(Two)

Kimble had fallen asleep only to wake a short time later, too hot and drunk from the plasma to keep still. The warehouse was mostly empty so when he decided to wander off, he hadn't been seen. He wasn't looking for anyone in particular, he was just looking for some place quiet where he could find a cool breeze. Of course he had no idea that he was fulfilling a spoken prophecy with each step.

He made his way slowly and phased through a wall into what looked like some kind of holding area or storage room. He blinked in a daze when he saw Wolverine fastened to the wall, not quite sure if he could believe what he was seeing. Logan had been strung up with twisted metal rods no normal human could have bent with his own hands, he looked like he had been incorporated into some kind of sick, living sculpture. Kimble was stoned, but could still understand that someone had done this telekinetically. Logan was hung in such a way that even if he could pop his claws, he couldn't hack himself free. Wolverine was strong but didn't possess enough strength to bend the metal to get loose, certainly not from such an awkward position. Blood still dripped from his mouth, whomever had done this had only just left him and he hadn't had much time to recover yet. They had beaten him with a crow bar, it lay in its own pool of blood as if they had wounded it as well. The man hung there limply, he didn't appear to be conscious.

Kimble shuffled over to Logan and sniffed at him in curiosity. It was hard for him to think clearly with the plasma buzzing so pleasantly inside of his head. The last thing he expected was to see Wolverine dangling from the wall.

The sight of Logan hanging there so helplessly sent Kimble's caregiver gears right into action. He didn't think twice about it as he went to a nearby sink and wet a towel. He used it to clean the blood from Logan's face, working gently and carefully, grimacing at the bruises there and the cuts. So much pain. Who had done this? He was still too naive to believe Kyle or anyone else on his team capable of such brutality.

Logan didn't appear to wake and Kimble wondered if this was a dream. He knew he was very high and the world around him was kind of grey and fuzzy around the edges. Still, the man before him seemed real enough to the touch. He believed Logan was out cold so he began to mumble softly, "Whatcha doin' here, old man? Hope ya wuzn't lookin' fer me. I ain't lost no more. Nope, not me. Not no more..."

(break)

Logan came out of his fog at the sound of Kimble's voice, but didn't open his eyes. This wasn't the first time he had been severely beaten like this. It happened to him once or twice a year, his over-confidence getting the best of him and allowing him to get caught by some asshole with a point to make. His body instinctively knew to keep quiet and let his senses get an idea of what was going on around him before he opened his eyes and gave himself away. He was surprised to hear Kimble's voice, even more so when he felt himself being cleaned. Kimble's touch was gentle and careful, it felt more comforting and soothing than he would ever admit to anyone. He was in pain and it was nice to have someone there who knew it.

He could tell right away something was different about Kimble. His words were even more slurred than usual and his body was hot. The heat wafted off of him like he had a fever and he had a smell now, too. Almost like burnt plastic. Logan had smelled this before, but in his present condition, couldn't remember where. Something had been done to Kimble to make him different.

(break)

Kimble carefully moved Logan's head to one side to wipe blood that had leaked from a large gash on the back of Logan's head. The cut had almost closed itself now but the blood clung in his hair, matting it.

"Why didja come here, huh? Thoughtcha hated ol' Kimble's guts," Kimble mumbled, more to himself than to Logan. He paused in his work, looking into the face of this man who seemed to hate him so inexplicably. He put his hand on Logan's cheek and touched his face, wondering at the roughness of it.

"Fallen sez yer real old, even older than me," Kimble whispered. Logan's lack of response had emboldened him to speak freely. "She sez yer life ain't nuthin but pain an' sufferin'. I kin sees it there, feel it right here in my hand. I kin helps ya. I kin takes yer pain, it's what I do. I kin takes yer pain..." Kimble leaned in close and kissed Logan tenderly on the mouth, his plasma stupor robbing him of his better judgment.

(break)

Logan freaked the moment Kimble's lips had touched his own. Of all the possible things he might have anticipated Kimble would do, that had been the furthest thing from his mind. Logan twisted with a snarl and bit at Kimble's face. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He knew Kimble was sick, that he was a sexual freak, but this was too much.

(break)

Kimble squealed in pain as Logan's teeth cut into him. He jerked his head away, tearing his skin. Grey blood gushed from the tear, but not for long. He was so charged from the plasma that it sealed itself, leaving only a jagged scar. It was still very painful. He heard Logan swear and the growl that came from him like a rabid dog. Kimble staggered back in shock and almost fell. The room swirled around him in a jumble until he steadied himself, his arms out like a drunk walking a chalk line.

