(Two)

Leon sat on his bar stool, unhappy. He was quite drunk and not quite recovered from his ordeal. He had made some frantic calls, but had received no help. He learned his boss, Cameron Bishop, had been arrested and taken away, along with most of the Freedom Kings. He was on his own with only the clothes and money Sabretooth had given him. Fortunately, it was a lot, his abductor had been generous. He had gone into this sleazy bar, hoping for anonymity and a steady oblivion in drink. This was an all hours bar that served mutants only, he had nowhere else to go. He looked up as a shadow passed over his shoulder and turned to see Logan grinning down at him. "Hey, there, Bunkie."

Leon squeaked in fear and tried to rise. Logan just shoved him back into his seat, sitting next to him. Gambit slid into the seat on his other side, sealing off his escape. A quick peek over his shoulder revealed Kennedy slouched over by the door. Damn.

"What do you losers want?" Leon hissed, trying to sound braver than he felt.

"Nice necklace dere, homme. You get dat at Macy's?"

"Fuck you."

"Now that's not too nice," Wolverine said, rudely taking Leon's beer and finishing it for him. He snapped his fingers at the bartender, wanting another. "We just want to chat."

"Wh-what about?"

"Tell us 'bout Kimble. Where's he at?"

"I don't know. Creed took him."

"You wasn't invited? How rude," Remy teased, cocking his head in amusement. He was enjoying Leon's discomfort immensely, it appealed to the predator in him. He was all too ready to punish anyone connected with Kimble's swift decline.

"Look, the guy just dumped me, okay? I don't know anything."

"I'm not convinced about that," Wolverine replied, nodding his head at the bartender who came with a fresh beer and dropped a bill on the counter. "Let's start at the beginning. Tell us what happened when Kimble come ta be with ya. Start at Chester's."

"I ain't got time."

Logan just growled. "We can do this here or we can do this at Fury's. Least if ya make me happy I'll let ya walk right outta here. Fury's lookin' ta fry yer ass. What ya wanna do?"

Leon considered his options. It was a very short list. He started out slow, speaking softly. He explained about Kimble being melted outside of Chester's and how after he had recovered, Kimble began talking in these screwed up voices. He glossed over the training Kimble had received, but was sure to point out what a poor student he had been. It was obvious Leon despised his new teammate and his sexual nature, he grumbled a bit about the orange room, keeping his eyes down.

Remy kept quiet, but his anger was simmering. Always with Kimble this intolerance. No one ever tried to understand. Perhaps Gail did, it was coming through how Kimble had cared for her. It backed up the things that Jean had told him. Jean had mind scanned the girl that last night and had been quick to take Remy aside and reveal some of what she'd seen, wanting Remy to be comforted by knowing that Kimble had touched someone there in a positive way. It was a doomed relationship, however.

Leon spoke next of the night Sabretooth came and how Gail's death had changed Kimble. Lakotashay was out and in charge after that. It seemed as though Leon wasn't given full details, he didn't know that there had been a fight between Wolverine and Kimble, he thought Kimble's breakdown was because of Gail. Logan didn't bother to correct him.

Leon spoke of the Quitter, how she had been ganged up on by Zander and Kyle and forced through the training. He didn't mention the cats and since Remy seemed to have forgotten his bringing it up at the bank, didn't refresh his recall by repeating it. He did say she had gotten a taste for killing, he spoke of the two men she had murdered and how Cameron hadn't been upset by it. He just made her clean up the mess and it was forgotten.

Remy shuddered. If he had thought the security guard incident had been the worst of Kimble's actions it seemed he'd been sadly mistaken. The guard could arguably be an act of defense, but those men could not. 'Shay had done that to make Cameron kill her, it hadn't worked. It reminded Gambit of Zander's vicious revenge against Logan, Zander and 'Shay were more than capable of the atrocities Anya had predicted. The Lover would never have done these things, he knew it. There was too much innocent kindness there in Kimble, something the Quitter and the Punisher clearly lacked. Remy had already begun to separate the three personalities in his mind without realizing it, thinking of them as three individual people.

"What happened when Creed came ta pick Kimble up in Baltimore?" Wolverine asked, pressing on. He was getting a lot of information and had a pad out now, scribbling notes to keep track of it all.

Leon went over the battle at Cameron's safehouse and Logan's eyes widened a little when Zander's sword fight with Seamus was described. Gambit had been the only X-man to witness Zander's power of conjuring the sword out of nowhere and then his ability to power it with plasma. Channeling, Joshua had called it. It was the thing the albino had been pestering Zander to learn all along. Logan glanced up at Remy who just shrugged sheepishly. You wouldn't have believed me if I'd told you, his eyes replied. Logan growled impatiently, never happy when he wasn't in the know. Leon went on.

