(Six)

Seth sat at his computer in the Lucky Dragon's downstairs shop, rubbing his eyes. It was very late at night and he was tired, but not ready to quit just yet. He had done another check on Mary's credit cards from Sabretooth's penthouse, but she was still quiet. Apparently she wasn't a big spender. He left the search program running, commanding it to send a signal the moment she used any of the cards he had tagged. That done, he was fast at work on another task, one more personal.

He had been trying to hack into Henry's personal files, being very clever and sneaky. He had no ill intentions here, he was looking for Kimble. He knew Beast kept well documented files on everyone here and that he had made a digital video file of the tape Logan and Remy had found. It hadn't been damaged in Gambit's fit of rage - the TV had been demolished, but not the video player. The file was considered so vile and horrible that it had been locked away by Henry and no unauthorized viewing of it was allowed.

Seth couldn't hide the fact he wanted desperately to see it. He didn't want to see the beating, the rape, the torture. No, he merely wanted to see his brother again and hear his voice, something Gambit's Polaroids couldn't provide. It had been so long since he'd had those things available to him and was willing to take any substitute he could get, no matter how ugly. Seth knew better than to ask for a personal viewing, his weakness was well known and he was certain to be refused. So instead, he was here now hacking into the computer of one of his closest friends, a secret betrayal with the best of intentions.

He grinned silently when like magic, his wish was granted. It had taken him a couple of weeks - he had begun as soon as he had learned Henry had encoded it the day it had been found - but he had won this cyberspace battle. He had found the file and broken down the barriers. It was his. He copied it onto his own system, making sure to obliterate all traces of his thievery. That now done, he braced himself and played the file.

It didn't take long for him to start to cry and shiver and whimper softly.

Seth had always been protected, sheltered. He knew what pain was, he had bumped himself a few times struggling to move about in this new world. But he had never experienced pain on the scale he was witnessing now. He could see the blows coming, hear the meaty sound of those evil fists connecting with the body of his brother. The rape... Well, this certainly was the first time he had ever seen sex used as a weapon. It seemed so wrong, so totally evil. Sex was supposed to be a good and loving thing, a way to express the love he felt for his Mistress. It was love and rapture and joy. What he saw here was a nightmare. He didn't understand why Kimble was still sane, why he wasn't there killing them all for hurting him so.

Seth grabbed the framed picture of Kimble from the desk beside him and grasped it to his chest, using it as a talisman against the evil being played out in front of him. He had placed a couple of the Polaroids Remy had given him inside the frame, keeping the old with the new. Looking at the file now, he did his best to block out all the bad things, seeing only the white of Kimble's face, the blue of his eyes. Watching his brother there burst the dam inside of him and he bawled freely now, knowing Fallen was fast asleep upstairs and wouldn't hear him. He held one slender white hand to the screen, wanting to touch Kimble for real and hold him again. His grief was a white hot ache breaking his heart. He was now a little sorry Remy had left. He could use some of that good Cajun comfort now and chocolate.

He locked the file away, coding it so it wouldn't be discovered. He set his workstation in order and went upstairs to his Mistress, trying to cover up all signs of his distress. It was difficult. His heart was shattered. He crawled into bed as carefully as he could and pulled Fallen to him, demanding comfort without waking her. Her arms found him and the heat from her body washed over him, smothering the sharp pain inside of him. She mumbled drowsily and laughed, gently pressing his face to her breast, happy when he began to suckle there. Seth took her comfort and soon fell asleep, warm and comfortable.

He jerked awake, less than an hour later, his mind filled with horrible visions.

Seth was a sentient creature, but hadn't become fully aware of what his body was doing all at once. Because he was a hologram, he slept very little, perhaps only a couple of hours a night. Over time, he began to see pictures in his head when he was asleep and realized that he was dreaming. He had heard Kimble talk about it enough times to not be terribly frightened by it. It was intriguing, actually. He thought the visions funny and often joked about them, he most often dreamed about making love to Fallen. Tonight, he'd had his first nightmare.

Instead of Kimble against the wall being raped, it was himself. He couldn't make out the face of his attacker, he only felt hot breath against his shoulder and a horrible ripping pain tearing up his insides. It was the fear that got to him, the fear and the powerlessness he felt as he was pinned there, unable to escape. His worst fear was being realized. He had no defenses, no ability to protect himself. It was terrifying and overwhelming. He couldn't help but scream.

Fallen woke instantly at his outcry, grabbing at him. "Seth! What's wrong?"

"Fallen!"

He crashed into her, trembling violently and gasping loudly, clawing at her with his hands.

"Oh, baby..." she soothed and rocked him as he burst into tears. "It's okay. Did you have a bad dream?"

