(Two)

A short while later, Kyle came to Kimble's room. He brought some new uniforms for Kimble to wear, much to the pilot's relief. Kimble wasn't the only one to join the Freedom Kings who'd had crooked cat's legs and some decent pants were found. Kyle wanted to speak with him privately and so dragged him off to talk. Gail promised to wait for him so they could talk some more when he returned.

Kyle took Kimble to his private quarters. His room was small and hardly lived in since he spent most of his time in his aeries, not here. He sat the reluctant pilot down and asked, "Where did you go this afternoon? I was worried about you."

Kimble wouldn't meet his eyes. "I didn't like yer classes. I don' like the pictures of alla the dead people, they make me feels sick. An' why you gots ta teach me about guns and stuff? I don' wants ta hurts nobody."

Kyle was nervous about Kimble's response. He just didn't see how Cameron could be so sure that Kimble would make a good weapon, not with an attitude like this. "This isn't about hurting anyone, this is self preservation. We have to be ready."

"Them norms ain't gonna come marchin' in here," Kimble protested with all the innocence of a child. He had limited experience out in the world and his mind which always tried to look for the best in people, just couldn't picture this.

"That's very naive. The Friends of Humanity are calling for control camps and extermination of all mutants. That can't be allowed to happen."

"It's got nuthin' ta do with me."

"That's denial talking. I know you don't regard yourself as a mutant, but the fact is, if you went out on those streets right now, that's all people will see when they look at you. They won't bother to see the good and kind Kimble I've come to know. They'll call you a freak and try and hurt you. They'll drag you off to some camp and stick a number on your forehead. I don't know if they can kill you or not since you're not organically alive, but it won't matter. They'll just use you to haul the bodies of the dead ones away..." Kyle was forced to pause when Kimble suddenly turned away in horror and gripped his stomach. The pictures he had seen that morning were still too fresh in Kimble's mind.

"It won' happin...it cain't. Folks jus' ain't that bad!" Kimble complained, trying to hold onto this idea of people being inherently good. It was true most of the ones he'd met were not bad, especially the ones that had nothing to do with the Clan.

"Sure they are. Those pictures you saw this morning were the real deal, Kim. The Nazis came in and saw a bunch of people they didn't like and wiped them out. These were normal looking people, not freaks like us. They just felt a little differently about God and that was enough for their destruction."

Kimble rubbed his aching stomach, he didn't want to talk about this anymore. He shook his head and asked, "What's all this stuff about me bein' some kind of Guardian? I heard some of the kids talkin' about it behind my back. They looks at me funny."

"The ShaRain is a special Guardian with powers who will come and help protect us. Joshua has visions and he claims he knows what the ShaRain looks like and what he can do to help us. Based on what he said, Cameron thinks it's you. He told some of the other students here so they could help you settle in more easily."

Kimble snorted. "That ain't me. I ain't no protector. I'm just a guy waitin' on some angel, that's all. I wuz made ta make people happy. Make 'em feel good an' shiver all over, not learn how ta make guns an' shit. I don' wanna hurt nobody."

"No one's asking you to hurt anyone. This is about protecting us. In order to know how to protect, you have to know how the enemy thinks. You might lose your powers someday. You have to know how to fight on your own."

"But I ain't gots no enemies!" Kimble continued to protest.

Kyle was experienced enough to twist Kimble's protest into something he could use. He had seen quickly that while Kimble might not know how to fight, he knew a thing or two about loyalty. Of course he did, he was the Lover. "You're part of a team now, Kim. We work together. If someone came in here right now, wouldn't you want to help us?"

"I guess so," Kimble replied, softer now. Kyle's ploy had worked, he had used language the Lover could understand. Kimble might not like to fight, but he could when those he loved were threatened.

"That is why you have to train."

Kimble nodded at that, seeing Kyle's point and conceding. "What about flyin'?"