"You ever do that ta me again, ya sick fuck, an' I'll kill you!" Logan snarled, spit and blood flying from his mouth. He spat again, not wanting Kimble's taste in his mouth. Kimble's gel was sickly sweet and not what he had expected. It didn't taste like blood at all.

Kimble recovered and came back to his tormentor cautiously. He came as close as he dared and probed Logan with his eyes, searching for an answer to the question that had been bugging him almost since the first day they'd met. From the beginning, Logan had treated Kimble's sexual nature like it was a disease, an evil sickness. Why? He was still quite stoned, but it came to him. A tiny thread of thought, like a whisper. It had come from Logan's lips and his teeth.

"S-somebody hurt you like that, didn' they?"

Logan growled, showing Kimble his teeth.

"Didja know who it wuz, huh? Didja know who it wuz that raped ya?"

"No one's ever done that ta me!" Logan denied bitterly, his eyes just a little too wild.

"He did it ta try an' breaks ya, but it didn' work out so good fer him, right? Ya killed him after, didn'tcha? Ya hunted him down and ripped his heart out."

"Shut up!"

Kimble smiled up at Wolverine sadly. "You cain't lie no better than me. It's there right behind yer eyes. I been seein' it all along when ya looked at me, but I just couldn't figger it out. Not right away. I had ta gits a little closer ta finds it, butcha never let no one in real close, huh? No one ever touches you."

"Shut up!"

"Naw, I don't think so. You think cuz I like ta fuck so much that I'm like him, huh? Yer just like Leon. He hates me, too. He got raped by some gay guy. Now he thinks all gay guys wanna rape people. He thinks I wanna rape him, but I ain't never even touched him. Never wanted to but it don' matter. The one that hurtcha? The one that did that awful thing to ya? I ain't like that, never have been. I ain't never took from someone what didn't wanna give it ta me."

Logan listened to Kimble's feeble denial and his rage spilled over him like a red hot wave. He completely forgot that the whole point of his being here was to find Kimble and bring him home. All he wanted to do now was punish this stupid little jackass who had discovered his horrible secret. The one he had never told anyone, not even himself except when things got all black and cloudy.

He yanked fiercely on his trapped limbs but the twisted metal held him securely. "You ain't nuthin' but a sick perverted little freak! All ya do is take! Ya see what ya want and ya just fuckin' take it! I seen ya doin' it with Holly and I know ya did it with Bobby, too! Ya saw whatcha wanted and ya made 'em give it to ya. Yer like some kinda fuckin' vampire! Ya use 'em! Trap 'em with yer eyes or somethin' an' fuck with their minds! Ya use that stupid charm power ya got! Ya wear 'em down till ya get yer sick little kicks! That's no better than takin' it by force!"

"I didn't hurt nobody!"

"Doesn't matter! Ya tricked 'em sure as shit. Yer a fuckin' vampire! Fuckin' monster! Yer no better than -" Logan choked on his own spit, unable to finish it. He was beyond angry now and into a whole other realm of enraged. The world around him was starting to fade away into the red and he was close to going over into that place where the bad things happened. The place where he woke up covered in blood with no memory of how it got there. He caught his breath, trying to hold onto his sanity. He wasn't sure it was a battle he could win.

Kimble was confused and more than a little angry himself now. All this man had ever done was insult him and put him down. It was so unfair! "Than who, huh? The guy what done that horrible thing to ya? I'd never do that!"

"Than what were ya doin just now?" Logan growled, his eyes mean and hard.

"Nuthin! I wuz- I wuz-" But of course, he had been doing something. He had tried to take Logan's pain while he believed Logan to be unconscious. But what did that mean exactly? To take their pain. To steal their love. He had been doing it all along hadn't he? Just like Logan said. Bruce in Station Nine, Holly and Bobby at Xavier's. He had used his power the same way he helped those in pain. Would any of them have succumbed to him without him pressing his will? The answer stabbed into him like an ice cold pick, ripping into his heart and flooding him with revulsion.

Kimble backed away as tears suddenly spilled from his eyes. He was trembling violently now and slid his arms around himself, choking on the bitter pill that Logan had forced him to swallow. His mind was reeling from the heightened plasma horror of his own actions and accepted Logan's angry facts as truths. He was a rapist, a selfish molester of innocents. There was no worse crime, not for what he was. He coughed and gagged, clutching at his throat.