"Oh, Fallen! It was terrible! This bad man was holding me down and oh! It was so horrible! I- I couldn't get away and he was hurting me so bad!"

"Shh. Easy now. It was just a dream, it wasn't real. No one's ever going to hurt you. I won't let them," she promised, brushing his hair with her small white hands.

"I was so scared... I couldn't get away... There was no one there to save me," he babbled, calming down from her touch.

Fallen looked up when there was an urgent thump on her door. Maylee was here, spending the night with Max as her guest. They frequently slept over. Both were comfortable here in the Lucky Dragon and Maylee had been coming here a lot, especially since Seth had been freed. She and Max had grown quite close and Fallen enjoyed having them here. They were still young and kept separate for sleeping. Max was using Kimble's old room.

Fallen opened the door with a mental command. "Yes?"

Maylee was there. "Is everything all right? I heard a scream."

"It's just Seth. He was dreaming."

Seth wiped at his eyes and blinked up at her. "I'm okay, May. I just got a little spooked."

Maylee smiled at them, satisfied. "Okay, goodnight, then."

"Goodnight, May."

Maylee whispered something to Max who now stood behind her, his eyes still droopy with sleep, and they both withdrew, closing the door.

Fallen lay back down and got Seth comfortable once more. "Were you up watching movies with Molly again?" she asked. Seth sometimes sat with Gambit and Molly if they were watching movies in the War Room. Seth rarely left the lower levels by himself since learning of Kimble's troubles, he was too nervous being that far from his Mistress.

"I saw a movie with her, but it wasn't anything bad. It was about this big green guy named Shrek and we laughed through most of it. The donkey was funny."

Fallen chuckled softly. She had seen the movie herself and had liked it. It was a kid's movie and there was nothing obvious there to frighten him, but dreams were funny that way. They didn't always reveal themselves for what they were.

"I miss Kimble," he complained softly. "Sometimes I think he's never coming home."

"Is that what this is about? Baby, I won't let anyone take you. No one's ever going to hurt you."

Seth was not about to confess that he had stolen the video file from Henry, but said, "If someone stole him, somebody can steal me."

She gripped him even more tightly. "No one's taking you anywhere. There's not a soul in this house that wouldn't give up their lives to protect you, including me."

He shivered and another tear leaked out. "I don't want anyone to die. Not for me."

"No one wants to, dear, and I doubt it will ever come to that. The X-men are well known, no one would dare challenge them here. Kimble's mistake was that he left the house and it's protection. Promise me you'll never leave the grounds."

He thrashed against her, terrified. "No! I won't! Fallen!"

"Easy, easy, my love," she soothed, unconsciously flooding him with the warmth and love he desperately needed. He became still again, weeping silently against her. "Stop this now. You're safe here in this place with me. Nothing bad will happen to you, no matter what you dream."

"I love you, Fallen."

"I love you, too, baby. Do you want to get up now? I can make us some soup or something."

"No. I just want to lay here with you."

They settled down and he relaxed against her, his ear to her chest so he could hear her breathing. He was like a child in this way, needing these reminders of her presence. Fallen's hands continued to pet him but gradually grew still as he returned to sleep. His peace did little to assuage her own fears.

Fallen had been spending these past weeks in a near constant state of paranoia. She had watched as evidence of Kimble's decline continued to mount with a kind of horror. She was going along with everything Gambit wanted and what was said, but she had doubts that Kimble was as really far gone as he was presenting. To admit it was happening left her open to thoughts worse than those.

As a Dognan pilot slave, Fallen had come across a few Siskan holograms in use by her Dognan masters. They were not as bright as Kimble had been, but they had been much more stable. When she repaired Kimble while he was in her system, she had been forced to split the personality codes between the two brothers. Together the codes were whole, separate...they were not. Just the fact that Seth continued to struggle with his sensory input was proof enough that he was incomplete. It wasn't improving over time or with experience. If Kimble was in fact degrading, the same could easily happen to Seth, something she dared not contemplate for long. No, it was much easier to tell herself that this was all some kind of bad game Kimble was playing. His pain and suffering was a punishment to her for neglecting him so. He was making her suffer and it was sure to be worse once they got him home. He had always been something of a prankster and he could be at times cruel. This had to be one of those times. Her judgement was of course impaired somewhat, she refused to watch any of the video files and read none of the actual police reports. She simply didn't want to know the details.

Fallen gripped her Siskan tightly, kissing the top of his head as he lay against her. She would protect him, keep him safe from harm. He wouldn't be allowed to wander, to go about too freely. It was simply too dangerous and she wouldn't have him break. He was her lover, her son, her sanity. Nothing would get in the way of her duty to him, not even Kimble himself.