The sword story wasn't as fantastic as what he spoke of next. He recounted Kimble's bizarre resurrection as 'Shay seemed to let him come out and how the Lover had orally serviced the notorious Victor Creed. Leon did say that Kimble was pressured by himself being a hostage, but the overtone was that Kimble would have done it anyway, he was such a sick boy. He had asked for it actually, calling Creed on on his own. Creed didn't have to twist his arm around or anything, Kimble was right there and ready in Leon's perception of things. The fucking was something different, though. It had been savage. He described the rape and then how it all changed like magic. One second Kimble was bawling like a baby and then he was digging it and shooting cum everywhere.

"Excuse me?" Wolverine complained. "Wanna run that by me again?"

"Yeah, he was all cryin' at first. It musta been some kind of act 'cause then he was shakin' and gettin' into it. He and Creed shot off at the same time like a coupla sicko queers and then they were all happy. You shoulda seen the way Kimble was looking at Saby, like he was a god or something. It was sickening. And Creed, well he was like on drugs or something because he was all high and talking funny. I thought he was gonna suck face with Kimble, he was so stoned, and saying how he couldn't wait to screw him again. I wanted to puke," Leon said, unable to hide his disgust. "Fucking faggot queer boys."

"De empathy," Remy said softly, trying to ignore the last comment to speak with his teammate. "He done it to stop Saby from 'urtin' 'im so bad. Has to be."

Wolverine pinned Leon with his eyes, working the mess he had just been given. He wasn't sure what Remy was saying and wanted more details.

Gambit beat him to it. His mind was working fast and had picked up on something not expressly said. "Lemmie get dis straight, buddy. Creed 'ad you in 'is sights and Kimble stopped it, is dat how it happened?"

Leon squirmed. He was grateful in his way for Kimble's save, but was still disgusted at how Kimble had whored for Sabretooth long after it was required. "Kim still wanted it. He loved it. He finished," Leon explained, unable to hide his disgust.

Logan stepped back in, regaining control of the conversation. He could see Remy was furious. "He 'finished?' What does that mean?"

"He came, all right? If he hadn't liked it he wouldn't have finished."

"He sacrificed himself to save yer ass and this is how you thank him?"

"Some sacrifice!" Leon snarled, growing red in the face. "He liked it!"

Remy's hands began to twitch as he tried to restrain himself from lashing out at Leon in violence. It angered him to hear Kimble spoken of that way.

Logan knew it and that it was time to move on. He gave Leon a shove. "So what then?"

"Oh then they were like two faggots in love," Leon sneered. "I got dragged into the holding cells, got beaten up all the time. But that wasn't the worst of it. Creed and all of his guys kept coming in to see Kimble and he would do them just like the whore he was. I got stuck listening to all that grunting and fucking and cock sucking. I wanted to puke every time."

Remy startled a little at Leon's phrasing. The tape he had found, it had been labeled "Creed's Whore". Did he dare watch it now? He had no desire to watch a Kimble porno tape. He wasn't sure what to make of Leon's tale of Kimble servicing Creed's men. It had to be an exaggeration or some kind of ruse on Kimble's part, it was all his heart could believe.

"They all have a good time?" Logan asked, trying to keep his tone indifferent, he was no happier than Remy but wanted facts. He had finished his beer and ordered more. This time whiskey was coming for Gambit. The thief wasn't supposed to be drinking, but considering the subject matter, Logan wasn't going to stop him.

"Seemed that way."

"But?" Remy snapped, sensing something in Leon's voice.

"Well, there was this one time Creed went out of town. He left four of his men behind and they weren't playing so nice. They dragged Kim out and were fucking him, but they weren't happy. They kept asking him for something called the 'glow' but I didn't understand what it meant."

Logan shuddered, he couldn't help it. A while ago, not long after Gambit first joined the X-men, they had an unexpected surprise. Creed had come to the Mansion, distraught and at his wits end. He came there looking for the Professor. Creed had learned that certain telepaths could give him the "glow" not unlike Kimble's empathic backwash. It was nowhere near as potent or as long lasting. He had been using and abusing one such telepath until her unfortunate demise. He couldn't find a replacement and so came to Charles looking for a cure. The Professor agreed, believing anything was worth it to get the killer off the streets. Sabretooth stayed for a while, but all of Charles' efforts failed. The fact was, Creed was very ill mentally and nothing was ever going to fix that. In a fit of rage, Creed broke out and nearly slaughtered Psylocke, a telepath there that was trying to help him. Sabretooth took his rage and melted away into the night, ever to remain the monster.

"Kimble give them what they asked for?" Logan asked, already dreading the answer.

"No. Or at least I don't think so because they got real mad and messed with him something awful."

"What you mean?" Remy asked, his hands clenching.