Junta bay, I told ya so... came a soft whisper from within. Lakotashay was in pain, knowing the truth when she heard it. Logan's words struck a chord deep inside.

"Nnooo...it ain't true..it ain't true...I ain't bad!" Kimble denied, shouting out loud in his agony. He refused to believe he had broken the most sacred of rules. It would mean he was a monster of the worst sort and that was more than his fragile psyche could bear.

Logan watched as Kimble disintegrated emotionally and was filled with a surge of happiness. Finally he had broken this pathetic little twerp, made him see himself for the monster that he was. Now... now justice would be served. The sick bastard put in his place. He couldn't stop the smile of glee that split his face.

"Don't take his shit, Kimble!" Zander snarled."Make him pay! Punish him!"

Kimble nodded and closed his eyes. He created a telekinetic shield from thin air and broke it into pieces. He snarled and swept the shards out away from him at Logan with a broad wave of his hand.

(break)

Wolverine had been startled by the voice that came from Kimble's mouth. In his crumbling mental state, Kimble had spoken Zander's words aloud. It sent a shiver of shock and surprise through Logan that immediately brought him to his senses like ice cold water on his face. What had he been thinking? What was he doing? Cripes! He was dangerously close to blowing this whole thing!

He recognized Zander's voice, Kimble had growled it at him once on the Lucky Dragon on the way here from Cerise. He'd had Logan in a head lock and was prematurely crowing his victory. Wolverine had thought then Kimble had just been excited, but he was beginning to think differently about that now. Punish him, Zander had said. It brought back Anya's warning. This was something he hadn't anticipated. He had expected Kimble to fight him, not fall apart. He watched Kimble's breakdown and he started to feel a little guilty. He saw Kimble go from defensive, to horrified, to angry in less than a minute. It was scary watching his emotions change so quickly. He knew Kimble had been unstable, it was even worse now.

He saw Kimble work his telekinetic magic and jerked reflexively when the shards came flying at him. He remembered Kimble's horrific defense in the Danger Room and flinched, bracing for the pain. He was surprised when the shards flew out and slashed not through his body, but through the metal rods that held him. It wasn't a mistake, Kimble's aim had been perfect and skillful. Kimble had been practicing.

Logan fell in a heap of tangled limbs onto the floor, his body a bit numb from pain and from hanging like that. He got to his feet with a groan and looked at Kimble with mixed feelings. Logan was still humiliated and furious, but Kimble had deliberately but inexplicably freed him. What now?

(break)

"Kills him!" Zander shouted out of Kimble's mouth. He was outraged at what Kimble had done, their tormentor should be dead, not free from his bonds. "Shuts his fuckin' face ferever!"

"No!" Kimble snarled, shoving Zander's bid for control down. He was crumbling, but he wanted desperately to stay in control. Zander couldn't be trusted. "I ain't no killer!"

"Kimble, yer a mess," Logan said, horrified by the argument raging inside of Kimble's mind. He stood and dusted off, trying to get this back on track. "Come home an' we can fix this."

"Stay away from me!" Kimble breathed at him, his eyes still flooding over with tears. "I hates you! Yer the freak, not me! I ain't broken no more!"

"Yer comin' with me," Logan insisted. He wished Henry was here, he just didn't have the skills to talk the crazies down. He was a brawler, not a shrink. His head was clear now, the red rage gone. He had to think now, think damnit! He had to figure out how he was going to pull this together before it was too late.

"No," Kimble said, turning away. "I gots some folks now what care about me. They wants me. They accepts me fer who I am. Kyle sez I'm gonna be a hero! I'm gonna be better than alla yous an' evraone's gonna love me! I kin helps people! I takes their pain! I kin show you!" He reached out again with his hands to touch, letting go a little with his power. If he could just make Logan see...

Wolverine shrank away from him, not wanting any of it. He could feel the wave of love that came from Kimble but was repulsed by it, thinking it false. It was a trick, a lure, and he wasn't about to fall for it. "Kyle's so full of shit it's comin' outta his ears! I don't know where he got that line he was feedin' you, but I can tell you this fer free. Heroes don't run around talkin' to themselves. Yer still split an' yer throwin' spikes at people! What kinda hero does that? Yer sick in the head and ya need help!"

Kimble felt a surge of pain at the rejection and was furious at the accusation that he was less than okay. "I ain't split!"