"I'll work with you tomorrow. I can see the classes might have been too much for you. After lunch, you and I will have a session. If I do that, do you promise to try harder?"

"All right." Kimble paced restlessly. His bellyache had subsided, but not his worry. The Lover was still loyal to those he loved and he asked, "Kin I use a phone now? I wants ta call home. Maybe if ya gots one of them books with the numbers in it, I kin finds it." He had seen Henry use a phone book back at the Mansion.

"You seem especially anxious. Is there someone in particular you want to talk to?" Kyle asked, stalling. He was still under orders not to let Kimble call out, the last thing Cameron wanted was the X-men barreling in here and stealing his precious find away.

"I wants ta talk ta Remy."

"Tell me about him."

Kimble smiled with affection as he thought about his good friend. "He's a thief. They calls him Gambit."

Kyle's eyes opened wide. "Gambit is your friend? That's a joke if I ever heard one."

"What do ya mean?"

"He's nothing but a cold hearted killer."

Kyle did not know Gambit personally, very few people did. Remy had come to the X-men well after Kyle left. Gambit's exploits were the stuff of legend now, boogy man stories passed around from mutant to mutant by those who knew nothing about him. His reputation simply preceded him and he was regarded as a pariah or monster because of the slaughter. It didn't matter that he hadn't killed a single Morlock, bringing the killers themselves down there was just as bad.

"He ain't no killer!" Kimble protested vigorously. "He's good an' kind' an' wuz the only one nice ta me there."

"He's a killer, son. Didn't anyone tell you what he did?"

Kimble grew angry and felt a restless stirring inside of him. Zander had been aroused by his wrath and was milling about, jerking on his chains. Kimble fisted his hands. "That wuz an' accident! He didn' know what wuz gonna happen!"

Kyle wasn't fazed by Kimble's outburst. This was something he could use to distract Kimble from trying to use the phone. "He brought Sabretooth down there into the tunnels. Now, there's only one thing that guy does. He kills. There is no way your little buddy there didn't know what was going to happen."

"He wuz just a kid!" Kimble growled, his voice going deeper as he refused to back down.

Kyle just smiled at him, not quite afraid of the Punisher just yet. "Did he ever tell you why he did it? What Sinister gave him to make him go?"

Kimble paused. "No. He jus' said it wuzn't fer money."

"Really? Than what was it, hmm? What could a freak like Sinister possibly have to offer him that he would want besides money? The guy was a sicko doctor, a geneticist."

Kimble shrugged. "I dunno...but Remy ain't about money. He don' run around with nice stuff. He gots the smallest room in the place an' there ain't hardly nuthin' in it."

"I'll just bet he's got other places besides there. I do."

Kimble couldn't argue with Kyle's well said point. Gambit had taken him to an apartment he suspected no one else knew about. Maybe he had other things hidden away, too. Kimble turned away, not wanting to talk about this anymore. "That still don' make him not my friend."

"Maybe. But what kind of friends lie to each other?"

Kimble was silent. He felt sick and just wanted to go away and do something else, just the way Kyle wanted to make him feel. He turned away and walked to the door, trying to run from this unpleasant conversation, but Kyle stopped him with a gentle hand. "Wait, Kim. Don't walk away mad. I didn't mean to upset you. Let's go down to the bar and have a drink? Gail will wait up for you."

Kimble nodded, still not happy, but happy enough to have a drink. He didn't like the idea that Remy might have lied to him and used him, his heart simply could not agree with what Kyle had told him and he was sullen and angry. He was silent as they walked down to the bar and he sat on his stool, brooding.

The music was loud and Kyle was distracted by some of the dancers. There were always pretty girls here and he couldn't help but look them over. It kept his mind off his situation. He was relieved he had gotten Kimble away from the idea of a phone call and was happy now that it was over with. He had never agreed with the policy of isolating newcomers, but dealt with it as part of his job. He had done his duty now and wasn't aware of how upset Kimble was by his words.

