(Three)

Kimble had been listening as best he could from the galley door. At the mention of Seth's name, he took a few steps into the Main Room. He remembered Valentin's threat against his brother and wasn't going to stand for any more. Gambit hissed at him, warning him to go no further. Kimble obeyed for the moment, but his hands had already fisted.

Fallen laughed at her husband and shook her head. "Nice try, Valentin. I know you much too well, my Lord. There is no freedom with you. You don't desire me. You want only my power and what it can provide for you. That's just another form of slavery. I wouldn't slave for the Dognan, I won't slave for you."

Valentin smiled at her and took deep drag on his cigarette, appreciating her spirit. He blew smoke and spoke with a strange glow in his eyes. "I remember the first day I saw you. When they dragged you kicking and screaming from the pens. You were so wild and feral. What a thrill just to look at you fight them. Hmm..." he laughed. "You cut Jaska right across the face. He still carries the scars."

Fallen turned her head away, she didn't want to hear this.

"You wouldn't be tamed and they spoke of destroying you as they'd had to do to others before. I knew better. I wasn't about to let them kill such a fine creature as yourself. What a waste that would have been. I walked right up to you and took your face. Made you look at me."

Fallen wiped her face as a tear spilled down her cheek. When he spoke so tenderly like this, he could almost make her believe he actually loved her. She had to be strong and not let him sway her.

Valentin took his hand down from the screen and put it back, re-emphasizing his desire to reach out to her. "You saw me. I saw you. We knew each other then. I gave you my kiss and you were mine. I let you feel my hand and you've obeyed me ever since. I'm the one who really saved you that day. You want me and you know it. I am a part of you that you'll never be rid of. You love this Siskan? Pah! Like I said, it's his innocence that draws you. It'll only keep you so long. The Hunter will come calling and you'll be back for a taste of me again."

"That may have been true, once. No more. I've outgrown you. Moved on."

"Heh, right. Your heart is black, girl," Valentin sneered, showing her his teeth. "It's as black as mine. We are two of the same. Your Hunter's heart has been sleeping. Time for it to wake up to what reality is. You need me. You want me. You've never once denied me. You couldn't leave me behind for the Dognan and you won't leave me behind here. You'll come back with me and we'll cut Cerebus down. We will rule the Clan together as King and Queen."

"No."

"Yes! Let me out, Fallen!"

Logan sat up, ready.

Kimble took another step. This time he felt a large blue hand come down on his shoulder.

"Let them finish," Henry cautioned him. He would have put a stop to this himself except for the fact that Fallen seemed to be handling herself just fine. As bad as things were on this ship, Fallen gaining some kind of control over her own fate could only help them. He was willing to see this played out as long as no one lost their head.

Kimble trembled with rage, but stayed put.

Fallen shook her head again. "No, Valentin. You're wrong about me. I was weak so I let you torment me, thinking that was the only way to redeem myself. What a fool I was. So much wasted time. Seth has touched me with the purest love instead of your blackest hate. He knows me and what I did and loves me still. He speaks not of how I should use my power to hurt others or kill again."

"He is a boy and not even real, my lovely, how can he speak of what is true or right? You and I know what true power is and how real it can be. These Siskans are toying with you and your mind. Do you know that Kimble believes he is alive? How can this be if it is not insane? He's controlling you!"

Kimble jerked under Henry's hand but the weight of it held him."That dickless cunt ain't nuthin' but a big ass fuckin' liar, Fallen!" he complained but she ignored him.

Instead she hissed at Valentin, "No one controls me!"

"Oh, he does. This I have seen. Even May thinks it's so. You are blinded by your love for his brother. Blinded by something as false as the creature behind you. Kill him, Fallen! Kill him and win back your freedom! Release me!"

"Never!" she snarled and rose as blue Ristle flickered around her wrists. "You are what is false! All you know is Death and I've seen too much of it already!"

"Kill him, Fallen!" Valentin insisted. "He's crazy! He'll say and do anything to keep his freedom! Kill him and come back to your senses! Come back to me!"

"Forget it, Valentin! You and me? It's over! We had nothing! We are nothing! You have no Honor and so I shall never honor you or this pathetic excuse for a marriage! I am not your wife and never will be!" Fallen screamed in her rage and raised her fists. She was ready to fire off a blast of Ristle not at Kimble, but at the monster who had ordered it.

"Doncha even thinks about it!" Kimble shouted, not in anger from her actions but with concern for her. He knew she wasn't strong enough to try anything like this and he was right. She grunted in pain as a small trickle of blood dripped down from her nose. She wiped at it and it grew worse.

