(Two)
Gambit woke when Molly gave his shoulder a gentle shake. He startled, bleary eyed and unsure of where he was. This wasn't his bed so he was immediately defensive – he came up aggressively with his fists and Molly jumped back with a grunt, her heightened senses allowing her an extra second to be on the defensive. He heard her noise and backed off as he became more awake.
"Uh, je suis de'sole, Molly girl. P'etetre, you best not be wakin' Gambit up when he ain't in his own bed, petite. Might get a nasty surprise we bot' gonna regret."
I would be happy to test that theory sometime.
He smiled at her, warmed by her tease. One of the things he liked most about her was her ability to let things slide. Rogue would not have taken so kindly to his rude awakening. "What's goin' on, fille?"
They're back. Henry and Fallen are on their way down with Mr. Logan.
He sat up, blinking blearily. He still wasn't all that with the program, but his smile grew wider when he next felt Molly's hands gently smoothing out his hair. It came with a vibration of her love and he knew she was still worried about him. The look of his face hadn't improved with his nap, the bruise from when Creed had punched him was ugly and purple. He reached for her and smiled. "Gambit's okay, chere. He just not quite with de program. When did de others get in?"
Not even five minutes ago.
"Si bien. Gambit's up," he groaned and stood up on shaky legs. He had stiffened as he had slept and now his body was one huge ache from all the running about and fighting. He heard the door to Security bleep as it was opened and made his way out. Fallen and Logan had arrived with Henry right behind.
"Where is he!" Fallen demanded as she entered, never breaking stride.
"Cell four. E's wrecked."
Logan snarled, his frustration evident. "He should be! If he knew what was going to happen, why'd he wait so fuckin' long ta call? We almost didn't make it!"
Remy had placed Kimble's rumpled clothing on the Security desk. He grabbed it now and tossed it at Wolverine. He had anticipated his teammate's response and kept these as evidence. " 'E had a little trouble finding a phone!" he snarled between clenched teeth.
Logan unfolded the shirt and sniffed it. It reeked of sex, garbage and Sabretooth's blood, an odd mix that made Logan's face wrinkle in confusion. There was a faint scent of a woman, Chanel and plastic - Creed's plasma girl. The shirt was ripped and full of bullet holes, Kimble had been through a lot this day. He cursed softly and asked in a much gentler tone, "Is he all right?"
"Oui, but I t'ink 'e got shot. De bullets musta went t'rough him and de wounds closed up or sumptin'. 'E's all bruised up and dere's sumptin wrong wit 'is feet. Dey don' look right and it 'urts for 'im to walk. He's sleepin' now, or 'e was. 'E might be up now." He looked at Logan. "He helped us. Saby shot 'im full of holes and 'e still helped us. I saw de news. It coulda been a lot worse. A lot worse." Remy was still quite tired and his voice shook with emotion. He said nothing about Zander's bizarre rescue, he had nowhere to begin to explain that one.
"I know," Logan agreed, lowering his voice a little. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was really tired as well, they all were. "He did as best he could, I guess."
"I t'ink 'e really needs to 'ear it, patron. 'Specially from you."
Logan nodded slowly. "I'll go talk to him."
He kept the rumpled shirt and walked over to Kimble's cell. He looked in and saw the pilot curled up on the bed. Logan could tell Kimble was awake now, his eyes were open. He passed his hand over the security panel. It beeped and he went inside.
"Hey, kid," Logan grumbled.
Kimble didn't move. He lay on the bed and faced the middle of the room, his eyes staring sightlessly forward. He had taken the small blanket Molly had covered him with and wrapped it tightly around his head and shoulders like a shroud, only his face was peeking out. His breathing was shallow as if he didn't want the air his body forced him to take and he shivered as though he were freezing. His nakedness revealed the extent of the day's abuse, his body was battered and bruised all over. His hands were curled up at his throat and trembling slightly. Logan moved into his line of sight and sat against the wall, not quite sure what to say.
The pilot saw him there and whispered softly, "Checknasay rehan talef."
Logan cocked his head at the soft, child like voice that came from him. This wasn't Lakotashay, the voice was much younger and didn't have her hostility. It was filled with fear and shyness, a tiny child, and not the least bit threatening. Wolverine glanced to the door and saw that Remy was now sitting on the Security desk, giving them a respectful distance. Fallen was there holding Seth in her arms, it had been a long day without him. Henry was quiet as well, trying to give Logan some space. There were things that needed to be said.