"No, then who's that talkin' inside of yer head, huh? It sure as hell ain't Seth."

Kimble shuddered again as Zander howled his rage from deep inside. Kimble swallowed him down, just barely. "I ain't split. I jus' git carried away sometimes when I gits mad. It don' mean anathin'. I'm gonna be a real hero jus' like yous guys only better, you'll see!" Kimble insisted, calming his voice a little.

"They're just usin' you. Look at you, yer all fucked up!"

"What do you care? You say the Kings an' Brotherhood is evil cuz they hurts evrabody, now you sayin' the same shit 'bout me. Guess I'm right where I belong!" Kimble shouted, losing his tenuous grasp on his control. He knew Logan was right about his inexcusable behavior and couldn't deny it any longer. He was so bad...so very bad.

Logan rubbed his arms numbly, feeling really guilty now. "I didn't say you were evil."

"Yes, ya did!" Kimble wiped at his face uselessly as the tears came anew. He was hitching and bawling now. "You said I wuz a freak! That I takes without askin'! That I rapes people! That's junta bay! The worst evil in the world!"

"Look, Kimble-"

"No! Maybe yer right an' I do steals it, but maybe that's cuz anaone that's ever jus' given it ta me ends up dead! Dead! They're all dead cuz a me!"

"What're ya talkin' about?"

"Sheyman an' Gail! I touched 'em an theys all ended up dead!"

Logan shook his head at this new bout of twisted logic. For a person who supposedly had a computer for a brain, Kimble's mind was all over the place. "You didn't kill Sheyman! He got sick and Gail got rubbed out by Creed! You didn't have anything to do with it!"

"She wuz in love with me! Jeez! I'm like some kind a fuckin' disease! It ain't safe ta be round me! If I ain't rapin' em, they's dyin' all over me! I cain't go back, I don' wanna see Remy's dead face lookin' back at me! He loves me...he...Oh, no!" Kimble couldn't finish as he lost all control. The thought of Remy's possible death at his hands was too much.

Logan felt a jolt of fear stab his guts as Anya's prediction of his failure came back to haunt him. This was turning into a nightmare. "It ain't like that, kid. None of that was yer fault. Come back with me!"

"No! I cain't let nuthin' happens ta Remy! He's the only one what ever cared about me!" Kimble sobbed, covering his face as he gave up everything. "I won't let him die cuz a me!"

"Aw, enough of this fuckin' crap!" Zander finally howled and took over, growling angrily.

Logan took an uncertain step back as Kimble's whole body posture changed and Zander's words slapped at him again. The pilot stood now with full confidence of his abilities and his hands started to glow faintly orange. He looked at his accuser with eyes filled with rage and power and Logan knew Kimble was gone, Zander was all done with the back seat and had taken the reins. This guy was completely out of control and Logan had no idea what to expect. That burnt plastic smell grew stronger and Logan realized he was smelling the plasma energy that was stored up inside of Kimble's body. Logan had known more than one plasma producer and with a clear head, now recognized what that smell had meant. Zander stood in front of him glowering, the picture of pure rage and uncontrolled fury. He was standing tall and snarling insanely, his hands fisted and clenching tightly as the glowing in his hands became more bright.

Logan put a hand out defensively, concerned that Zander might be able to fire a blast of plasma. He would probably survive it, but it wouldn't be fun. "Take it easy there, fella. I ain't gonna hurtcha."

"Liar! All ya done is hurts us since the firs' time we ever laid eyes on ya! You think yer so fuckin' superior cuz yer real an' all! What a fuckin' joke! I'm ten times the power you are! I'm so fuckin' sick of ya hurtin' Kimble all the time! This is all yer fault!" Zander shouted and launched himself at Logan.

Wolverine had nowhere to go. He screamed as he was pinned against the back wall with a telekinetic shove and Zander's hands came against his shoulders. They were glowing brightly now, filled with red hot plasma. Logan howled as his flesh was burned instantly and struggled uselessly against this powerful spirit. Zander laughed with glee at his prisoner's agony, happy to finally be showing this pathetic human who was boss around here. Spit flew from his mouth as he laughed at Logan's pain and enjoyed it. He increased the flow of plasma to his hands, turning up the heat even more.

"Kimble, stop this! You ain't no killer!" Logan wheezed as the flesh melted away over his shoulders. The agony was indescribable and he screamed again, unable to control his pain.