Henry released Kimble immediately and the pilot went to her protectively. Kimble cupped one hand under her chin to catch the blood, holding her back with his other. "Back off, Fallen! Ya cain't handle it!"

Logan stood up in between Fallen and Valentin. "Get her out of here!" he ordered to Kimble. "We're done with this!"

Valentin disagreed. "Look, Fallen! Even now he controls you! His weakness will be yours if you do not free yourself!"

Fallen squirmed under Kimble's grasp but he wasn't letting her go. "Give it up, baby doll," he grumbled in her ear.

"Break free, Fallen! Kill him now before he snaps and kills us all!" Valentin insisted.

"Shut the fuck up, ya stupid asshole!" Kimble snapped.

"Back off, all of you!" Logan growled.

"All of you can just go to hell!" Fallen snarled in her frustration and sent out a large pulse of telekinesis, pushing them all away from her. She turned and stomped off to her lav, slamming the door shut. They heard the sound of breaking glass as she hurled a jar in her anger.

"Yer dead, Vally! Ya hear me! Yer fuckin' dead!" Kimble shouted, enraged by the sight of Fallen's fury and wet of her blood all over his hands.

Valentin just laughed. "Look at you, you pathetic piece of fluff! You want her for yourself, huh? She'll never be yours! Not 'til I'm dead and she can't run back to me! You ain't never heard her squeal until you've scratched her back down to the bone, boy! You don't have the guts to do her right!"

Kimble launched himself at Valentin, his hands fisted.

Not this stupid fucking dance again! Logan swore to himself. He caught Kimble like before and tossed him back, shoving him repeatedly until he was backed up into the galley.

Kimble was swearing violently over Logan's shoulder at Valentin the whole way. Valentin gave forth a volley of his own, adding to the noise and confusion.

Maylee sat on one of the galley benches, sobbing. She blocked her ears to try and shut out all the shouting but they were too loud. Henry put his arms around her and tried to comfort her.

Logan slammed Kimble back into the wall. "I've had about enough of yer bullshit, boy!"

"Git yer hands offa me!" Kimble was out of control with rage and frustration. All he could see was red. He wanted Valentin's blood now. He wanted to cut him open and see it all come gushing out. He wanted to bathe in it and drink it all down. He growled like an animal and shoved uselessly against Logan, no longer sane.

"Not until you calm down!"

"Fuck you!" Kimble snarled and phased through Logan's body. He was thinking with an odd clarity not his own and acted boldly, instinctively, intuitively guessing at Logan's next move. Kimble turned in mid-stride, moving with grace, dancing in this fight, and caught Logan as he stumbled from the shock of his freezing inner core. Kimble snaked his arm quickly around Logan's neck and cinched it tight with the opposite hand, choking him. Kimble grinned wickedly, thrilled with his success, and whispered softly, maliciously, in Logan's ear, his voice unconsciously going gravelly and deep to match that of Mirror Face's own. "Well now, what do ya knows 'bout that?"

Logan reeled as his air was cut off. He'd felt the ice cold wave as Kimble passed through him, just as shocking as it had been the first time, and then something more. He actually felt the red hot burn of Kimble's rage and a horrible vision of a shattered mirrored face flashed before his eyes. This was now the second time this had happened, his receiving messages as Kimble walked through him, and this could no longer be dismissed as a fluke. Wolverine was forced to take the vision seriously and he immediately knew this was Kimble's nightmare. This was Zander. Damn, Logan thought as he recovered quickly. Kimble must be spending his time in perpetual terror. No wonder he was so unstable. But why am I seeing this now? Is Kimble telepathic, too? Cripes!

Remy took a step forward, raising his hands in an attempt to calm the pilot. Funny thing, though, he just loved it when somebody got the upper hand on his teammate because it happened so rarely. Gambit had no idea just how serious the situation had become, he didn't think for a minute that Kimble was any real threat here and his first reaction was to laugh. It was like some little kid kicking Wolvie's shins, it just wasn't going to happen. Gambit couldn't stop the humor in his voice as he spoke, "Esp'ere! Whoa dere, Kim. Just take it easy now, fils! Let's just all take a nice deep breath, non?"

Kimble wasn't listening. He was too filled with pride and a deep, intense satisfaction. The thrill of being in a position to punish those who had hurt him, just as Zander had suggested, suddenly didn't seem all that bad. He was going to show this arrogant prick a thing or two, oh, yes! Then they would see! He would show them all!

Logan cursed inwardly, knowing this action was going to have to be answered. He could already feel the hairs rise on the back of his arms as Kimble's body once more began to give off small telekinetic waves and knew he had no time. He wasn't about to wait around until Kimble figured how to fire off a telekinetic blast while he was awake.

