(Two)

Henry paced restlessly, frowning as his infirmary began to fill up. First Gambit, then Storm and Jean, followed by Scott. It wasn't much longer before he got a call from the holding cells. The Clansmen were all sick, Bruce being the worst. Bobby, the watchman most often on guard down with the Clansmen, fell sick next. Finally, the Professor himself started with it. Then came scattered cases throughout the house.

Henry made some frantic calls, warning all students who were out of town not to come home. Maylee and some of the other students had been gone for a week on a field trip and were due to return the next day. He made sure they stayed put and didn't come any closer. He hoped they had been gone long enough not to be infected in the first place.

Beast wasn't stupid, he saw the pattern here. Remy had been taken prisoner by Jael and been returned relatively unscathed. Logan and Storm picked him up. Logan's being germ free was no surprise, but now Storm was ill. Henry feared this was no accident nor just an ordinary flu being passed around by close friends. He finished more scans on Gambit's bloodwork and confirmed his suspicions that he was dealing with a man made virus here. Jael had thanked Gambit for his intrusion by infecting him with some kind of bug. The problem was that Remy got around, the thief had passed it on to others who passed it on further still. Bruce had to have been infected by Wolverine who had been with Remy only a few hours before. There was no way of knowing how many people had been exposed.

Hopefully this was just some kind of troublesome intestinal thing. Even so, Henry knew all too well how serious these things could turn out to be. He was stubborn and not ready to buy into Kimble's belief that this thing was deadly, not just yet. He spent a great deal of time in the lab, cross checking this thing against all of the known viruses in his massive computer main frame and looking for a possible cure. So far, his attempts to treat the symptoms were helping, but only delaying the virus from running its inevitable course. The bitch simply refused to die.

Kimble stayed in the infirmary to help out. Henry had put him to work gratefully, asking the Siskan to tend to the sick by making sure they had water, blankets, and other minor forms of relief. As capable as Kimble was, he was soon swamped and Henry gave Fallen and Logan a call to give him some relief. They both came quickly and went to work taking care of the sick. It was helpful that these three would be resistant to the bug and could be relied upon to aid the sick without coming down with it themselves.

Kimble came over to Bruce's bedside with a basin of warm water and a rag. He had been making the rounds and Bruce was next. "Yer sick, too?"

"Yeah. Lucky me. It's been a while. Forgot how much it sucks."

"Glad I don' git sick," Kimble commented. "This don' look like too much fun."

"Trust me it isn't." Bruce gave a grateful sigh as Kimble began to gently clean him, washing away the sweat from his heavy fever. "Why haven't you come to see me down at the lock up?"

"I tried. That asshole Logan wouldn't let me. Said I wuz some kinda security risk, the prick. Maybe he figures I'm so desperate fer comp'ny I'll be huntin' Vally down next."

"Still having trouble making friends?"

Kimble laughed a little. "Fallen always useta joke around that I wuzn't properly socialized or sumpthin'. Guess it's really true. Folks here don't care fer me much. At least Remy's nice to me. He plays with me when he can. He took me out the other night. I gots ta go dancin'. I had a real nice time."

Bruce could hear Kimble's love for his friend. "You and him are lovers?"

"Heh, I wish," Kimble replied with a snicker. "Naw, he don' like me like that. 'S a downright shame. He's so pretty, I cain't hardly stands it."

"He is a charmer," Bruce agreed, sharing Kimble's appreciation. "But he'll never be my Justin."

"He's good enough for me. Yer Justin didn' always play so nice," Kimble commented, remembering the savage beating he had been given.

"That was only because he thought you might steal me away."

"Guess I don' hafta worry 'bout that no more."

"What? Justin or stealing me away?"

"Yeah. Like I'd want a sweatin', stinkin', barfin', used up old man like you," Kimble teased affectionately with a laugh. He brushed back Bruce's sweat soaked hair, washing his face some more.

Bruce grabbed his wrist. "Stay with me," he said a little too seriously, then embarrassed, retreated with a short laugh. "I feel like shit and I don't want to be alone."

Kimble grinned. "Shure."

Kimble made Bruce more comfortable with a fresh johnny and a change of sheets. He then saw a book at Bruce's bedside and picked it up, it was the Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien. "You readin' this?"

"Yeah, the Professor gave that to me. He said I would like it because it had dragons and castles in it. Why don't you read it to me?"

"Shure."

Kimble found a spare chair and dragged it over. He read for Bruce quite a while, enjoying the book very much himself. Bruce had nodded off somewhere a few pages back before Kimble noticed and he set the book down with a smile. They would finish it later, he promised. He clicked off the little light next to Bruce's bed and gave him a gentle kiss on his forehead before withdrawing. He refreshed his basin of water and made his way to the next bed.

Rogue was there. She was just starting with the sickness, a reward for bringing Storm down here earlier. She was invulnerable to most forms of attack, but not this. Kimble came by and said a little stiffly, "Kin I gits ya anathin'?"

She turned her head to look at him and gave him a small smile. "It's hot in here."

" 'S just you, kid," he said, warming up a little. He was conflicted in his feelings about her. She was an alpha and beautiful like all the others, but she was Remy's girl. The one who had hurt his friend so deeply without seeming to care. Still, she was sick and her face was shiny with the sweat from her fever. He wet a cloth and began to gently wipe her face.

A short distance away, Logan lounged in the doorway to Henry's office, taking a break. He cocked his head when he saw Kimble go to work. He snapped his fingers to get Henry's attention and pointed when Henry looked up. Beast scowled at being interrupted, but when he saw what was happening — or rather what wasn't - he grunted softly in surprise. Kimble was touching Rogue with unprotected hands and nothing was happening.