Zander shuddered and for a moment there was a look of startled surprise on his face as Kimble returned. Logan's cry of pain had been enough to bring the Lover around. "Oh, Jeez!" Kimble shrieked and jerked back, horrified at what Zander had done. He looked at his orange glowing hands in terror and wailed. "Oh, no! No. No! NO! Arrgghhh!"

"Kimble yer a mess. I don' know what they done to ya but we can fix this. Come back with me," Logan said, still on the job even as the smell of his own cooked flesh made him gag. His healing factor was kicking in, but burns took longer than most other injuries. He glanced quickly, saw he had been burned down to the bone and decided that one look was enough. He was going to hurt for a long time.

Kimble shivered and shook as he wrestled with his inner demons, struggling hopelessly for control. He was a monster, a freak. He was a rapist and a murderer. For one moment, Kimble desperately wanted to be gone, to be done with it all. He wished for death, for release from this nightmare that his life had become.

His prayer was answered. He gasped sharply when there was a blinding flash of light only he could see and then everything went quiet. He cried out from the sudden blissful release of all of his pain and stood up straight, trembling. He wasn't in the warehouse, not anymore. He was now back in the circle of light in his personal Black Room, but on the edge now and chained as the others had been before. A huge floating screen in front of him showed a Kimble's eye view of the events still going on outside of the body. Zander was next to him, nearly busting a gut to get to loose. It wasn't doing him any good. He looked back at Kimble, the Lover, and spat at him.

"Nice work, boy. Nice. Ya know she's gonna kill us now, right?"

(break)

Logan stood still, sensing some kind of change, but wasn't sure what to make of it. Kimble had frozen in place as if some kind of switch had been thrown. He slowly came back to life, blinking around him uncertainly.

"Kimble?"

"Not quite," came the reply. The voice was high and feminine.

"Fuck!" Wolverine muttered. The Quitter.

Kimble's body was moving, but he was no longer in it. Even Logan could easily see the change by the difference in his posture and attitude. If the pilot had had a personal odor, Logan didn't doubt that his scent would have changed as well, the difference was that profound. The Quitter stood up straight and stretched, fully released from her prison finally. She took a deep calming breath and wiped at her chin, the plasma glow fading from her fists. She shook her head back and released her hair with a smooth graceful movement, letting it flow free and lovely about her shoulders. She swept her bangs back with an elegant gesture, as if her fingers were dancing, and tucked them behind her ears. She then cleared her throat and regarded Logan with a small smile. Her eyes were not sad as depicted in Kimble's drawings. No, she had moved beyond that, being no longer trapped. She looked at him not with rage or pain, but with a cold dead nothing.

"Kimble?" he asked uncertainly.

The Quitter just shook her head. "I oughtta thanks ya, really. I been listenin' ta those two fer a long time now. They just don' quit. I loves ya, I hates ya. It all just gits ta be too much after a while. I been tellin' 'em there's a better way, but they just don' listen ta me. Prob'ly jus' 'cause I'm a girl an' all."

"Come back with me," Wolverine said uselessly. He could see by the emptiness in her eyes that it was far too late for that.

"Nawr. I'll jus' bet I gots my ticket outta here if I looks around enough. Gonna go see my father an' it's all gonna be good again."

"What are ya talkin' about?"

The pilot turned to one side and let loose with a huge telekinetic pulse, ripping out the wall and part of the ceiling on one side of the room. The noise was deafening and debris flew everywhere. Logan cursed and shivered as frigid ocean air streamed in, chilling them both.

The Quitter didn't seem to care. She turned to Logan and said, "I setcha free, now go. Tell the others ta stop lookin' fer us. Kimble's dead."

"Kimble, wait!"

"Kimble's dead!"

Logan grunted as the pilot flew at him suddenly, scooping him up recklessly by his hair and one of his arms. Logan howled with pain as they flew out into the darkness, unused to such rough handling while being flown. His shoulders were one huge agony.

He tried to shout for Kimble to listen, pleading with him to understand that he had just been shocked and surprised that Kimble had read him so easily. He didn't mean to precipitate the breakdown that led to whatever was happening now, but it did him no good. He felt a giddy rush of vertigo as Lakotashay violently tossed him out to sea, towards the boat.

He sailed out over the water, watching it rush by in a daze and then feeling it cut into him like a thousand sharpened knives as he smashed down into it. His lungs filled with water and he sank down, momentarily stunned from the impact. He roused a bit and kicked for the surface, his shoulders screaming the whole way. He broke free with a gasp, coughing and spluttering.