(Five)
Fallen and Henry had moved all of the hologram equipment into the Main Room of the Lucky Dragon. After weeks of working on Seth's missing codes they had finally assembled what they hoped was a proper functioning program and were now ready to give this a try. They were making the last preparations for firing it up and there were computer towers and wires everywhere. Some extra lights had been rigged up and a blanket and some water were close by for Seth. They had no idea what his reaction would be once he got out. He hadn't handled it so well before.
The Professor, Jean and Scott sat in the ship's passenger seats, waiting comfortably. They had been warned ahead of time that this was Fallen and Henry's first try to remove Seth from his imprisonment and it probably wouldn't work. The codes were not complete, but finished enough for this little experiment. The invited guests still wanted to be here nonetheless, as fascinated by the science as they were by the thrill of meeting Seth for real.
Scott looked over the equipment with some interest. Henry had explained some of this to him - Seth would be a walking sentient hologram as Kimble was, only he would have no powers. He would look like a pilot without that creature's special abilities. Scott liked Seth well enough, seeing early on that he did not possess his brother's flirtatious mannerisms and out of control behavior. He was impressed by what he'd been told of Seth's hacking abilities and looked forward to working with him.
The block of hologram particles sat in front of the screen. Henry had searched far and wide and had been able to find all the components. Fallen was lucky she had kept a few "stars" around, those were the inner drives that held the codes. Those were Siskan only, she would never have been able to duplicate them here. All she'd had to seek out to complete the hologram were the particles and the gel chemicals. It had been very expensive and Fallen had been forced to sell a few more diamonds. She could have cared less. She had been waiting for this day for so long.
Seth was in his seat in the cockpit room. He was very nervous and chewing absently on one of his fingernails. He wanted to do this, but being out terrified him. He would be brave. He had to. With Kimble gone, this was the only way left for him and Fallen to be together and he would be damned if he was going to be stuck in here and away from her any longer.
Henry smiled up at him as he lay the last of the cables down and checked the connections. "You ready for this?"
Seth shivered and kept his eyes down as he said, "I'll have to be. I don't want to be alone any more."
Henry's look saddened. So much like Kimble this was. Siskans did not do well on their own, he had learned that quick from Kimble's swift decline. Henry just hoped that having Fallen so close would keep Seth from suffering as Kimble had. "Just relax. This will all be over soon."
Fallen looked up at Seth and smiled. "The machines are all set. You good to go?"
"Okay," he replied in a trembling voice. "Let's do it."
Seth worked some of the switches on his console. There was a low vibration coming from the square of particles as they became charged. He finished and stood slowly, rubbing his sweat soaked hands on his jeans. He was terrified and really trying hard to keep it from showing. He looked over at Kimble's vacant work station and paused, seeing Kimble's things for what he hoped was the last time. He looked as though he might cry. "Kimble should be here," he lamented.
He still refused to believe his brother was dead. He had been told what happened and he listened with dull disbelief. He believed that if Kimble was really gone, he would know it inside. He had no such feeling. He had seen Remy briefly the one time the thief had come by and hadn't liked the way he looked. Seth hoped if this was successful, maybe he could help Gambit look for Kimble. Surely the two of them could figure out what really happened that day at the warehouse. He wanted so much for this to be true.
The Professor sent out some teams to try and gather information on Kimble's whereabouts but they had come up empty. The fact was, his best two intelligence gatherers were in shambles. Both Remy and Logan holed up in their respective quarters and hadn't come out. The only one with any major skill in this area was Kennedy. So far nothing had come up. Wherever Kimble was, it was someplace private and unreachable by any means currently available. The only option Charles was left with was to give his people a few days to recover and then try again. It had only been a couple of days since they came back from the warehouse. His worst fear was that the boys would take off. So far, Logan and Remy were content with isolating themselves and getting drunk. It could be worse. At least they weren't at each other's throats.
Fallen looked up at Seth with sympathy. "I know. He would be here if he could," she soothed.
She did not share Seth's optimism. Kimble was gone and they would grieve and all move on. That was the way of things. Once Seth was out, she would be able to go ahead with her life and try to get back on track. She needed some normalcy. She needed Seth's arms around her.
