy said without conviction. His damn survivor instinct was sending him alarms, double time. It was hard not to pick up and flee.

Justin grinned bitterly. "This was never your war, alpha. Take this box, there's something in there for Bruce. He's very special to me, understand?"

"Non, no. You comin' back wit me!" Remy stammered, not wanting to hear this even though he knew it had to be done. "We can work dis out. Let me call Fallen!"

"No, it's too risky. I admire your honor, alpha. Now, don't deny me mine. Give this to my Bruce. He won't be very happy with me, but I had to do this. I'm doing this for him. He's been the whole world to me."

Remy took the small box Justin had shoved at him, trying to comprehend what he was being told. He'd seen the two of them hanging around a lot, but it never dawned on him that Justin and Bruce were anything more than friends. Justin saw the hesitation in Remy's eyes. "Do this for me. Your debt is paid to the Clan, my friend. Go back and be proud of what we've accomplished here this day."

Gambit took Justin's box and crammed it into his pack which was now significantly lighter than it had been before. He gave Justin the gun back as he had requested but that didn't mean he was unarmed. He opened the bag of ball bearings, charging a handful. He tossed them through the open door into the hallway and smiled with grim satisfaction when the Dognan fell back as they exploded. A chunk of the ceiling in the hallway fell over the door, blocking Justin in and giving him some more protection. They both knew it wouldn't be enough, the Dognan men were determined to get in and they would eventually. It was just going to be a question of whether or not they did it before the explosives went off and only Justin's use of the gun would determine that. Justin had made his choice and so with great reluctance, Remy backed off they way they'd come. He hauled himself back up into the duct, but hesitated a moment more, his red and black eyes full of pain and woe.

Justin looked back at him, in pain but no longer afraid. "You've got no time, my friend. Get moving!"

Remy said a quick prayer and made his way back, double quick. It was much easier for him on his own, the fear driving him faster, faster. It wouldn't be any more pleasant roasting in here than it would been if he had stayed with Justin. He had no desire to die here in the twisted duct work like a Cajun TV dinner. He had a good memory and an uncanny sense of direction and so he made it back without mishap, but he did hear troops moving at a fast march through the building below him. Justin was surrounded and Remy heard echoes of him through the duct work. Justin was firing shots and shouting curses, laughing as if this was some kind of wild party and not his own death sentence.

Remy came out of the duct, back where he had started, grateful to find it undisturbed. In spite of all the ruckus the Dognan slavers hadn't discovered how they had gotten in. He gave a quick sharp whistle and Fallen came out of hiding.

She looked behind him, seeing he was alone. "Where's Justin?"

"We 'ad some trouble."

Fallen didn't question him. The troubled look in his eyes was answer enough. She started to unravel the leather straps, but the ground rocked beneath them as the first of the explosive charges went off. It wasn't close to being safe here and Fallen just snatched at him without ceremony, vaulting them both up into the air. A moment later, the blast wave came from the huge core reactor exploding and hit them in a cloud of smoke and heat. They both cried out as they were buffeted and Remy shouted, terrified that Fallen would drop him. He had nothing to fear, Fallen raised a telekinetic shield around them, buffering them from the heat and turbulence. It kept them from falling out of the sky but they were both singed and smelling a bit crispy when the dust finally cleared. Fallen held him easily and took off towards the Lucky Dragon, their end of the bargain done.