(Three)

Remy slid his sunglasses down and popped his gum, giving Logan a dubious look. It hadn't taken him long to show his displeasure at what looked to be a wasted trip by tormenting Wolverine with his reckless chewing. It was a sign of his nervousness and doubt that this little side trip was going to produce anything of value. They had driven out to this junky neighborhood, all of them keeping silent in the Jeep.

Fallen was in the back seat, sullen and sad, but Remy still held her responsible for Kimble's risk taking and didn't offer her much in terms of comfort. Fallen had been given an image inducer to disguise her misshapen appearance and it now projected an image of a pretty blonde. It was a false image and did nothing to hide her misery. She felt horrible Kimble was gone.

Gambit drove to where Logan had directed, his doubt growing with every mile. He stopped where indicated and parked. He got out slowly and looked around him, they were now standing in front of a crumbling old house at the end of a dead end street. Paint lay in chips all about, peeling off the walls like dead skin. Plants growing wild and untamed ran right up the sides of the house as if to take it over and claim it for themselves. Some of the windows had been broken and were boarded up, unrepaired. One good hurricane and this place was coming down, Remy was sure of it. He doubted anyone had lived here for a long time. He shook his head and groaned.

"Dere ain't no one in dis 'ouse, homme."

"Don't be too sure 'bout nuthin' ya see here, Cajun. Anya's not like anyone else I know. She's a recluse and real, real old, but it don't mean she don't know her stuff."

" 'Ow you know 'bout 'er den? Dis 'ow you get your kicks, lookin' out for creepy old women? Or jus' de femmes y' own age," Remy joked. It was true no one really knew just how old Logan was, but Remy, still being quite young, figured he must be positively ancient. No one this ornery could be as young as he looked.

Logan grinned at him impatiently. "A friend of a friend brought me here long time ago. Trust me, she's got the Sight. It's creepy what she knows."

Remy was about to make another crack about Logan being wrong about this stupid junky house in this stupid junky neighborhood and maybe they should all just go back home, when the door creaked open and a long haired old woman peered out at them. She smiled up at Logan. "You're late."

"Sorry, ma'am. We got a little side tracked," he apologized politely and took off his cowboy hat. Wolverine had actually made an effort to look decent for this little adventure, he had shaved and put on some clothes a little less worn.

Remy smiled and shook his head again. It always amazed Remy just how respectful and polite Wolverine was to old people and children. It was a gentle side not often seen. Logan was a complex man, just like himself.

"It's quite all right. I'm sure Molly will settle in fine. She's quite clever, you know." She gave Remy an enigmatic smile as she looked him over, but said nothing more.

Logan cocked his head at Remy who just shrugged in confusion. They had no clue who she was talking about.

The old woman withdrew into the house and they followed. The inside was just as disheveled as the outside. It seemed as though the only thing holding the house together were cobwebs and the tall stacks of moldering books that occupied almost every ounce of space in the place. The house had two floors, but the stairs leading up were so covered in dust, it was clear no one had gone up there for some time. They walked along narrow pathways in between the decaying library and crumbling furniture until they came to a small kitchen. This room was different from the others. It was bright and open and looked out onto a large wildflower garden in the back yard. The windows were open and the air was filled with the scents of the flowers and the buzzing of bees as they played and fed among them. Gambit wondered if this was the only room the old woman actually used. It was as if it belonged to a completely different house.

Remy and Fallen took seats at the small kitchen table. Some tea cups had been set out as if she had been expecting them. Remy hadn't seen Logan make any calls, but maybe he had slipped out and done it when he wasn't looking. Logan didn't sit, but leaned in the doorway patiently.

Anya sat across from Remy and poured him some tea. "You'll like this," she said.

He sweetened it and drank. It was quite good. He wasn't one to make much time for tea, but had always liked it. "Merci beaucoup, chere."

Anya looked at Fallen and smiled gently. "You can shut that off now, dearie. I can See what you really are."

Fallen returned her smile and clicked the image inducer off, revealing herself. She felt awkward and uncomfortable, like a spy. "Good morrow," she said politely.

"Have no fear. In this house we keep no secrets. You look much better this way. You are very pretty."

"No, I'm not," Fallen whispered, putting her head down.

"Seth thinks it's so and so it must be."

Fallen startled noticeably and looked back at Wolverine who only shrugged. "I told ya she can See. Just make sure you guys listen up. Anya here ain't steered me wrong, not even once."

"You are too kind, Old One. Come, sit with us."

"I'm just fine right here. We ain't here fer me. I brung ya the Cajun."

"You are looking for someone," she said to Remy. It wasn't a question.

"Dat's right. Someone came and took 'im away."

"This one, he has given you something. Your shine is brighter than it was just a few weeks ago."

Gambit swallowed heavily and removed his glasses, setting them down on the table. He had seen some really strange things but anything supernatural always awed him a bit. "You seen me b'fore?"