Seth nodded slowly, resigning himself, and shook himself, trying to relax. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He put his head back and disappeared from view, melting away like a ghost. The cube on the floor of the Main Room began to change and take on humanoid shape. It molded itself with unseen hands until Seth's body became plain. He was standing very still, leaning slightly forward on his bent pilot's legs. His hands were clasped together at his throat. He came awake very gradually, blinking his eyes in the harsh light of the ship.
Fallen came to him anticipating trouble. She didn't have long to wait. He took a sudden rapid breath and fell to his knees, covering his eyes. "Ughh! Too bright! Too bright!" he squealed and shivered until he felt her arms around him.
"Easy, Seth. Easy. It's been a little while, just relax."
"No! It's worse than before! The access code..." his voice trailed off as he greyed out from breathing too hard.
Fallen gripped him tightly. She felt Henry approach, but put her hand out and said, "Don't crowd him." Fallen kept Seth very close to her and whispered to him as he sobbed in terror. "Easy, my love. Just take nice slow breaths."
He wouldn't obey so she raised his chin and kissed him, forcing him to slow down his breathing. It worked. He calmed and quieted, but refused to open his eyes.
"Is he going to be okay?" the Professor asked Henry.
"Oh, yes. He merely has trouble getting used to the sensory data. He already had this problem back on Cerise. I'm assuming that the access code has heightened his senses even more. I'm sure that over time, Seth will be quite fine. He is a lot more motivated than before."
"Seth, open your eyes," Fallen coaxed.
"Nnnoo..."
"Just a little, please. I want you to look at me."
He opened his eyes a crack and squinted. Fallen dimmed the lights in the room with a mental command and Seth opened his eyes a little more. He saw the others watching him and panicked, hyperventilating again. Fallen turned his head back to her. "Just look at me, Seth. No one else. I won't let anything harm you." He obeyed, but was trembling violently. "Shhh...Relax." She kissed him again and made him look into her eyes.
He became mesmerized and saw nothing else. "I love you, Fallen."
"And I you. Now tell me, do you want to go back? You know the codes aren't finished. I left the bridges in place. You're not trapped out here like Kimble was. You can go back at any time."
"No. Never. I'm never going to let you get away from me again!" he replied with conviction and squeezed her even more tightly. He was more afraid of losing her than anything else. "I never want to let you go."
She held him. "I don't want you to. Stay with me."
"I will. I will. Forever." He buried his face into her hair and ran his hands through it.
They crouched together for a while, just clinging to each other. The others came one at a time to tap Seth's shoulder in greeting before leaving. They could all see he needed some calm and quiet. He looked up at them with tear flooded eyes and did his best to smile at them all. The Professor stayed the longest, giving Seth reassurances and words of welcome. He gave Seth's small white hand a squeeze and left.
Only Henry remained. "I would like to take him down to the lab and run some quick tests. I'd like to compare his readings to Kimble's."
"I miss him so much..." Seth complained and started to cry. He was still very frightened.
"Me, too," Fallen agreed, crying a little herself. She wasn't ignoring Henry and he waited patiently. "We have to bring the power cubes," she said to him. "Seth won't be able to walk and the tram will frighten him even more. I'll carry him and we'll walk if that's all right."
"It's no problem," Henry replied and gathered the things they needed.
Fallen very carefully hoisted Seth up piggyback on her back, using her wings to secure him. He wasn't heavy at all, he wasn't a real man and weighed even less than Kimble did. He gripped her until his knuckles were white and she had deep red furrows in her skin, but she didn't complain. She was thrilled they had gotten this far and she could see Seth was calming down.
She and Henry made their way down the tram tunnel slowly and Seth gradually relaxed and peered around him. He loosened his death grip a little as they walked, easing Fallen's pain. They went into the lab and she set Seth carefully down on one of the beds. Fallen placed the power cubes close to him and he lay his hands on them, charging up a little. Her Ristle power from the cubes soothed him further and he was almost completely calm now. He pulled one of Henry's soft blankets around him and trembled as he examined his new surroundings.
