Summary : With every good time comes a price. Part 12 of my Kimble series.

Notes : Rated M for language, violence, and sexual situations.

AU but only because I chose to change a few things in my dear friends' histories for simplification, nothing drastic so please forgive. I've been working on this story for years so I do ask that you don't use any of my non-Marvel universe characters without my permission. I love my Siskans as I do my children.

Updated 10-15-13 to add (break)s as needed and to fix yeah, you know, all the crap I screwed up, lol.

(One)

It was early afternoon when Henry looked up with his usual smile as he heard someone enter his lab. His face faltered when he saw Gambit leaning in the doorway. His face was flushed and he belched loudly, rubbing his belly. "Uhnn... Gambit don' feel so good."

"That's okay. You don't look much better. Come lay down."

Henry eased Remy to a bed and lay him down, feeling his forehead. "You've got a fever."

"No shit..." Gambit wheezed. He groaned again and then leaned over suddenly, vomiting into a wastebasket at the bedside. The mess was minimal, he had been sick from drinking enough times to know the terrain, he knew where to aim. Henry was one of the few who didn't give him any grief about the binges he sometimes indulged in after he and Rogue had one of their many fights.

"At least you aimed that away from me."

"Uhh...Je suis de'sole, mon ami. Gambit give de maid a tip, neh?"

"Did you do a lot of drinking last night?" Henry knew Remy had defied orders and had taken Kimble off the grounds.

"No more dan usual...mebbe a little less. Gambit was a little busy..." he finished suggestively, still the clown even when so obviously sick.

"Spare me the details. It looks like you might have a touch of the flu."

Henry got up and removed most of Remy's clothing before covering him up. He left and returned with a thermometer. While he waited for the results, he cleaned up Gambit's mess. He didn't mind, really. It was his job to look after people and it pleased him.

He read the thermometer and saw that Remy did in fact have a fever. One quite high actually. He set up an intervenes drip to make sure he didn't get too dehydrated and to give him some meds to ease his nausea. In spite of this, Remy couldn't keep anything down. After the first volley, he was heaving almost constantly. Henry tried to make him comfortable and gave him something to help with the vomiting. It didn't work. Remy stopped heaving only when there was nothing left to come up.

A couple of hours later, Kimble wandered into the med bay, a can of soda in his hand. He had left Fallen to her pleasant dreams and decided to come down and see what Henry was up to. It was now suppertime, so he figured Henry would be in the lab. He felt much better from Remy taking him out, enough to try and be sociable. Maybe he could score a Twinkie or two.

He paused on his way to Henry's office when he heard Gambit moan from one of the beds. Beast had closed the curtain to give Remy some privacy and Kimble hadn't known he was there. Kimble made his way to the bed and peeked around the drape.

Remy was lying balled up and clutching his stomach in obvious pain. Kimble didn't hesitate, but went right up to him and touched his shoulder. "You okay, Remy?"

Gambit looked up at him and gasped, "Give a boy a hand, ey? I gotta get to the bathroom. I ain't gonna make it on m'own."

"Shure."

Kimble set his soda down and eased Remy out of the bed, being careful with the IV. Gambit was weak from being so sick and could hardly stand up. He was very pale except for the flush in his cheeks. His skin was hot and dry from the fever and Kimble didn't like it one bit. Remy was dressed only in a hospital johnny that made him seem all the more frail as Kimble helped him hobble his way to the bathroom. He helped his friend down onto the toilet and stood by, waiting to help him back to the bed.

Remy grinned up at him. "You ain't gonna wanna 'ang around for dis, little brother. Trust me. Gambit give a call when 'e's ready, non?"

"Okay," Kimble said with a laugh and closed the door. His smile fell when he heard Remy groan from behind the door and the sound of him torturing the porcelain with his ass. "Jeez..."

"Everything all right?" Beast asked from behind him, making him jump.

"Remy's butt just exploded. Yer gonna need some air freshener...maybe a plumber, too."