"Oh, yes. All your pain, your suffering...it was all meant to be. What was done was meant to happen. There was great harm - and great good, just not in a way you can see. That is the way of things. Always in motion time is. You have found the place where you belong now and you will have the happiness you crave." She cocked her head at him, her voice going wistful as she suggested, "Two or three at least, I believe. Yes, a boy and a girl. Gifted children, like yourself. Just be patient and keep your eyes open, won't be long now. You have already met the one who will become your wife."

Remy laughed a little, amused that she had Seen his greatest wish, but he didn't have faith enough to believe her prediction. Still he was willing to play along. "Gambit a popular fella, y know. 'E knows lots of girls. Don' 'spose you could be more specific for 'im, neh? Dat way he make sure not to piss 'er off," he said, falling into his comfortable role of the playful scoundrel.

"That would spoil all the fun," she replied with a mischievous smile.

Remy laughed, his eyes twinkling in amusement. He wanted so much to believe, but had his doubts. The thought of him actually settling down with a wife and kids seemed like a distant possibility and an unlikely occurrence, not with his reckless lifestyle and inability to sit still for half a minute. "Si bien. You sure know 'ow to tell a boy what 'e want to 'ear, fille, but I didn't come 'ere for me."

"Don't be so sure," she said with a chuckle at his doubt and nodded at the bundle under Gambit's arm. "You've brought me something."

Gambit slowly unwrapped the pictures Kimble had made and slid them across the table. He was a little uncertain how she would receive them since she was so old. He wished Logan had warned him of her age before they left, he might have been more selective about what he brought instead of bringing them all. He hadn't looked through them completely and had no idea what was in here.

"What are those?" Fallen asked, her eyes growing wide when she saw what he had brought. Gambit hadn't known what to expect here and so had told Fallen nothing of these.

"Kimble made dem. Wolvie say Anya 'ere need sumptin' of 'im to 'elp 'er See."

"Where did you get them?"

"Kimble's room."

"I had no idea he felt that way about you," Fallen said awkwardly.

"Mebbe dat's 'cause you don' pay him no 'tention. Dis boy don' 'ide nuthin'."

Fallen turned away, her eyes threatening tears. "I'm sorry."

"Kinda late fer that now, ain't it?" Logan grumbled.

"You don't understand. Seth -"

"Ain't de whole worl', chere," Remy interrupted. "You 'ave two children. You can't pass over one for de other wit'out sumptin' givin'. Kimble was breakin' an' you let 'im go like 'e didn' matter."

"He matters to me!" Fallen insisted, a hard edge coming into her voice. "He's always been there for me. I wouldn't have gotten this far without him, I know that."

"Now yer gonna hafta be here fer him," Logan said. "It's gonna take all of us ta find him. Could take a while, too. We've got no idea what Kimble's caught up in now but it looks real bad. Seth is gonna hafta wait."

Anya paid no attention to their bickering, she was looking through the drawings, mumbling quietly to herself. She had picked them up with old and trembling fingers and she sifted through them with a laugh, raising an eyebrow. She smiled up at Remy now, her eyes merry. "This one loves you," she whispered, slipping one of them out for him to see.

Gambit had only flipped through the ones on the top. This one was new. The drawing she had selected was an odd one of the bunch Kimble had made. It was carefully drawn with the clarity of a photograph, not roughly made like the others. It was one of the few that didn't depict a sexual act, but was one of Remy standing quite still with Kimble behind him, his arms around him in a loving embrace. They were both nude, but that wasn't the point. One of Kimble's lovely white arms was draped around Gambit's bare shoulders and across his neck, his hand just touching Remy's face in a simple, yet intimate gesture. His chin rested slightly on Gambit's shoulder, his lips lightly touching Remy's bare skin in a gentle kiss. Kimble's other arm encircled Gambit's waist in a fond, but not provocative way, it was a sign of love, not of lust entirely. Kimble had drawn himself as if he were translucent like a ghost, a secret lover whose presence was significant enough to be felt. It was a powerful picture, though simply drawn, and it had called to Anya with all the love Kimble had put into it.

"Is 'e alive?" Remy said softly, his voice almost too soft to be heard. The drawing Kimble had made took his breath away. The sexual ones had made him laugh because they were so fantastic, they were easy to dismiss. This one hurt because the love there was all too real.

Anya nodded slowly. "Yes. But forever changed."

"Where is he?" Logan growled from the doorway. He had known Anya a long time and had watched her closely, letting her work her magic and observing Gambit's reactions to what she had to say. He knew this woman could really See and wanted to gauge Remy's responses to see if her truths struck deep. Remy's body would tell him what was important.

"His future and yours are entwined," Anya continued to Gambit, ignoring Logan's question and looking deeply into Remy's face. "I See him there always for you. Always his love his there."

Gambit swallowed hard, but said nothing.

Anya looked through more of the pictures. "He is many people."

"Quoi?" Remy asked, still dazed.

