(Eleven)

Seth popped up on the viewing screen in the Engine Room.

Kimble sat on the floor of the Engine Room, in the middle of the telekinetic blast circle he'd created earlier. If he'd been surprised to see it, he gave no sign. He had opened the bottle of whiskey and gulped a quarter of it down in his haste to get as drunk as possible. It had been a really long time since he'd been drunk and he hadn't remembered that a little went a long way. His head was buzzing now and he was dizzy from having drunk the whiskey so fast. His face was flushed and his vision a little blurry, but he was well past the point of caring. He felt a little sick, knowing it was too late to do anything about it now.

"You okay?" Seth asked.

The music was deafening, but Kimble still heard Seth's voice from inside his own head, a gift from his telepathic connection with the ship. He deliberately ignored his brother and drank from the bottle again. He was pissed off and generally put out over everything that had happened, he wasn't in the mood for conversation.

"Kimble!" Seth snapped. He turned the volume down on the music.

Kimble rolled his eyes up at him angrily. "What!"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nuthin'." Kimble's voice was already slurring. He'd gone from merely buzzed to quite plastered very quickly. His eyes were already growing heavy and he didn't know how much longer he would stay awake. "Goes away an' leaves me 'lone!"

"Are you mad about me and Fallen?"

Kimble shook his head. He wasn't angry at Seth, just upset at all of the shit coming his way. "Nope. I'm real happy fer th' two a youz, really. Leas' sumbodyz gittin' sumpthin' round here. Didj'all have a real good time, huh?"

"Yes, it was great. I don't have the words to describe it," Seth stammered lamely. Was Kimble jealous?

"Don' hafta. I knowz it well enough. Didja feel 'er heart beatin'? Thaz the' best part, man. When ya kin feelz 'em alla round ya...luvin' ya...makin' ya all warm inside. Damn... I miss that more'n anathin'..." Kimble shook a little as a tear dribbled down one cheek. He wiped it away impatiently. He was really hammered now and his emotions beyond his control, he wanted to cry, sob away his anger like a child.

"What's wrong with you, Kimble?" Seth repeated, his concern all too real. He just wasn't used to seeing Kimble fall apart like this.

"Logan'z gonna put me inna box!" Kimble bawled in a loud complaint, spitting as he spoke. He drank from the bottle again, no longer caring anymore how drunk he was. He just wanted to blot everything out. "I won' go! He cain' makes me! I been inna box b'fore. Theyz putcha there b'fore they killz ya. I won' go. Not withouts a fight!"

"What are you talking about? Nobody's going to kill you. Fallen won't let them."

"She cain' stops 'em if theyz really wanna to. She ain't that strong."

"What's with you? You're the one who's usually telling me not to worry."

"Maybe youz jus' don' knows me so well az ya thoughtcha did," Kimble said sadly, his voice dropping as he was hit with a wave of fear.

"Kimble...are you Zander?"

Kimble put his head down as the tears came back again. "I don' know... Maybe... I think so... I don' know!-I don' wanna be!" He finally broke down and sobbed.

Seth was badly frightened now. "Come to the Black Room," he whispered.

"No...It ain't safe ta be round me..." He turned his head away from his brother, not wanting Seth to see his face all red and tear streaked. "What am I gonna do...?"

"Come to the Black Room, please."

Kimble wiped his face with his hands. A wasted effort, he was a mess. "Why?"

"Because you shouldn't be alone. Come play chess with me."

"I'm too drunk ta play chessz."

Seth laughed. "Good. Then I'll win for once. C'mon."

Kimble nodded and grew still as he sent his mind out along the invisible connection between himself and Lucky. Seth shut the music off, the silence was almost deafening after all of the noise.

(break)

Fallen was still in the shop when it went suddenly quiet in the Engine Room. She abruptly left Gambit and Logan and went to check on Kimble. She propped open the door and went over to the circle where he was sitting. She gasped in surprise, recognizing a telekinetic blast pattern as easily as the X-men.

"Kimble?" she questioned cautiously, but he was perfectly still. She crouched down next him, concerned by his stillness, he was like a strange alabaster statue dressed in black denim. She had never seen him frozen like this when his mind was back in the ship and it was completely creepy, not something she was used to thinking of with her dear friend. She was even more worried when she saw how much he had drunk. She knew Kimble liked the taste of whiskey, but had never watched him get this drunk. As Captain and his Mistress, she wouldn't have allowed it. She regretted now that she let him take the bottle.

Gambit leaned in the open doorway. From here he could smell the whiskey and he knew Kimble must be wasted. "He gone, chere. Let de boy sleep it off."

"Seth?" Fallen called out loudly, seeking her lover out with her voice. She wished she could reach out to him telepathically without Kimble's assistance, it would make this so much easier.

Seth came up on the screen, reacting quickly to her call. He wasn't in the control room, he was sitting in the circle of light from the Black Room. It was the first time Fallen had seen the room from the screen but she recognized it well enough. Seth sat in front of a chessboard, his brother lay passed out across the board among the toppled pieces. They had only played a couple of moves before he went down.

Seth had his hands on Kimble's head, petting him gently as he snored. "He's okay," Seth whispered reassuringly, the words coming out stiffly like a well rehearsed mantra. Fallen wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, he sounded so terribly sad. "I'll stay here with him. He'd do it for me."