"What did he say?" Logan asked to the crowd.
" 'E say 'We done de baddest t'ing'," Remy replied first.
"Why? What happened?"
In a strained and halting voice, Remy attempted to explain what Zander had done. He had thought Kimble was down for the count from Sabretooth's abuse, but the Punisher had risen to the occasion and worked his magic to save the life of his friend. He had become the Channeler he was destined to be, Remy's would be Guardian Angel. As he explained, Gambit could see quickly that Logan understood that Kimble had used his sword trick again. It didn't keep the look of wonder from Wolverine's face, it really was something that had to be seen to be truly believed. This had been Remy's second time and he still didn't want to believe it himself.
"Checknasay rehan talef!" the pilot repeated with a sob and a tear leaked out of one eye. He slid the shroud open and turned onto his back, groaning in pain. He pleaded to Logan with his eyes, arching his back and exposing his throat. "Checknasay rehan telef! Freeman showree preemast!"
"Non!" Remy shouted sharply, standing quickly.
Wolverine watched this, hopelessly confused. "What did he just say?"
"He want you to kill him," Gambit replied on his way over. His face was tight with worry and pain. He sat down next to Kimble on the bed and touched his face. " 'Ey little brother, what's your pain, neh? What's goin' on wit you?"
"We's bad, Remy," the pilot repeated, still in Siskan.
"Dat you, Kim, or someone else? Who's dis talkin' to me now?"
"Lin," came the tiny whispered reply. Lin meant to confess in Siskan, a bit of a puzzle. What did this mean?
"What's dis, eh? Why you 'ere?"
"Cuz we's dangerous. We broked the rules, hurted people. I gots ta be warning peoples so they'll be safe from us. It ain't safes ta be 'round us. Kills us! It's the only way to stops us from killding peoples!"
"No one's gonna kill nobody. All dat stops now," Remy insisted.
"No! You gots ta kills us! Do it! Do it now!"
"Ne jamais! It ain't gonna happen. Gambit didn't work so 'ard to bring you back just so you can die right 'ere!"
"Gots to keep evraone safe. If you ain't gonna kills us, we gots ta stay in the small spaces sos we cain't hurts no one. Just 'til 'Shay does fer us. We gots ta die, we's killded the Master. She'll takes care of us! We's done the baddest bloodiest thing!" Lin wailed in a tiny child's voice. It seemed as though he could be no more than three or four years old, much too young to be in such mental agony. He pulled the blankets back to where they had been, he was hiding them away, keeping Remy safe.
"What was that?" Logan asked. Lin only spoke in Siskan. Some of the X-men had been offered a brief course in Siskan but few had been interested in learning the dead language. Henry had been the only one, but he was only just learning and of little help. Remy, Seth or Fallen would have to be little Lin's translators.
Remy put his head down at Lin's words and his shoulders started to shake. Was there no end to this? To Kimble's terrible sickness? All he felt was guilt. If he had watched over Kimble with more care when he was sneaking out, this would never have happened.
"Kimble, don' do dis..."
"You should go," Lin said, gently laying a hand on Remy's. His fingers were cold. "You kin git sick from bein' so close ta us. We kills. We hurts and we kills like a sickness. We hurted the Master, hurted him real bad. We killded him. That's 'gainst the law. We's bad, Remy," he repeated, slowly taking his hand away and tucking it back under the blanket. "We's so bad."
"What's he sayin'?" Logan repeated, a little more insistently this time. It bugged him that he couldn't understand.
" 'E keep sayin' he bad. He a sickness cause 'e 'urt people. He 'urt de Master, Saby 'is Master. He t'ink Saby's dead. He shatter again. Fuckin' hell!" Gambit explained bitterly, tears leaking out of his eyes and his voice not quite steady. "Dis's Lin. De Confessor. He gonna tell everybody how bad he is so people will stay away from him. Dat why he keep sayin' de same t'ing over and over."
Logan sighed and took out a pack of cigarettes. He shook one out and lit it, smoking quietly for a moment while he sifted Kimble's mangled shirt in his hands. He could still see Kimble's face even though Remy was there and they looked at one another, the shattered pilot and the man. Once, Logan might have been happy to see Kimble's spirit so badly broken like this. Now all it did was make him feel sick. He was thoughtful before he spoke, his eyes locking Lin's with purpose.
