(Five)

Gambit scrubbed the floor of the galley, feeling horrible about what happened. He had no idea what was going on, only that he had fucked up royally and poor Kimble had taken the fall for it. He wished he knew what was going on. He could hear Logan trying fruitlessly to worm the truth out of Valentin. He'd been at it for over an hour now and had nothing to show for it. Valentin was giving up nothing, enjoying the game too much.

Gambit stood stiffly and tossed his towel into the sink. He grabbed a cigarette from the table jar and lit it. He was trying to calm down himself. He was even more concerned about Kimble after Maylee's horrible accusation. His concerns were justified when he saw Kimble return with a large box. The pilot looked terrible, he had a haunted sad look in his eyes as he opened the cupboards and started tossing Valentin's stash of meat into the box.

Remy stood next to him, quick to apologize. "Je suis de'sole, mon ami. I 'ad no idea."

"Yeah, well neither did I," Kimble said gently, forgiving him with a tired smile. Remy's simple regret made Kimble feel all the more kind towards his new friend, it was a buffer towards Logan's harsher treatment of him. "That girl keeps her secrets. I been with her alla this time an she didn' tell me nuthin' till just now."

"Told you about the pens, did she?" Valentin's cruel voice rasped.

Kimble whirled, all too ready to vent his rage and frustration. "You knew! And ya brought this shit on board anaways!"

Logan saw Kimble's meager control already slipping away and moved in next to him. He locked eyes with Remy, daring him to stop him from keeping Kimble down.

Remy didn't argue, instead he stepped in between Kimble and Valentin, trying to block their view of one another. He did nothing more, hoping that Kimble or Valentin would say what was going on. He had no problem with them arguing as long as they didn't start fighting. He also hoped his presence would help Kimble remember his promise to be good.

"Of course I know," Valentin sneered. "I know everything about her, boy. Deep down inside she needs me. She wants me to give her what she needs. Something you'll never be capable of doing. You think the Hunter can be stopped with your silly kisses and stupid little songs? Please! I'm the only thing that ever kept her in control." He raised a large heavy fist. "See this? This is all she truly understands and needs, not your pathetic, soft, white brother."

Wolverine struggled to process what he was hearing. He looked at the packages of meat and then he remembered what he saw from his brief stay in the Dognan pen. The packs were hunting down the weak and eating them. He pondered Fallen's unspeakable crime, the one she allowed Valentin to punish her for. It came to him suddenly. Fallen had been just like Shayla, the pilot that had gone in with them and was taken in by the Angels. Or worse, he said to himself, thinking of how strong Fallen's spirit was. Carma, the leader. A woman who was not only a cannibal herself, but the leader of a pack of them might have a few issues. He cursed himself for not thinking of it earlier.

Kimble was beyond all that. He thought of Fallen's suffering at the hands of the monster before him and how it was ripping Seth apart. His rage spilled over and he lost control with frightening speed. So much for being good. He saw Valentin's raised fist, heard his cruel laughter, and forgot everything else.

"You asshole!" Kimble howled fearlessly and lunged for Valentin, his hands out like claws.

Logan caught Kimble as he flew by and held him back, once more using his superior weight to keep the Siskan in check. "Calm down!"

At their racket, Valentin began to howl like a rabid dog on purpose, raising a ruckus and adding to the chaos. He pulled against the ropes, but they held him this time. He was laughing like a madman, enjoying himself as he watched Kimble lose control.

Henry wasn't about to stand for it.. He stood behind Valentin and put his big blue hands on the big man's shoulders. He wasn't about to let Valentin break free like before. "Get Kimble out of here!" he ordered to Logan.

Before Wolverine could respond, Gambit weaved in between Kimble and Valentin, still trying to block Kimble's view of his antagonist. He knew Logan was stronger than he was and better able to hold the enraged pilot back. He charged a card with his bio-kinetic energy, hoping to catch Kimble's attention with it like before. " 'Ey!" he shouted sharply and held the card right up to Kimble's face.

Like before, Kimble's eyes locked onto the red glow. He didn't freeze, but Gambit clearly had his attention.

"Paisible maintant, cher. Easy now," Remy said slowly, working Kimble with his voice just as he had with the card. "Take it down, nice and easy. Soft, soft, now. Easy like. We gonna talk 'bout dis civilized and work it out, bien? You trustin' Gambit now?"

Kimble nodded, slowing down. He was easily mesmerized by Remy's kind eyes and gentle tone of voice. It appealed to his inner desire to please and Remy was asking him so nicely, it was hard to refuse.

Logan didn't quite buy it and wouldn't let him go, but Remy didn't hesitate to continue. "Talk to me, Kim. Tell Gambit what's goin' on."

Kimble took a deep shuddering breath and relaxed. He went slack against Logan and didn't fight him anymore. His anger was temporarily on hold as he listened to Gambit's easy words. He answered Remy's question in a tired, scratchy voice. "Vally knows her pain an' he don' care. He thinks her sufferin' is some kinda joke — Well, it ain't no joke ta me!" Kimble squirmed a little as he started to grow angry again.

"Shhh...Easy now. Relax. What's 'er pain? Tell me."

Logan waited for Valentin to cut in, but he had quieted and was watching Kimble as intently as everyone else. Kimble was putting on quite the entertaining little show.

"She wuz the Hunter in the pens. Huntin' and killin' ta stay alive. A cannibal. Three years I been watchin' her suffer cuz of it. An fer what! Fer sumpthin' she didn' have no control over!" Kimble raised his voice as angry tears spilled down his cheeks. "He coulda helped her, made her see that she didn't need no punishin' fer it, but NO! He had ta keep beatin' her down! You thought that last time wuz bad, huh? You weren't there when he broke her fuckin' jaw an' me an May had ta feed her cuz she couldn't fuckin' eat on her own! Or the time before that when he took that big ass fuckin' pipe wrench to her legs! You weren't there! You don' hear her screamin' evra time he lays down with her or hafta listen ta her heavin' her fuckin' guts out killin' his children! I wuz there! Me! It's always me fuckin' cleanin' up after!"