Wolverine voiced his opinion of Kimble's new phasing trick by slamming his head back in a vicious head butt. Kimble had been so thrilled by his own earlier actions, he was completely unprepared for it. Because of the Adamantium in Logan's skull, it was like being hit by a sledgehammer. The Siskan yelped in agonized surprise and staggered back as his nose was crushed. Grey liquid, like blood, gushed from his nostrils and down his chin in a torrent.

"G'night, Gracie!" Logan growled, turning.

Kimble was already falling and losing consciousness when Logan gave him another unrestrained blow to the head. Logan had felt the depth of Kimble's rage and knew he had to take him down now and take him down hard. Kimble was ready to kill.

The force of Logan's second blow sent Kimble's body spinning and he landed in a tangled, undignified heap at Logan's feet. His 'skin' flickered in and out for a moment before resetting itself and staying in place. It was an eerie reminder that he was less than real.

Logan kicked him to see if he was going to stay down. "Are we done now? Fuckin' asshole!"

Kimble curled up automatically with a groan, not even awake.

Logan stood over him panting. He gave Kimble another kick out of frustration for all of this, but next cried out in surprise as Henry fearlessly shoved him against the next wall and pinned him. Beast was much heavier and trapped him easily, being careful to press Logan's hands away from his face in case Logan decided to take this to the next level. "That's enough, Logan! You had no right to hit him like that!"

"Get offa me, Blue!" Logan warned with a growl. He snapped his claws out on one hand, justifying Henry's caution.

"I wouldn't be doin' dat, furball," Gambit cautioned, this time with real intention, all of his earlier humor gone. He stood behind Henry and held up a card, backing up his teammate without hesitation. He hadn't charged it, but the threat was there in his glittering red eyes. He was furious at the force Logan had used, anyone could see that Kimble had had no chance against him. It had been overkill and unnecessary. Even cruel.

"Kimble's outta control! He's dangerous! He needed puttin' down! You saw what he did! I did what I had ta do!" Wolverine protested.

Henry backed off a little and Logan sheathed his claws. The blue doctor's eyes were still hard. "You didn't need to hit him that hard. He was no match for you."

Logan squirmed away from him and stood in the doorway of the galley, straightening his shirt as he recovered his dignity. "Now he knows it, too," he said arrogantly, daring the others to challenge his observation. "I'm gonna check on Fallen." He left in a huff.

Gambit shook his head, disgusted with the whole thing, how it had fallen apart so rapidly. "Don' know who's worse --- 'im losin' control or dat one dere t'inkin 'e can take Logan on even though 'e got nuthin' ta fight wit." His face softened a bit as he recalled the look of triumph on Kimble's face, momentary it had been, but still amusing. "De pilot, 'e got no fear, il est courageux, neh? Too bad de faible la chose can't take a hit."

Henry crouched down next to Kimble and examined him. The scientist in him was taking advantage of opportunity to finally get as close to this strange hologram as he had wanted. His fingertips carefully brushed strands of hair from the unconscious pilot's eyes, and he marveled at how real the silken tresses felt. Kimble's skin was warm and he could feel the heat of his breath as he wheezed. This skin was certainly more than capable of representing the injury done to him, two large bruises had formed on his side where Logan had kicked him and both of his eyes were bruised, one was already swelling shut. His nose was bent out of shape, but not broken. He didn't have bones in the real sense, but he was significantly damaged. Grey blood continued to bubble out of his nostrils as he breathed and it pooled on the floor. Henry dipped his finger in it and sniffed it. It was ice cold and had no smell. "Fascinating..." he murmured to himself as it shimmered and disappeared from his fingertip as if it had never been real. "This must be some kind of liquid energy. Ristle in physical form perhaps?" he continued to muse, thinking out loud.

"It's gross," Remy commented and tossed him a towel.

Henry used it to wipe at poor Kimble's face, the guy was a mess. Kimble groaned and whimpered without waking. "Poor thing. He's going to have to learn to be a little faster," Henry commented wryly.

The Cajun snorted laughter. "Gotta admit, 'e was clever in de beginning. At least 'e was t'inkin' a little bit before de furball sent 'im for a ride. Too bad it wasn't enough. Just once I'd like 't see Logan get what's comin' to 'im. 'E could use a good whuppin'," Gambit joked, grinning at the thought of Logan getting his ass kicked.

Henry laughed in understanding if not in complete agreement. "Perhaps a little humility would do him good, but I doubt our friend here will be up to the task."

Gambit cocked his head and looked at Kimble's ruined face, losing some of his humor. Kimble was wrecked. "Damn. Fallen ain't gonna be 'appy when she see dis."