Henry laughed at Kimble's humor. "Yes, the poor boy's been through the wringer. I just brought him in here only a few minutes ago. I guess one visit wasn't enough."

Kimble's tone dropped a notch as he became more serious. "He don' look so good."

"Don't you worry. He's in good hands. Why don't you stay close and give me a hand? I've got to run through his blood work. It would be great if you stayed and looked after him so I could finish."

"Shure. He's done so much fer me."

"Yes. In Remy you've got a true friend," Henry said, giving Kimble's shoulder a squeeze before returning to his office. He glanced back, just once with a small smile. He had no doubt of Kimble's devotion, it was there in his eyes. Henry thought these two friends had been very good for each other. Gambit was normally very shy and quiet, almost never around. His presence had been almost constant here since their return, largely due to his looking after Kimble. Gambit had needed a good friend, and Kimble was there.

Kimble waited patiently until Gambit opened the door and leaned helplessly against the door frame. He looked even worse than before. Kimble took his weight and Remy sighed with relief. He was trembling now and let Kimble pick him up without protest. He just didn't have the ability to stand anymore. Kimble carried him easily, using his power to steady his burden, and lay him gently back down on the bed. He covered up his friend and lay his hands on his head, unable to hide his worry.

"Gambit's okay..." Remy wheezed. "Jus' so tired...so tired..."

"Rest now. I'll watch over you. You need anathin', I'm gonna be right here."

"Merci..." Remy closed his eyes and fell instantly asleep.

The Professor rolled his way into the med bay just in time to see Kimble carrying Remy back to his bed. He had no idea Gambit was that ill and it frightened him a little. He did take some comfort in Kimble's obvious concern and readiness to help. He had come down to have his look at the new and improved Kimble so this was as good a time as any.

He rolled over as Kimble closed the drape and stepped back to sit on the bed next to Remy's. Kimble left the curtain open enough so he could look at Gambit's tired and drawn face. Even in sleep, Remy found no peace.

"How is he?" Charles asked.

Kimble looked up at him with eyes clear of his earlier raging emotions. "He's real sick. I hates it."

"Well, with Henry looking after him, he should be okay."

"His shine don' look good. It ain't so bright."

"His shine?"

"Yeah. You all gots shines. I kin sees 'em. Sometimes they tell me stuff. Remy's ain't so bright no more. He's real sick. Maybe even dyin' sick."

The Professor tried to take in what Kimble had just said without getting prematurely alarmed. "Did you tell Henry?"

"Naw. He's lookin' over Remy's blood. He's gonna sees it, I figger. 'Sides', y'all ain't gonna take my word for it," Kimble said with some bitterness, lowering his voice as he tried to avoid an argument. He was just making a statement.

Charles chose not to bite, but asked instead, "Did something happen while you were out?"

Kimble grinned. "Nuthin' bad," he joked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Charles smiled at Kimble's playfulness. It was true that the change in Kimble was easy to see. He was mellow and his eyes held none of the frustration Charles had seen earlier. Kimble was worried, but he was calm and in control, merely waiting for the next thing Remy needed.

"Did you two eat anything?"

"Nope. Well, I didn't. If he ate sumpthin', it wuzn't when I wuz around."

"This is not a case of mere food poisoning, nor is this just a normal flu," Beast said, coming from his office and rubbing his eyes. "We have a serious problem."

"Oh?" the Professor said, not sure he wanted to know. The look in Henry's eyes wasn't good.

"I've only just started looking at Gambit's bloodwork, but it already looks like our Cajun friend picked up a real nasty bug. Possibly a manufactured virus, but it's too soon to tell. Whatever it is, I've never seen it before."

"Jael?"

"Possibly. Probably. I just don't know."

Henry looked past the Professor's shoulder and scowled when he saw his next two visitors come in. Rogue had her arms around Storm who was clearly ill, and was helping her to the nearest bed. "I've got a bad feeling about this," Beast grumbled and made his way over.