The pilot had ordered a Rum and Coke and looked down in the swirling dark liquid of his glass. "Remy wouldn't hurts me," he spoke softly to himself. Of course he was never really alone, not anymore.

Zander put in his two cents worth. He used Kimble's mouth to say, "Toldja that boy wuz no good fer you. Just fergits him. We gots work ta do anaways."

"I liked his hands on me," Lakotashay replied out loud as well, saying something positive for once. "He made me think of father."

Kyle turned away from the dancers and saw Kimble with his head down, muttering to himself. "Hey, you okay?"

Kimble wouldn't look at him. He was becoming blind to these new audible exchanges and wasn't paying attention to anything else around him. He rubbed his hand on his cheek in a gentle caress, closing his eyes. "I liked it, too. He wuzn't ever mean ta me. Not even once."

"What about that time he yelled atcha, huh? He wuzn't so nice then," Zander complained.

"That's cuz I wuz touchin' his girl."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe ya jus' saw how he really wuz."

"No. He wuz nice ta us!" Lakotashay insisted sharply.

Kimble little impromptu conversation was now loud enough for Kyle to hear. He put a hand on Kimble's shoulder. "Hey, Kim. Chill out, okay? I didn't mean to upset you."

Kimble sniffed and looked up at him, breaking away from his now outer and not so inner selves. "I'm all right."

"No you're not. You're sitting here talking to yourself. What can I do to make you feel better?"

The pilot shrugged and wouldn't look up at him. He was miserable now and cloudy, thinking maybe coming here was a mistake. He wanted to explore this world and his powers, but wasn't happy with anything that spoiled his good moods. He felt a twinge of fear that he would fare no better here than he had with the X-men.

Kyle sensed his foul mood and offered, "You want to go to the Club? You seemed to like that Purple Room all right."

Kimble turned to him then and Lakotashay boldly spoke in her child like voice, "I wants ta feel a man's hands on me. I wants it ta be like it wuz with our father."

Kyle shivered as gooseflesh broke out over his arms. The voice of that young child was so eerie coming out of the grown man's body. He was never going to be used to this, no matter how many times he heard it. Cameron was cracked if he thought Kimble was going to be up to the task he had designated for him. Kyle felt sick to his stomach, but he said, "C'mon."

He stood and took Kimble's hand, leading him down the same hallway Melany had taken him before. This time he stopped in front of an orange door that had a marking on it different from the one Kimble had gone to before. "You'll find what you want here. Just remember you've promised to go to class tomorrow. Don't be too long."

Kimble nodded without speaking and entered. He walked down a short hallway before he found the doorway to the actual room itself. This new room was much larger than the Purple Room and not set up the same way. It was different in that it was more private. It wasn't all open, it was divided up into a bar and a of row cubicles. The doors all had numbers on them and small notices to indicate if they were currently empty or being used. Privacy here was guaranteed. A small group of men lounged near another bar, waiting. Heads turned in Kimble's direction when he entered and one of the men turned around and smiled at him.

Kimble looked them over, but he wasn't quite himself. Lakotashay had seen what Zander had done about taking some control and she did it now. She walked with Kimble closer to the men and took over the body. It was easier than she thought and it felt natural, like she should be the one here all the time. She loosed her hair and let it fall free about her shoulders. Her masculine posture changed and she walked with more grace, turning more heads in her direction.

Kimble wasn't asleep, he was aware of what she was doing and didn't mind. He found he actually enjoyed this sense of duality, it was almost like he had his girl skin again. This would be the closest he would ever get to having it and so was pleased. He relaxed happily and let her do as she wished.

She prowled along the bar, waiting for someone to reach out to her. It didn't take long.

(break)

Kyle walked into Cameron's office, doing a good Kimble imitation as he muttered with himself. He wasn't the least bit happy about his last conversation with Kimble, he was worried. Cameron was there in the office with Leon and they were both watching Kimble on the monitor. Cameron turned to him. "Nice work. You did that quite well."