"I don't want to talk about it," Leon replied, displaying some emotion for the first time. It had been horrible to watch, more than he could cope with. He hated Kimble, sure, but he wouldn't have wished that on anybody. Kimble had been beaten, raped, covered in shit. He shuddered and closed his eyes against tears that sprang out of nowhere.

"What happened then?" Logan asked, plowing on.

"Saby came home and saw what they'd done. He killed them. I heard he ripped one up bad in the kitchen. That was weeks ago. He took Kimble up to the house after that and I didn't see him again until tonight."

"Tell us 'bout dat," Remy asked, not the least bit sympathetic. He was growing very angry now and the whiskey wasn't helping. He had an idea Kimble's life had been rough with Creed, but this was more than he had expected. "What 'appened tonight?"

"You should know, he called you," Leon snapped irritably.

Remy snatched at him, quick as a wink, and smashed his head down against the counter. Logan jumped back instinctively, beer and glass went flying everywhere. He was amazed at Remy's violence and the speed of it, it had seemingly come out of nowhere. Yeah, Remy was upset but never had Logan seen Gambit lose it on a job, not like this. Clearly his teammate was just a wee bit upset. "Easy, fellas," he said, giving the bartender a quick nod. They were attracting attention now.

Leon groaned. He was dazed and bleeding a little now from the blow. He felt Wolverine give Remy a push back and tried to catch his breath. "What was that for?" he wheezed in pain.

"Fo' your smart little mouth, rat boy! Comprenez-vous!"

"Back off!" Logan repeated. His eyes glared at Remy. "Sit!"

Gambit sat back, but his face was flushed and his red eyes gleamed. He was furious and looking for a target. He smoothed out his jacket and tossed back the shot he had waiting. He snapped his fingers at the bartender, but the man shook his head. Remy scowled and Logan kicked him, hard. "Quit it!"

Remy put his head down and was quiet. He couldn't hope to explain his actions. How could he tell Wolverine that Leon's vibrations of hate and loathing for Kimble had been coming off of him like a poison, choking him. He knew Leon wasn't telling all of it, that there had been something ugly between them, something Leon was hiding. Leon liked 'Shay and the Quitter had been cruel. It stood to reason that Leon had abused her or inspired her to abuse others. The thought made him angry. He was trying hard to stay in control and the whiskey had been a mistake.

"Tell us about what happened tonight," Logan repeated. He was listening as Leon spoke, but started picking up the mess Remy had made. It appeased the bartender and they were left alone. This was a rough place and fights not uncommon, as long as they settled down, they wouldn't get booted out of here.

Leon patted a napkin to the small cut on his forehead as he explained how things had been quieter after Kimble had been moved to the penthouse. He still heard stories about how Kimble was some kind of slave and having a grand time over it. Things had certainly improved for the pilot.

Remy gritted his teeth, a noise Logan could hear. Leon's body spoke of how he had thought that perhaps somehow Kimble had precipitated his savage beating to get moved to the penthouse. He had benefitted from it surely and Leon was jealous. The holding cells were small and he was constantly harassed by Creed's men once Kimble was gone. Gambit's control was slipping again, but another warning glance from Logan kept him in his seat.

Wolverine was getting the idea that Remy was picking up more from Leon than just his words. Logan was not without his own resources. He didn't have the empathy as Remy seemed to possess now, but his nose told him much of the same things. Leon was hiding things, he was being evasive. The difference here was that Logan wasn't personally involved. He had enough distance from Kimble not to get enraged. He could keep the anger down. He would deal with it later.

Leon went on to explain that Sabretooth always beat Kimble. That was how the sex was, he'd beat Kimble down and then they'd fuck like nothing else. Well, the beating Kimble got this night was on a whole other scale. Kimble had been seriously broken, Leon had never heard anyone wheeze like that. The pilot was smashed into the wall, reminding Logan of the damage he had seen there. Leon went on. Kimble couldn't breathe. It was a frightening, sucking sound, like dying people make. Mary came and fixed him up, but not after Creed had made him suffer with it awhile.

Remy closed his eyes and turned away. He was in agony over Kimble's life, the pilot claimed he had been happy but Remy just didn't understand how that could be possible. He was shaking badly and had serious doubts about his own crumbling mental state. He had to get out of here before he killed someone. He got up without speaking and walked off to the men's room, slamming the door behind him. Kennedy came from the door and took his place on the bar stool, saying nothing.

"That's all, he just beat him up?" Wolverine continued. He appeared unconcerned about Remy's departure, but was merely trying to get this done. At least the Cajun had the sense to back off this time.

"Yeah. They all packed up and then Mary came and fixed him. Creed was lookin' at him all funny like, stupid faggot -" Leon yelped suddenly when Logan briskly reached down and grabbed his crotch, squeezing Leon's balls in a not so gentle embrace.