She lay down the first one she had shown him, the one of Kimble and Remy together. "The Lover."

She pulled out another. This one showed a man with a shattered mirror face holding a sword. "The Punisher."

Once more she took from the stack. "And the Quitter."

Remy took the last one and turned it around so he could see. This one was very disturbing. It showed a shadowed image of a small girl chained to the floor of an empty stone room, like an ancient prison. A single barred window let bright moonlight shine across the floor. Remy recognized this place. This was the room Kimble had been incarcerated in on Siska on the night when the Dognan came to take him away, only the skin Kimble was wearing was different. Remy knew this child. This was the female Young Kimble, Sheyman's favorite skin, chained down. She was tiny here as she was then, a girl of about fourteen years of age. She had her head down, her eyes horribly sad and lost. She was covered in filth and grime. Flies buzzed around her as if she were a piece of garbage. A broken wooden sign was tied around her neck. It said, "Junta bay."

"De worse' evil in de world," Remy said, reading it. "I know dis from de files. Dis is Young Kimble t'inkin' she ain't wort' de shit she's covered in."

Fallen said nothing, but took the pictures and looked at them. It deepened her melancholy that Remy had instantly known what Kimble had expressed here. Yes, she recognized the image from the files as Remy said, but since she hadn't been so connected to Kimble's mind and feelings, it was just a picture to her. Not so to Remy, obviously. It made her realize that at some point when she wasn't looking, ownership of Kimble had subtly changed hands. Kimble now belonged more to this Cajun thief than to her. Kimble was gone and she had let him go, almost without a care. She wiped at her face as a tear finally broke free and dribbled down her cheek.

"Fear not, dearie," Anya said to her. "He would have left you eventually. These three are constantly at war, driving him away."

"What're you tryin' ta say?" Logan asked. This wasn't what he had expected to hear from Anya. "What do ya mean by he's three people?"

"He was defective when he was made, something not quite right about him. A mutant of his own kind." Anya paused when she heard Remy laugh a little, the thief hadn't quite heard Kimble's condition said that way before and although it was apt, it was also a little funny. She smiled at him again. "Yes, your friend is different. And unstable. It was made worse since the loss of his...father?" she questioned and continued when Remy nodded. "His world shattered and his mind and spirit with it. Now he is split, the three of them fighting like bickering children. The ones who made him knew this could happen. That is why the ones like him were always destroyed."

Remy balked a little. She hadn't been told anything about Kimble, there was no way she should know about him being a hologram or of Siska. "How you know all dis, chere?"

Anya smiled at Gambit with controlled impatience. "This is why you are here. To learn what I know, what I can See. I know he is not human, that he is not alive like you and me and so do you. So let's stop playing around about who and what he is, shall we?" She next pointed to the picture of Zander. "You know these people. This one did not surprise you, but this one did," she said, turning to the Quitter. "Surely you've seen her before? Not in the memories, boy, in the here and now. Look at her eyes."

Remy looked closely at it and a flash of images came to him. The low slump of Kimble's wings after he had been busted with Holly. The grief on his face after the vibration of Remy's disappointment had been sent his way and crushed his spirit. That was the pain he saw in the Quitter's eyes. That same look was there in the gym when Kimble had turned away from him on the beam as he asked to be left alone. I don' wanna be awake no more. That's what Kimble had said. "Oui, Gambit's seen dis one."

"She is the one who is causing all the trouble. The Lover and the Punisher, they work together to a point to hold this one down, but things have changed, some of the barriers have...melted away. Yes, I see fire, heat. Some kind of burning."

Wolverine was quick to explain, "He was attacked by a group of mutants. We think he might have gotten melted or something. We were afraid he was destroyed."

"But you had reason to believe he was still in some way alive. That is why you are here."

"That's right. You got any idea where he is?" Wolverine repeated, hoping she would get around to the meat of this so they could get going. Kimble's mental state wasn't as important as getting his ass back home where he belonged.

"He is with the ones who took him," Anya replied simply.

Logan smiled at her impetuous answer, but his eyes were hard. Like any good fortune teller, she was only giving him the minimum, wanting him to ask all the questions and guide the direction this was going to go. He really didn't have the patience for this and was aggravated that she was being so cryptic. She usually got right to the point, but not this time. "And where are they?"

"You will go looking, but you will not find him. I think in time he will come back to you," she answered, then paused before going back to where she had started. Again she went back to the maddening topic of Kimble's mental state, obviously she was trying to make a point. "The thing you must understand is that he is three people. He can lose one and the body will still survive. Understand?"

Remy was listening, his attuned senses telling him this was important, this thing she kept insisting on. Her words sent a chill shot right through him. He was hearing her message, and to his horror, they made a sad sort of sense. "Oui. You say de Lover can die. But de others remain in power."

Logan snorted and shook his head. "What? You sayin' Kimble's some kind of split personality? I know the boy ain't right, but that's goin' a bit far ain't it?"