Summary : Kimble finds his Angel. Part 26 of my Kimble series.

Notes : Rated M for language, violence, and sexual situations.

AU but only because I chose to change a few things in my dear friends' histories for simplification, nothing drastic so please forgive. I've been working on this story for years so I do ask that you don't use any of my non-Marvel universe characters without my permission. I love my Siskans as I do my children.

Updated 10-22-13 to add (break)s as needed and to clean up my trash...

(One)

Kimble fidgeted impatiently as he was fussed over. The group had returned from the flower field where Fallen had taken him only minutes ago and they were now out by the pool patio, near to the house. Kimble was crouched on an open lawn lounger, his wings fanned out to the sun. He was hot in the sun now in spite of the spring air and wanted to strip down, but Henry insisted he keep his pants on. They weren't alone, both Warren and Neal remained as guards. Fallen and Seth were here as well, watching the proceedings.

"I need you to swallow another probe, Kimble," Henry insisted, handing Kimble the device. It looked like a medium sized piece of jawbreaker candy. Beast had Seth bring up some monitoring equipment from the Lab and he was running as many tests as his prodigious brain could think of. The results were coming in quickly and he was trying to process it all. In sum, Beast was having a blast.

"I swallowed two of 'em already," the pilot grumbled a little irritably. He was feeling much better now with the sun charging him up and would have loved a nice flight around the house but Henry wanted to work. Still a Courtesan inside and programmed to please, Kimble stayed as he was, doing whatever Henry asked of him.

"I need another. Please, Kimble."

Kimble did as he was told, gagging a little as he swallowed what Beast had given him. The probes Henry were using were becoming more complicated and unfortunately, larger.

"Give me the first one back if you can, please."

Kimble squinted and concentrated. He retched and coughed it up, making Warren grimace a little in disgust. Neal, however was fascinated. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Know which one is which?"

Kimble smiled a little sheepishly. "Don't know. I just thinks about it and it happens."

"Cool."

Kimble cocked his head up at the young Indian man. They had seen very little of each other since the whole Zander thing and hadn't spoken at all. Kimble decided to take this opportunity to make amends. "I'm sorry if I hurts ya that one time. I- I didn't really knows what I wuz doin'."

"It's all right. I slept it off and I was fine."

There was more to it than that, but Neal had kept it to himself. He'd had the strangest dream after Zander had grabbed him like that. He had been falling through an empty grey space, down into nothingness. It was a gentle descent and he wasn't afraid at all. In fact he had felt a strange sense of comforting love, after all, he hadn't been alone. Kimble was there with him, holding him like a lover. There was nothing to fear here, only the sense that this was just too good for him to want it to end. There was a strange voice then, a tinny messanger proclaiming, "Unable to make connection," and then it was over. He didn't wake up on the outside, he simply fell black into a deep restful sleep. He had woken a few hours later feeling oddly exhilarated and refreshed, not quite sure what had happened. He tossed it off as another bizarre X-man experience and left it alone. He smiled now as Kimble looked at him with the playful eyes of a child.

"Kin ya gives me some more plasma? I won't jumps ya like that again," the Siskan promised, the words out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying.

Henry turned Kimble's chin, making the pilot look at him. "No, Kimble. The plasma heats you up too much. I'm already not very happy with how warm you are now. It's not as bad as when Neal charged you the last time, but I'm still concerned that your hardware will be damaged even further."

"But the plasma makes me feels good," Kimble whined with a pout, looking up at Neal again with eager eyes and a disarming smile, hoping to charm him just a little.

Neal didn't move but offered him a friendly smile nonetheless. He liked Kimble in spite of himself, it was those eyes. He looked playful and fun and he could now see why Remy had been so adamant that he be saved. "Doctor's orders, little fella. Sorry."

"It hurts you, Kimble," Henry repeated firmly, he wasn't going to budge on the matter.

"No it don't. Not really."

"You can no longer shift your skins."

"I gots melted."

"You got damaged," Beast corrected, trying to keep his tone gentle. He didn't want Kimble getting upset and having another episode of personality changing, the Siskan was being nice and cooperative at the moment and Henry wanted it to stay that way.

"That ain't the same," Kimble tried to argue. It was a wasted effort, he could see he was getting nowhere with the big blue doctor.

"Plasma makes you high. It's a side effect of your components being overloaded. You don't want your drives to crash, do you? We certainly don't. We like you just as you are."

"Plasma feels good," Kimble repeated, keeping his head down and slumping his wings a little. Beast's compliment was wasted on him, he was feeling grumpy now at not getting what he wanted.

"And the sun?" Henry queried, fascinated by the whole thing. Although he recognized Kimble and his various selves as persons, the Siskan was still a machine, a puzzle to be figured out. Henry was in his glory trying to sort it all out.

"It ain't the same," Kimble insisted and looked up at Neal again. "It'll be okay. Just a small one? Please?"

"I'll bust up another cat for it, how's about that?" 'Shay cackled maliciously as she came out suddenly, making everyone cringe. She didn't want Kimble to have plasma, it would refuel his desire to live. As it was, she was upset about Kimble being out in the sun and here he was, being indulged. Maybe she could put a stop to it.

"No!" Lin squeaked. "Git back! We cain'ts fail the Master again, he's nice ta us!"

