(Fifteen)

Wolverine startled awake when Remy lightly touched him. He'd been deeply asleep, a rare thing for him. He hadn't realized just how tired he was. Still the lightest touch had roused him quickly. He had no idea how long he'd been out, it was at least a couple of hours minimum.

"Sumptin's wrong wit Fallen," Gambit whispered. Maylee was sleeping in the next row of seats behind Logan and Gambit didn't want to wake her.

Logan got up and went with Remy into the cage. The security grid was no longer activated and Fallen's bed was empty. The light was on in the lav and the door open so they went right inside. Fallen was seated on the commode, a blanket wrapped around her tiny body. She was having a nosebleed and it was a bad one judging from several bloody towels nearby. Kimble was standing next to her, pinching her nose off with another towel. He held the back of her head with his other hand, gently petting her. He was obviously frightened for her and losing his battle to hide it. Fallen looked wasted, ready to pass out. Henry was there, pawing through the med kit, looking for something.

Kimble looked back at Henry. "Please hurry!" he insisted without demanding.

"The little bottle with the grey stuff in it," Seth advised from the viewing screen.

"Got it," Henry said, sitting back with a small bottle in his large blue hand.

"You'll need a swab, too. One of the long ones."

Henry got one from a glass jar. He saw Logan and Remy in the doorway and he shook his head, worried. He went over to Fallen and knelt down in front of her.

"Dip the swab in the grey stuff. Put a good dab on it," Seth instructed. "We have to swab the sinus to stop the bleeding."

Henry did as he was told. He put a good amount of the grey paste on the tip of the swab. Kimble took the towel away from Fallen's face, scowling when he saw a small river of blood leak from her left nostril. He wiped at it, but the blood just kept coming. Kimble closed his eyes and cursed softly to himself. This wasn't going well.

Henry moved in and inserted the swab up Fallen's nose. She coughed, gagging.

"Easy, girl," Kimble soothed, holding her so she wouldn't move.

Henry gently swabbed her sinus and pulled the stick out. Her nose continued to bleed, but it was slowing down. Kimble wiped at her nose again. The blood slowly grew less and less and then stopped altogether. Kimble sighed with real relief, he didn't enjoy the sight of blood any more than Seth did although it didn't make him freak out. Fallen slumped against him, exhausted, and he gently rubbed her head with shaking hands, he was still scared for her and trying really hard not to show it.

"That's her second one in as many hours," Henry explained to Logan and Remy. "I don't know how much more blood she can afford to lose."

"Why is she bleedin' so much?" Logan wanted to know. He could smell all the blood and it sickened him.

"The Lightning thins her blood out," Seth explained.

"Still sure it was a good idea?" Logan asked, glaring at Kimble.

"Cain't bleed if yer dead," Kimble snapped at him sharply with a growl in his voice. He didn't like his decision questioned.

Logan stepped up to him. "You little punk!"

"Logan, please," Henry said, pushing him back. These two were proving to be quite a handful. He looked back at Kimble. "Cooler temperatures will prevail here. Both of you calm down!"

Kimble was grumbling, but turned to check on Fallen. She pleaded for him to behave with her eyes and he looked away, a small pout teasing the corners of his mouth. He went back to work, reaching for a bottle of Rishna and pouring some of it into a cup that was on the vanity. His face was tense, angry. He tried to swallow the resentment he felt from Logan's question and it went down hard.

He put the cup in front of Fallen. "Drink this," he ordered.

Her eyes closed. "Won't stay down..."

"Drink it anaways," he insisted a little more gently.

She sipped it and gagged. "I can't..."

"Ya gots ta take sumpthin' down. I ain't given ya whiskey."

"You don't have any kind of juice or soda?" Henry asked.

Kimble just blinked at him. "What's soda?"

"A carbonated sugar drink."

Kimble shook his head. "Alls we got's whiskey, beer, Rishna an' water. Maybe some tea." He looked at Henry and shrugged. "It's a Clan ship."

"How about a piece of fruit? One of those oranges would do nicely."

"There's some in the galley."

Remy left to get it, he was closest to the door.

Kimble tried to get Fallen to drink more Rishna but she turned away, uncooperative. Logan watched this, concerned. Fallen did not look good at all and he had serious doubts about Kimble being able to handle the situation. It was good that Henry was here but he couldn't help Fallen if he didn't have what he needed.

Remy returned. He gave the piece of fruit to Henry who peeled it and offered it to Fallen. She looked at it like she didn't know what it was so Kimble took it and sectioned it quickly, his fingers moving swiftly as he carefully tore it apart. He spoke softly to her in Siskan and slid a piece into her mouth. She chewed mechanically, staring off into space. Kimble fed her a slice at a time, whispering to her softly and petting her head to reassure. By the time she was finished eating, she didn't even look like she was awake. Kimble had relaxed her and she was still slumped against him. He carefully picked up her tiny body and lay her on the floor, pulling more blankets off the shelf to wrap her in.

When Kimble was satisfied that she was comfortable, he leaned back against the vanity and rubbed his eyes. "I'll stay up with her 'case she bleeds again."

"You look tired," Henry commented.

"I'm good. Jus' worried bout her is all. I did this. I'll stay with her." Kimble looked terrible. Henry wondered how it was possible for a program to look so exhausted but it was plain.

"I'll be here, too," Seth said as if he was capable of actually doing anything.

"I'll stay close as well," Henry offered. "I just need a minute."

Beast left the room, taking the other X-men with him. They grouped in the galley, having an impromptu meeting to decide what to do next. "She doesn't look good," he said to them. "I don't know what I can do for her. The supplies here are limited for this sort of thing. She's stocked up for battle injuries, but not for a head injury I know little about. If she bleeds again, I can put an IV drip on her to keep her from dehydrating. She's got plenty of bags of fluids so that's not a problem. I just wish I had some kind of monitoring device that wasn't tied into the computer. She has no stethoscopes or blood pressure cuffs, not even a thermometer." He sighed and rubbed his tired and aching eyes. "Really, what she needs most is to rest and keep some food down."

"What about Kimble? He looks like shit," Logan commented, concerned.

"I don't know. He seems tired, but we don't know anything about how his body works or anything else. Judging from the cube we saw, he has no internal organs or a real brain, so I guess we have to fly by night on this one. We'll keep an eye on him. I do trust him to look after her. He does care for her and seems capable enough. He's done this before I suspect."

"Won't do no good if he flips out," Logan complained, his distrust plain. He had been just as aware as Gambit had been of Kimble's anger and of his struggle to control it. "We should take turns keepin' watch. Just in case. I just woke up, I'll go first."

"No. You stay with the Clansmen, I'll stay with Kimble," Henry said. He didn't think it was a good idea for Logan to be alone with Kimble. Those two clearly disliked one another.

"All right. You get tired, you come and get me."