"Did what? Break his heart? He's not right, Cam, and I don't want any part of this anymore."

"He just needs some guidance that's all. He won't be calling home now."

"Ewww!" Leon complained. He was watching Lakotashay on the screen and she had just kissed her date and was walking off with him to a cubicle. When the camera perspective changed to the room itself, he turned his head away. He had no way of knowing that someone other than Kimble was actually at the helm but it probably wouldn't have mattered. His views on men and sex had been badly damaged. He turned to Cameron and said, "Kyle's right. Kimble ain't right in the head. Why do you have that stupid room anyways, Cam? It ain't right what they do in there!"

"Boys, please. Kimble is just different, that's all. And you, Leon, you must be tolerant. Love comes in many forms."

"Well, he just better stay away from me with that crap," Leon grumbled and put his head down. He would never believe that homosexual men could love, not after what had been done to him. It just wasn't possible.

Lakotashay had undressed her client and went down on her knees in front of him. Leon peeked, he couldn't help himself. His eyes opened wide when he saw what the pilot did next. He stood up and fisted his hands. "Oh, I don't think so! Look at what he's doing! How long before he takes in the ass!"

Cameron just smiled and could help himself from saying, "Oh, I'd say in about ten minutes or so from the look on Paul's face." He had recognized the man who had chosen 'Shay to please him.

"I won't feed him! It! Whatever it is! It ain't natural!" Leon howled. His face had flushed and he fists glowed faintly orange with the urge to fight.

"Leon, please! Control yourself! I understand you have a problem with this, but we can't let it interfere with our goal! Move away from the screens if you can't keep quiet!" Cameron said impatiently.

"How can you say that thing is going to protect us, Cam! C'mon!"

"He's not a thing, he's a computer program. He's not even real like you and me. He's a pleasure program and only obeying the designs of his programming. If it helps you, think about him that way. He's a program and we are going to work on him, change him into what we need. He's going to be trained and you will leave him alone, Leon. Your job is to feed him, nothing more. If he approaches you in a manner you don't like, we'll deal with it, but I don't think it will happen."

"You seem to know a lot of things you're not telling us and I don't like it," Kyle said, complaining himself as he crossed his arms. "Why don't you save us all some time and tell us everything."

"Joshua doesn't tell me everything at once," Cameron lied smoothly. "Sometimes he speaks in riddles and it doesn't all make sense until it happens. Be patient. Until then, keep an eye on him and keep him away from a phone. I want him in class and working hard."

"And if he resists?" Kyle asked."He's skipped one class already because he couldn't handle the topic of violence and he just got here."

"Then we'll find a way to deal with him. Everyone has weaknesses. I'm sure he does as well."

Kyle shook his head. "And the voices?"

"So he's got more than one person rattling around in there? Maybe if we get to know them, we might find one more suitable than Kimble for what we need."

Kyle blinked in surprise at that twisted bit of logic. "Excuse me?"

"Talk to him. Get to know him better," Cameron said, ignoring Kyle's startled response. "Help him settle in. He wants to learn how to fly? Good. Work on that. Make him happy. He will become one of us, you will see to it. Both of you."

Kyle and Leon exchanged glances. They would never be fond of one another, but it looked like they were stuck in the same boat. Cameron was a wise man and so far hadn't led them astray — that they knew of anyway. They would do this thing and hope for the best.

Kyle grunted and walked out, heading back to the bar and another drink. He had a quick drink and left, coming into the hall just as Kimble came walking out of the Orange Room. The Siskan's eyes were glassy and he looked stoned, at the very least, he was well pleased with himself. He said nothing to Kyle but walked off in the direction of his room, his stride and body attitude still feminine and lithe. Kyle shook his head, not wanting to accept this. This was a mistake and was going to end badly, he just knew it.