"You use that word again, son? Yer gonna be real sorry, understand?"

Leon wheezed painfully, tears springing from his eyes. "S-sorry..."

Logan released him and Leon fell forward, gasping. Jeez, were all of these X-guys queers or what? He could see Remy was upset, but he had pegged that Frenchie as a swish from the onset. He had offered himself to Kimble in the bank, Leon didn't need an understanding of Siskan to know that had happened. The eager look on Kimble's face had been enough. Plus, Remy's involvement with Kimble was the only explanation for his hostile response to the story of the pilot's abuse. That and all Frenchies were queer, they all came off that way. But he couldn't understand why Wolverine was all pissed off. Maybe he and the Frenchie had a thing as well.

Logan seemed to sense his thoughts and smiled an evil, twisted grin full of malice. "Somethin' on yer mind, precious?"

"N-no, sir," Leon managed, not wanting any more pain.

"Finish up, then. Careful now."

Leon continued, but didn't have much more to offer. Creed and his men pulled out, taking the limo and a small truck that Leon hadn't seen before. Leon said how Creed was all quiet in the car, seeming more hurt and sad than angry. He dragged Leon outside and dumped him, giving him some money and tossing him away like garbage. He watched Creed drive off with Kimble in the car and then he came here, not quite sure what to do next.

Logan sat back and digested all that he was told. He had taken a lot of notes. He wasn't sure why he had bothered, but heck, maybe Karen could make something out of this. "Keep him here," he said to Kennedy and went to the men's room, looking for Remy. Another man walked out as he came in, keeping his eyes down. It was enough to make Logan suspicious, that and the reek of narcotics. He found Remy in the far corner, smoking a cigarette. The smoke detector had been disabled long ago and the air was thick with smoke, not all of it from cigarettes.

"Feel better?" Logan snapped, unhappy.

Remy's eyes were small and glassy now. He had come in here to cool off and had been fortunate to find more in here than just some cold water to splash on his face. The guy who had walked out was a drug dealer and Remy had a pocket full of cash. He had shared a nice long bone with the guy while Logan had interrogated Leon further, and was now quite high, his anger dissipated. Just his luck, the dealer had laced it with hashish, Remy was feeling nice and mellow. He had found a temporary release from his fury. "Sure, homme. We leavin' now?"

"Yeah. What ya wanna do with the pimple?"

Remy just grinned, his red and black eyes full of malice.

"Besides that."

"Could care less."

"That collar ain't comin' off without help."

Remy nodded and walked out, his stride smooth and natural. He was high as a kite, but loose and easy. He wasn't trashed. He said nothing, but grabbed Leon roughly by the scruff as he passed by and dragged him outside without preamble, leaving one of the others to pay the tab. He shoved Leon into the alley and up against the wall. He tugged on the restraining collar. "You sit tight dere, cher. Don't wanna upset me. Might make a mistake, bien?" Remy said, his grin all evil intent.

Leon nodded, trembling in fear. The collar was top notch and sure to be booby trapped. Logan couldn't just cut it off, it would explode, taking his head off. It would have to be picked. Logan and Kennedy weren't long in coming and they watched as Remy skillfully worked the lock and freed their guest. It was still dark even though the sun was just starting to rise. Remy gripped a tiny Maglite in his mouth, both hands holding picks with an easy familiarity. In spite of being quite high, or perhaps because of it, Remy's hands were calm and fast. He did the job quickly then gave Leon a shove and a kick in the ass, sending him scurrying. "Y'all don't come back now, ya hear? Gambit see yo' ass again, dere ain't gonna be nuthin' left of you to find, comprenez!"

Leon fled.

Gambit didn't say anything else, but turned and walked back to his Jeep. He didn't bother with the driver's seat, he knew Logan would put up a fuss and he didn't want an argument to spoil his high. Logan spoke softly with Kennedy, thanking him and then returned to the Jeep as well. He started up the car and sat there a minute, just looking at Remy.

The thief had closed his eyes and was the picture of calm. He opened one eye and quirked an eyebrow at him. "We goin' 'ome or you got sumptin' else ya wanna do?"

"It's almost five. How about a coffee and a steak? Harry's is open and the food's much better than this place."

"Sure," Remy replied, rubbing his stomach a little. It was sore from the booze and the smoke, he could use a little food.

Logan put the Jeep in gear and drove off. He smiled a little when he saw Remy's head go back and the kid relaxed. If he drove long enough, he knew the thief would be out like a light. It had been a long night, but they weren't finished yet. Now more than ever, Logan wanted to watch the tape Remy had found. It would be great if there was something on there they could use. All other tracking methods would take a while. He had a feeling they were running out of time if they wanted to bring Kimble home intact.