Logan held Kimble firmly as Gambit charged another card, Kimble was getting himself all worked up again. Remy was horrified by what Kimble had just let slip, here was the answer to his unspoken question about who's crime might be worse, his or Fallen's. Just the same, he passed no judgment. He gave his all to Kimble now, coaxing him back down with his soothing Cajun drawl. "Easy, easy now. Paisible, paisible, fils. We all done wit that now, ey? We gonna look after 'er. She okay now."

"I never did anything she didn't want me to," Valentin said evenly, looking up into Kimble's red, tear streaked face. "She could have run — jumped —anywhere, but she stayed. Why? Because deep down inside she knows she needs me. She doesn't want anyone else."

Kimble snorted with indignant rage. "She tried ta kill ya, Vally. What do ya know 'bout that, huh? Seems ya don't know her so well as ya think!"

Valentin shrugged. "Fallen is a little confused on account of that little faggot boy you call your brother. I'll take care of him soon enough, that's a promise. Once he's gone, she'll see the error of her ways."

Valentin's words had the desired effect. Kimble went off with a bang. He screamed a scathing torrent of mangled profanity and heaved against Logan again. No bright glowing cards were going to control him now. "You even think 'bout touchin' Seth, I'll kill ya! I'll rip yer fuckin' guts out!" he bellowed. "Motherfucker!"

Bruce covered his ears and tried to squirm away from Valentin on the bench. He was terrified of the enraged Siskan and wanted to be as far away from Kimble's intended target as possible. He leaned into Joseph who shoved him back with a impatient growl.

Henry had seen enough. The last thing he wanted was a brawl on the bench as well. "That's enough! Get Kimble out of here!" he repeated.

Logan obeyed and hauled Kimble towards the door. Kimble resisted, digging his toe claws into the floor, but Logan kept him moving. Logan hoped that Kimble was too out of control to try phasing through him again, if he did, Logan had no way of stopping him. Kimble remained solid throughout his rant and Wolverine gave him a mighty shove, tossing him back out into the Main Room. "You just calm yer ass down! We're all done with yer stupid crap! Can't ya see he's playin' you!"

Gambit followed Logan out of the galley, determined not to let the fight continue on out here.

Kimble moved away from Logan's hurtful words, staggering to the cage. He was getting overloaded again from all the violence. The horror of the story Fallen had told him and his rage towards Valentin was ripping him apart. His head was filled with violent thoughts. He wanted to kill Valentin. He wanted to take that big shiny sword of his and cram it right up that monster's ass. His belly clenched as his stomach threatened to heave and he bent over with the pain. He rubbed his hands against his stomach and for the first time he longed for the security of the hologram restraints. He felt so trapped here, like he couldn't get out. He wanted nothing more than to be reintegrated with the computer. It was easier then, caught in that two dimensional world. He couldn't interact physically and didn't have to worry about the consequences of his actions. The violence and hatred of this world had never been turned on him personally there. He'd felt no pain, no exhaustion. No real love either, he reminded himself thinking of Fallen's calm white face and her warm and gentle touch. He had to keep focused. He had to help her get through this. He had to keep her safe. He chanted the Siskan phrase Fallen used with Seth softly to himself as he rubbed his hands over himself, calming down from his own touch.

Wolverine watched him recovering, waiting to see if he was going to stand down or explode.

After a moment Kimble turned to him. His eyes were bloodshot and tired. He started to cry a little more and self consciously wiped the tears away quickly. "Ya don' understand. Ya don' know what happened ta her," he said as a way of explaining his actions.

"Yeah, I do," Logan said quietly. "I was in the pens and I saw what happened there. I saw Carma and I know what she did. I just didn't put it all together with Fallen until now."

"It wuzn't her fault!" Kimble said, his voice so terribly sad. "She didn' mean ta kill nobody. She ain't the Hunter no more. He don' need ta keep beatin' her down. He's killin' her a piece at a time. Her an' Seth both."

"Easy, Kim," Gambit said, trying to soothe him. Again, he was impressed at the depth of Kimble's concern for his family. He didn't think the emotions Kimble was displaying were false. He remembered the playful happy Kimble that had danced so skillfully and was laughing and playing around with such happiness. It bothered Gambit to see the same Kimble so miserable and angry. "It ain't gonna happen no more, d'accorde? We gonna take care of it, je promets. When we get outta dis, we're goin' to a place where he won't be able to touch 'er ever again."

Logan nodded, trying to hold on to Remy's optimism about their chances. "I know it ain't always been easy for you, but the Cajun's right. We got this one, all right? You gotta calm down, boy, and get yer shit together," he said, trying to sound comforting. "Get some sleep, whatever it takes. Ya look like shit. Yer fuckin' wasted. I understand we have to wait for Fallen ta heal, but how are you gonna look after her when ya can't even keep it together out here?"

Kimble nodded and started to walk away. He paused and looked back, flexing his big arm muscles in an unspoken threat. "I'm tellin' ya now, I loves her. I loves her an Seth an' May no matter what the kid thinks a me. I won' let him hurt any of one of thems, ya hear me? He ain't touchin' a one of 'em ever again. I'll do whatever it takes. I swears it!"

"You won't have to," Logan growled, more as a warning than words of comfort. "Nuthin's gonna happen."

Kimble moved away, unbelieving, and returned to Fallen's lav and his Mistress.