He wasn't alone in here, there was someone in the bed next to him. The curtain was drawn, but he could just make out a bit of Joseph's face. The last remaining Clansman had been moved here a few days ago in an attempt to save his life. He had stopped eating and a feeding tube was installed. He was shackled to the bed and left mostly alone. The restraints weren't really necessary, he had put up no fuss, no fight, he merely lay there waiting for death. He wore no restraining collar, they were rare and the X-men did not currently possess one. Gambit's collar had been kept secret, no one else knew about it. Besides, Henry did not see Joseph's feeble telekinetic ability as any kind of threat. Karen had tried to speak with him, but he was unresponsive to anything she had to say. He was in limbo while the team tried to decide what to do with him. He had been somewhat neglected with all the activity going on in other areas of the team's concern.
Seth could also see inside Henry's lab from the infirmary and was immediately interested in all the science equipment he saw. Oh, there was much fun to be had in here! He smiled when Fallen came close and gave him a cup of water. He started to drink it gratefully, but quailed in fear when he saw Logan shuffle in.
Like Remy, Logan had been a ghost the past couple of days. He hid away in his room and let his burns heal up, finding comfort for his pain in a few bottles of whiskey. He was ordered not to leave the house but it was clear he wouldn't be staying much longer. He had grown dark and cloudy, full on his way to a pitch black breakdown, the ones where he ripped everything up. He had made no move to apologize for his behavior at the warehouse, he just stayed in his room as Remy had and drank, refusing to see anyone. Karen had shoved her way in, being a very pushy individual. He didn't fight her but stared out the window refusing to talk. She left, but not before she had made it clear she would not let him push her away. No matter how big an asshole he was trying to be, she would still be ready to talk to him any time he was ready. So far it hadn't happened. He had been quiet and locked himself away...until now. He'd heard about Seth being freed from the whispers of others and had to come out. He had something to say.
Seth dropped his cup to the floor with a clatter and cowered behind Fallen, gripping her arms tightly. "Don't let him hurt me, Fallen!" he whimpered, terrified.
Seth and Logan hadn't had the best of introductions. Seth was very much aware of Kimble's difficulties with the man on their journey here and would never forget the brief bloody fight that had taken place in the Main Room when Valentin had tried to take over the ship. His biggest fear was that some day Logan would rip Kimble to shreds, their petty war getting out of hand. Seth had never been that worried for himself before now, the ship's systems protected him. Now he was out with nothing to stand in Logan's way. He had no idea how Wolverine would react to him and was very frightened.
Fallen was aware of Seth's fear. She decided it would be best to get things out in the open quickly. She put her body in front of Seth and raised a thick heavy shield as she turned to face Wolverine. She locked him with her eyes and raised her chin defiantly. "Seth is out. You will not hurt him like you did Kimble. You will not talk to him like you did Kimble. You so much as roll your eyes at him the wrong way, I'll blast you right out of your socks. You understand me?" she threatened without preamble.
Logan met her eyes. He wasn't angry at her words. He wasn't angry at all, just terribly sad. "I ain't gonna hurt yer boy, darlin'. I just come by ta congratulate you on yer little experiment." He swayed unsteadily and Fallen realized he was quite drunk, or at least as drunk as his healing factor would allow. He looked at Seth. "Hope ya find bein' out better than yer brother did, but I doubt it. All this place does is ruin people. Never know when some asshole's gonna come up ya an hurtcha, steal yer innocence. You best watch yer boy, Fallen. I know it's hard ta b'lieve, but there's worse things out there than me." He sniffed and walked out.
Fallen pulled away from Seth's death grip with a kiss of reassurance and followed Logan out. He was almost stumbling, he was so drunk. She yanked on his arm. "What's wrong with you?"
He looked back at her with eyes filled with pain and suffering. "Nuthin'. S' just ya lost one Siskan already. Would be a shame ta lose another." He pulled away from her and kept walking away towards the elevator.
"What did Kimble see from you, Logan? Tell me what happened!" she demanded.
He didn't answer but shuffled off, miserable. He passed his hand over the security panel for the elevator and growled in frustration. The lower level was a restricted area, the elevator had the regular up and down buttons, but for security reasons, they were locked out by the security panel, an extra measure of safety. Under normal conditions, the elevator could only be called by this security panel as long as the panel was active. Problem was, the panel had been tricky lately, not working as it should and Henry hadn't gotten around to fixing it. Wolverine snarled loudly and punched the wall in his frustration, making a good sized hole with his fist.