"I never really believed much in fate. I figure shit happens and that's pretty much it. Heh, I'd hate to think that I was meant to be as mean and ornery as I am. This case, though, I think maybe you were meant to run away and have all of this shit happen to you," he said, making Gambit quirk an eyebrow in surprise. "See, if you hadn't run off and done all that stupid shit ya did, you wouldn't have been there to warn us about the bombing at all. We wouldn't have known it was even gonna happen. Lot more folks'd be dead... and so would all of us. Twenty thousand people, Kimble - Lin - or whatever the hell ya wanna call yerself now. Women and children. 'Cause of you, most of 'em made it. Seems ta me, you should be real proud of yourself, not layin' here feelin' like you ain't worth shit."
Lin closed his eyes and shook as he started to cry. "It ain't true. We's junta bay, the worstest evilest thing in the whole wide world. You hafta be killding us! It's the law!"
Logan didn't need Remy's translation to understand junta bay. He had heard those words before and had an idea what they meant. He got to his feet and crouched down next to Remy to lay a gentle hand on Kimble's shoulder. It was the first time he had touched the pilot without hurting him. He closed his eyes and tried to let the pilot feel all of his regret and shame at how he had misjudged him. He knew no other way to try and repair the damage he had caused. He felt just as guilty as Remy did at the idea that Kimble may have split even further.
"Ya did good today, kid. You ain't bad, this junta bay, whatever that means. Yer brave and honest and loyal. Yer good and yer kind in yer heart. You tried as best ya could to protect everybody and ya did just fine with what ya had to work with. Honor, Courage, Loyalty an' Sacrifice. Fallen said ya know them an' ya do.
"I'm...I'm sorry fer what I said b'fore at the warehouse. It ain't true 'bout you bein' some kind of monster. The only monster there was me, chewin' ya out fer somethin' that had nuthin' ta do with you. That guy hurt me real bad...an'...an' I guess I just wanted ta hurt someone back. It shouldn't have been you an' I'm sorry. Real sorry. Do ya fergive me?"
Lin blinked at him, his lashes wet with tears. "You wuz right about us. You tried to warn evraone that we wuz dangerous an' hurtsful an' mean an' no one would listen. How kin we fergives ya when ya ain't done nuthin' wrong?"
Remy translated quickly and Logan sighed in frustration. "No, kid. What I done was very wrong. I judged ya fer something you didn't do -"
"Yes, we did!" Lin insisted. "We's rapin' and' killding', hurtin' and shreddin' apart! We kills whatever we touch!" he bawled with a pained sob and yanked back, covering his head completely now.
"Oh, no you don't!" Remy said, growing angry now from his frustration. "Don' you 'ide from me, not now, not ever!" He yanked the blanket back and caught Lin when he squirmed. Gambit was rough, but he was pulling Lin close to him, taking him into his arms and giving him no escape. "Dere ain't no sickness in you," he insisted more gently now, trying to send out as powerful a love vibration as he could. "You didn' do nuthin' to nobody. All dey done was fuck wit you, fuck wit yo' head so badly you can't t'ink straight!"
Lin shuddered and wept, relaxing and falling into Remy's embrace. He buried his head in Remy's chest and grabbed him tightly, digging in with his nails as if he were afraid the thief would leave him. "We's so scared! We's gonna hurts people! We don' wanna hurts nobody...don't wanna hurts nobody no more...!" his tiny voice trailed off into wracking sobs.
"Shh...shh...quiet now, mon petit. Shh...dis all one terrible nightmare and it's over now. You home now, little brother. We gonna take care of you...Shh..." Remy soothed, rocking Lin until he cried himself out and released his painful grip on his arms.
"We loves you, Remy..." Lin said softly, sniffing. He was wasted, it showed in his face and in the hoarseness of his voice. "We loves evrabody. Don' wanna hurts nobody no more..."
"I know, I know...shh..paisible, oui, paisible maintenant," Gambit said, laying the pilot back carefully and covering him back up again. "Everybody loves you, too. Everyone 'ere. Nobody's gonna 'urt you ever again."
Logan reached out to Lin again. "The Cajun's right. We're gonna look after ya now, keep ya safe. You think on what I said. Yer good and ya do belong here, just as much as any one of us - even Remy, 'though I know he don't always think so. I was just too stubborn ta see it. Don' let no one make ya think any different. Not even me." He gave Lin's shoulder a gentle squeeze and slipped away.