"Well, I'll be damned," Henry whispered softly, not wanting to get Kimble's attention.

"Don't suppose this little bug inhibits people's powers?"

"No. No it doesn't. It can only be because he's not organic."

Rogue had noticed this as well. Her eyes had opened wide in surprise, but she said nothing and Kimble continued to massage her with the cloth, oblivious. There were so many alphas here, he simply couldn't be bothered to keep track of everybody's powers. It didn't register as anything out of the ordinary when she lay her hand over his and closed her eyes, enjoying the touch of his skin against hers. He knew she was suffering and figured she only wanted some comfort. "Are ya thirsty?"

"Yeah," she said, wanting to keep him there.

He reached over to her night stand and filled her cup with some ice water from a pitcher. She drank it and was grateful. Her eyes never left his face. "How's Remy?"

"He's sleepin' last I checked," Kimble replied, his voice hardening up again. Her mentioning Gambit's name had reminded him of just who she was. "Manny's close by. He ain't that sick yet. I'll send him over to ya."

Rogue wanted to protest as Kimble moved away, but saw from Kimble's posture he was done with her and only wanted to leave. She couldn't hide the crestfallen expression on her face. She had found someone who could touch her without shields or barriers and he wanted nothing to do with her.

"How long b'fore that's trouble?" Logan complained, moving back inside Henry's office where he wouldn't be heard by the pilot. Kimble had come closer, speaking to Manny as promised.

"Kimble is Remy's friend. I can see he's very respectful of that. She's probably the only one here he won't go for."

"Maybe he wasn't the one the I was worried about."

Henry just shrugged and went back to his computer. He had much more pressing problems to wrestle with at the moment. Logan went back to his watchful post. He saw Manny sitting next to Rogue and her distracted eyes, she continued to track Kimble as he moved about the room and he sighed softly with impatience. This he did not need. Kimble was trouble enough on his own.

(break)

Kimble kept moving as he made his rounds and paused when he passed Joseph's bed. The Clansman was lying curled up tight, unable to hide his fear at what was going on. He had never seen so many people sick like this. Both Bruce and Valentin were much worse off than he was and it frightened him. This was not an enemy he knew how to fight, especially not on a world as alien and strange as this. He was a warrior from a place little better than Medieval times. Here he was surrounded by alphas and machines he had no clue about. He was very much alone.

"Hey, Joe," Kimble whispered softly.

Joseph startled at the sound of Kimble's voice and immediately threw up his defenses. The rude arrogance returned to this eyes and he sniffed, "What do you want, freak?"

Kimble tried not to show how much the derision still stung. He put on his best face and replied, "Jus' seein' if ya wanted anathin'."

"I-I'm a little thirsty," Joseph replied, trying not to look so weak.

Kimble smiled, knowing better. He went to Joseph's table and poured him some fresh water. He had freshened his wash basin of water before coming by and now wiped down the face of the man who had once killed him. Joseph couldn't hide his relief at the coolness of the water. He, like Rogue, was hot with fever. Inspired by Joseph's positive reception to his attention, Kimble gently stripped the man down and began to wash him for real. "Been wantin' ta do this fer a long time. Ya stink, Joe. Honestly," he grumbled with a laugh.

"How is my Master?" Joseph asked, trying to change the subject. He wasn't fighting Kimble's attentions, however, the water was cool on his parched, dry skin.

"Same as the rest, I guess. Maybe a little worse. I heard Henry say maybe it's cuz this is a strange place fer yous guys. You ain't been sick here b'fore. Makes sense, I guess."

"The Clan will come for us," Joe said, trying to sound confident.

"Maybe. You an' Vally kin go back, I could give a shit less. Me an' Fallen're stayin'. Think Brucie wants ta stay, too," Kimble said as he continued to wash Joseph down. He had never really seen any of the Clansmen up close like this and he noted that the man's body was covered with scars, probably from the many battles he had fought at the side of his Master, Valentin. This man was a fighter, a warrior like most of the X-men here and Kimble thought that because of that, Joseph had a better chance of fitting in here than himself. It made the pilot feel a little jealous.

"You can have him. Stupid little faggot boy," Joseph said in a pale imitation of his Master's disdain. His voice lacked conviction, he was afraid.

"Henry sez this is a fine place. I'll just bet the Professor could use a guy with a sword," Kimble said, surprising himself by trying to set Joseph at ease. He thought the chances of the Clan making it out here were remote and thought Joseph might think that way, too. Kimble hoped that by offering Joseph what had been offered to himself might set the man at ease. Besides being a fighter, Joe was also real, a living creature and something he would never be. It wasn't hard for the Siskan to see Joseph being accepted more easily than himself. "Maybe you should think about stayin' on."

"I already have a Master. I do not need another," Joe replied arrogantly. "Leave me. I'm tired."

"All right. You want anathin' else, just holler," Kimble said and packed up his things. He would need a fresh rag and basin, Joseph had been filthy. He backed off and watched as the man's facade of strength fell and he curled up, hiding once more.

Kimble lowered his head and walked away, a little sad now. He bumped into Fallen who gave him a gentle squeeze. He set his basin down and followed her out to the hallway for a smoke. He curled up beside her as she sat against the wall and she laughed as she put an arm around him. She whispered that she loved him and gave him a kiss. He smiled to himself, loving her attention. He closed his eyes and let her gently pet him, really needing this. He dozed for a while, warm and safe in her embrace. When he opened his eyes an hour or so later, she was still holding him. He sat up and stretched, but groaned when he saw more beds had been added to the line in the hallway.

"Time to go back to work," Fallen said softly and helped him up.