"I'll get that," Henry offered from behind Fallen. He had heard their voices and had come out of the lab to investigate. He came around her and slowly walked over to the elevator, giving Logan some space. He could smell the reek of Logan's whiskey and knew the man was teetering, Logan was just one trigger away from seriously injuring someone. Henry used a key card to bypass the panel but it still didn't respond.
Logan wasn't going to wait. He popped his claws and slashed the wall. He ripped the panel out violently with one huge yank, not caring as he was shocked by electricity. His healing factor dealt with it as the power surge didn't even last but a second before shorting out. The panel popped and fizzed as if in apology for being such a failure but Logan just smashed the remains against the floor, shattering it and sending plastic bits and wires out in all directions. He glared up at Henry, his eyes crazed and wild.
Beast stood frozen in place next to him, not wanting to be the next target. The alarm had sounded from the panel's destruction and it was huge and loud. There was another security panel a couple of feet back for the alarm and Beast gingerly stepped away to it. He swiped his card and canceled it, the loud shriek of the alarm abruptly shut off. He clicked a button for the intercom and said, "False alarm, folks. We had a security panel...er...malfunction. Sorry about that."
The hallway was eerily silent now except for the ding of the elevator car as it returned from above. In the case of an alarm, the car always came down. Now that the security panel had been destroyed and the alarm shut off, the standard buttons were functioning. Logan pressed the up button and the doors opened. He went inside without speaking and departed a lot more silently than he had come.
"Fallen!" Seth was shouting now from back inside the Medical Bay. The alarm had frightened him and she could now hear him with the noise gone. She returned to him and held him tightly in her arms, shielding him from all the ruckus. He had his hands over his ears and was bawling with his eyes clamped shut, terrified beyond belief. She soothed him, watching as Henry came back with the smoking ruin of the security panel in his hand.
Beast plunked it down on a table and sighed. "At least this wasn't any of us."
"Is he going to be all right?" Fallen asked. Seth had calmed and was shivering in her arms. He buried his face in her breasts and she squeezed him, petting him.
"Logan? Yeah. This isn't the first security panel he's damaged. Won't be the last, I'm sure. I should repair this now, but I'm too damn tired."
"Do it in the morning. What difference will it make?"
He smiled at her. "You're right. Let's see to your Siskan. He looks a bit frightened."
"I'm okay," Seth said, wiping his eyes. He was still hitching for air, but had calmed. He was overly sensitive to everything around him. The lights seemed too bright and the sound of the alarm had made his head hurt. Fallen felt good, though. He could feel her heat and hear the sound of her breathing so close. She was so warm and wonderful, his fierce protector, the bringer of happiness and joy.
"Let's just see how you are, hmm? Just to be sure," Henry insisted.
"N-no tests. Please. I just want to be quiet for a while," Seth pleaded.
"We'll sleep here," Fallen suggested. She was tired as well.
Henry smiled. "All right. First thing in the morning, then. Well, after I fix the panel, that is. The rest of the panels might not function, but for one night I can't see how it could be any harm."
Fallen climbed into the bed and pulled Seth around her. She covered him up and they settled down. Henry looked at them smiling. He was a sucker for a good romance, that was for sure. He was going to have find some of this bliss for himself someday. A petri dish and a test tube was no substitute for a good hug. He took a peek at Joseph as he retreated, saw he was still in the catatonic state as usual in spite of the noise, and then shut off the lights before heading to his own bed.
Fallen and Seth snuggled down and dropped off quickly, having had enough fun for one day. Seth had his face to her breasts, wanting to hear her heartbeat and feel the gentle rise and fall of her breathing. These moments of intimacy with her had been so brief in the Black Room, Kimble was never one to stay asleep for long and so they were always interrupted. These were things he would be sure to cherish for a long time to come.
They never heard the quiet ticking from the bed next to them or the sound of shackles, now empty, being carefully laid down. There was a slight whisper as the curtain parted, but they never woke, not even as the shadow of Joseph passed over them. He paused, looking down at them with a sneer, but then vanished, not letting this opportunity go to waste.