Remy watched him go, still a little surprised by his words. Logan was genuinely remorseful over what had happened and it showed. Fallen and Seth came in as Wolverine walked out.
Fallen went to Kimble and took the blanket away gently in spite of Lin's tiny protests. She wanted to look at his body and make sure he was okay. She ran her hands over him looking for wounds. He was too weak to fight her and Gambit steadied him with soothing words. Fallen cried out in soft dismay when she saw his body was badly bruised and his feet didn't look right at all. He didn't take any Ristle from her, something that puzzled her. With this much damage, she should be well on her way to the Black Room.
"He's not taking Ristle," she complained to the air.
"Je sais. I know, chere," Remy replied. "It de same wit me. P'etetre, 'cause 'e got all melted, 'e can't take it no more."
She whispered in Kimble's ear and brushed his dirty hair back from his eyes. Lin looked at her and said again, "We done the baddest thing. We gots ta die for it. We's too bad an' ugly ta live."
"No, Kim. You're wrong. You were so very brave today. I'm so proud of you and I love you so much."
Lin pulled back away from her in frustration and reached feebly for the blanket. Remy helped him and once more, Lin covered up all the way in his makeshift shroud. Only his face peeked out, his dirty face streaked with tears and dried blood from his poor dead Master.
"We's bad, Fallen. Don' touch us, you'll git sick. Don' wanna hurt nobodys no more. We'll just wait here and make it small 'till we die," he closed his eyes and shuddered. His feet were one huge agony.
Seth stood behind her, watching. He was crying softly now, in misery himself from his brother's heart wrenching words. He bent down and gently moved Remy aside, wanting his turn. He couldn't touch Kimble directly, Fallen had taken a moment to caution him that the plasma in Kimble's body might injure him. He put his face very close to Lin's, one tear streaked Siskan to another. He was hoping that now that his brother had rested some, he might get Kimble, the Lover, to come around. "Kimble, please. Talk to me. I need to hear from you so badly."
The pilot's body shuddered once and a strange bewildered expression crossed his face. "Seth?"
Seth couldn't help but smile, Kimble had spoken. "Yeah. I'm here. Really, really here."
"You gots glasses on."
"Yeah, the lights hurt my eyes," he replied with a soft laugh. "Fallen says they make me look handsome."
"You always wuz prettier than me," Kimble said, his voice terribly sad. "You never got in no trouble, never caused nobody no pain."
"We done the baddest things," Lin repeated, his words leaking around the edges of Kimble's.
"It's going to be okay, Kimble. You'll see," Seth said, new tears running down his cheeks. He had never thought of himself as better than Kimble and it pained him to hear his brother speak this way.
Kimble started to reach out with his hand to brush the tears away, but Fallen gently blocked him. "The plasma, Kimble Bee. You can't touch him."
Kimble's focus changed to her as if he noticed her there for the first time. The pain from his mangled feet came crashing in on him now that he was more aware and he bawled suddenly, "Fix me, Fallen, please! It hurts so bad!"
She couldn't help but cry. "I... I don't think I can. I'm touching you, but nothing's happening."
Kimble snarled in frustration and curled up even tighter, withdrawing as Lin had. The pain was swallowing him up. He was drowning in it.
"Henry's here," she soothed. "We'll figure this out, don't worry."
Seth reached out and lay a hand on his brother's covered shoulder. He spoke gently in Siskan and Kimble nodded, turning away. He should have been overjoyed to see his brother, but he was exhausted and in too much pain to realistically enjoy the reunion.
Gambit wasn't far away. He tried to soothe Kimble with his voice as he had done with Lin, but he could see the light dimming from his friend's eyes as he started to go into shock. Apparently, Lin wasn't as sensitive to the pain and it hadn't swamped him like it was doing to Kimble now.
Henry came in and checked Kimble out. He could see the Siskan was in pain but had no idea of how to help him. If he couldn't take the Ristle, he wouldn't be able to heal. Kimble was in pain and suffering horribly. Remy explained to him how he and Seth had given the Siskan whiskey and Rishna to make him sleep. Beast was impressed with their sharp thinking and made some notes. He would do his best to combine the two drinks in such a way that a medicine could be prepared ahead of time in case it was needed. He used the bottles now to dose the pilot again and observed him closely to best judge his reactions. After a short while, Kimble's eyes once more grew heavy and he passed out, no longer crying in pain. Henry was grateful to see him go down, at least he could alleviate his terrible suffering. The trick now was to discover a way to heal him.