"Did you speak with him?"

Seth nodded slowly. He surprised her by saying in his dull flat voice, "I don't think it's worth it to come out, Fallen. I've never seen him like this."

"What about us, Seth? Didn't you think that was worth it?" Her voice trembled as she spoke. She didn't like where Seth was headed.

"It isn't worth it if everybody hates you." The sadness of his voice cut into her.

"Nobody hates Kimble," she insisted, pleading for him to believe.

Seth did not. "Logan does. He wants to put Kimble in a box," he replied, still not quite sure what Kimble meant, only know that it was something bad.

Remy shifted uncomfortably, feeling Logan standing behind him. The emotions here were strong, the strongest ones by far being projected by creatures supposedly less than real. Maybe Logan would be upset by these words, if he was, then it would only mean that his teammate finally saw the truth of this situation. These Siskans were no simple program. They were real and needed to be dealt with as such, with understanding and not just barked orders and demands.

"Logan's just a paranoid old man with too much time on his hands!" Fallen snapped bitterly, furious at Logan now.

Seth's voice broke, just in time for a tear to come tumbling down his cheek. "Kimble is a lot stronger than I am. If Kimble can't deal with Logan...with everything that's going on with him...how am I supposed to? What's it going to be like for me? I don't think I can do this, Fallen." He was so horribly sad and looked as if he had given up all hope.

"Don't you bail on me, Seth! I need you, you hear me?" Fallen said loudly, rising. "I have had enough of all this, I swear it! We're getting out of here, now. I'll fix this damn ship and get us home if it kills me! I won't lose Kimble and I won't lose you to this madness!" She started to pick up the parts strewn about her as she began to cry. "I'll fix all of this!"

Remy came in the room, instantly trying to make peace and defuse the situation. "Paisible maintenant, Fallen, take it easy, chere. Let us 'elp you, d'accorde? You can't do it alone."

"No! You've all done quite enough already! Get out!" she said, her wet eyes blazing.

He backed up, already moving on to plan B. "Let me get 'Enry? He can 'elp you fix dis, eh? Just till Kimble wakes up."

Fallen calmed a little, easily soothed by Remy's agreeable intentions. He was not fighting her, only honestly trying to help. "All right." She glared at Logan and ordered, "But I want you gone, you hairy little asshole. You hear me? Kimble stays down here, you stay up there. That's final!"

Logan didn't reply but walked off, going up the stairs quickly.

Gambit left and Henry came down a few minutes later. Fallen had set up the parts both on the floor and on the workbench. She was using her telekinesis to move everything around, lightening the workload and speeding up the time. He was amused to see different pieces floating around here and there. She had skillfully cleaned up Kimble's mess and was organized and ready.

Kimble himself still sat in his frozen position, his head down. Fallen had removed the bottle from next to him, not wanting him to wake and drink some more.

Henry approached Fallen at the workbench carefully, Remy had warned him that her mood was less than peaceful. She gave him a wan little smile and handed him something to work on. They worked for a few moments in comfortable silence when Kimble shuddered and snorted from his position on the floor. He grumbled something with a laugh and fell over, still quite drunk.

Fallen went to him and kicked him gently. "Hey, you bum," she teased, unable to hide the affection there for him.

Kimble rolled onto his back and garbled something unintelligible up at her. He rubbed his hands over his face and messed up his hair, sloppy drunk and playful. He was feeling better after having visited Seth and had slept off the worst of his sadness. Now he was feeling silly and frisky with Fallen so close. He was dizzy and giddy, liking the way his hands felt on his skin.

Henry snickered from just behind her. "I see the drink hasn't improved his voice."

Fallen crouched down and smoothed Kimble's hair back. "You are such a child," she teased affectionately, looking into his half open eyes. This was so much better than the angry Kimble she had been seeing these past days, this was him more like his old self. She tickled him just for fun and he giggled, curling up a little. Not too much, though. He felt cute and wanted her to play with him.

She tickled him again and he laughed. "Hey, whaz th' big idear, huh? I wuz tryin's ta sleep!"

"Um hmm, right," she said, tickling him some more.

Having had a rough day, Kimble's power had waned and now his skin glowed a faint blue wherever she touched him, he was taking small mounts of Ristle from the contact. He giggled and squirmed, not even trying to move away from her. He was enjoying this immensely. He could feel her love for him trickling in with the Ristle and it was wonderful, making it easy to pretend none of this was happening and it was just the two of them here, friends just like always.

Fallen backed off, letting him catch his breath. "You gonna get up and help us?"

"Nope," Kimble said, smiling. "Too drunk ta do nuthin'. Well...almost anathin'. Maybe youz kin azk Remy if he'z change' hisz mind, huh?"

Fallen chuckled. "I think you blew that one my dear. Nice try."

"Seth worked real hard ta find that skin, too. What a waste..." Kimble's eyes grew heavy and he yawned, the Ristle he had taken in combined with the alcohol was making him sleepy again

Fallen could see she was losing him. "Maybe you'd best sleep this off, my dear."

Kimble mumbled something in reply but had already fallen back asleep. She sat next to him for a minute, getting up when he started to snore. She went into the shop and grabbed a blanket to toss over him, tucking it in around him for warmth. She started some soft music playing to cover his racket, then smiled at Henry and they went back to work.