Henry sighed in exasperation. Kimble had been the only one in control up until now. "Neal, do you mind leaving us? It's clear you are something of a distraction. Send out Max if Logan still wants two guards here."

"All right. Sorry, buddy," Neal apologized to Kimble and left.

Kimble scowled as he watched him leave and rubbed his wings together in irritation. "You cocksuckin', little cuntfaced whore!" he muttered with a nasty show of his sharp edged teeth. Stupid 'Shay had blown his last chance for the bright hot plasma and he was pissed.

"Kimble!" Beast scolded, demanding the pilot's attention. He hadn't been sure who the comment was directed at, only that it had been so cruel. "That's enough of that."

"How long has he been like this?" Warren asked. He would be the first to admit he didn't know Kimble that well. He recalled meeting Kimble once with Remy a long time ago but Kimble had been normal then, not all screwed up like this. Watching the fractured pilot now was just plain creepy. He could understand Logan's reservations about leaving him unsupervised.

Beast was happy to explain. "He got hit with an oversized plasma burst and was melted. He didn't take it well, as you can see. I was hoping that he would stabilize with more power but it's clear the voices are a separate problem. Remy's working on that now. I hope he comes back soon."

'Shay was still grumpy now and curled up, turning her back on everyone. Her wrists and ankles were uncomfortable and heavy, she now wore four large bracelets as per Logan's orders. These new devices were different than the tracker bracelets, each one held a tiny battery and was capable of giving out a large static shock, not dissimilar to invisible dog fencing. If she were to go past the markers located only just a few feet from the edges of the house, the bracelets would set off an alarm and give her a large shock, hopefully disabling her so she could be forcibly returned to a cell. She hadn't been back to the house five minutes before Wolverine had thrust the bracelets at Henry, demanding they be applied at once. Beast didn't argue and now there they were, as good as chains.

Seth came over to his brother and reached out to gently rub his shoulder. "Don't be mad."

"Careful, Seth," Fallen cautioned. "He's crabby and he's had a charge. He's dangerous."

Lin came out, grabbing Kimble's discarded shirt and wrapping it around his head. "We done the baddest things. Stay away," he said in a tiny voice filled with sadness. He looked up at the big empty sky. "We shouldn't even be out here. It's too big."

"I don't care," Seth said and climbed up on the lawn chair to hug his brother. "Come on, Kim. Come out and talk to me."

"I wants plasma," Kimble grumbled softly, still complaining.

"I know. Just forget about it for now," Seth replied, petting him gently. He was happy Kimble was back in some sort of control, he had missed Kimble very much and was eager to show it. He was rubbing both of Kimble's shoulders now, happy when Kimble closed his eyes and arched his back a little, a soft smile of happiness on his face. It felt good to be touched and Kimble didn't hide it.

Warren watched this in confusion. He was told Seth was Kimble's brother, but his touch was so gentle and intimate, Kimble's response to it was unrestrained. Angel was like Scott in that he was of the mind that men just don't touch each other like that, brothers or not, and this made him uncomfortable. Yet, if you regarded these strange creatures as children, it made perfect sense.

Seth's cell phone bleeped and he paused in his gentle massaging to answer it. "Yello?"

"Bonjour, mon fils. How's it going?"

"Oh, Remy! We've got the best news!" Seth answered, thrilled that Gambit had called. It had been days since Gambit and his small team had left for Yosemite and even though the thief called frequently there had been no news to tell. The Games Master hadn't arrived yet. Storm had dropped off Gambit in the National Park with Cyclops, Jean and Rogue as back up support. It was looking like having all those heavy hitters away from the house was a waste, nothing seemed to be happening out there.

"What news is dat?"

"Kimble can charge up from the sun!" Seth blurted out, unable to hide his happiness.

"What? Kimble ain't supposed to be outside. What's goin' on?" Remy whined, clearly upset.

"It's okay. Wolverine put these special bracelets on him and -"

"Wait up dere, buddy. Henry dere?"

"Yes."

"Let me talk to 'im, s'il vous plait."

Seth gave the phone over and Henry took over the explanations.

Kimble looked up at Seth, confused. He hadn't realized Seth even owned a phone, never mind that fact that he was free to use it. "Who wuz that you wuz talkin' to?"

"Remy. He calls me all the time."

"You kin use the phone?"

"Yeah, why?"

Kimble didn't answer, but shuddered in fear and remembered pain, turning his head away.

"Kimble? Would you like to speak with Gambit?" Henry asked a few moments later, holding out the phone. He had forgotten about Kimble's aversion and didn't hear Remy's urgent garbled complaint from the other end. "It's been a long time and I'm sure he'd like to hear from you."

"I cain't use no phone!" Kimble said, tensing up. His eyes were big with fear.

"Why not?" Beast asked in confusion, still holding the phone out.

"Cuz I don't want no belt whippin' on me!"

"Whatever are you talking about?"

"He can't use the phone," Seth explained quickly, reaching for it. "It's okay, I'll talk to Remy."

"No!" Kimble shouted as the phone came much too close for his liking. He was afraid he would be forced to use it. He squirmed away and hopped down onto the patio stones, panting for breath hysterically now. He cupped his ears with his hands and shuffled away, dangerously close to a house marker. He began to blurt out in a hysterical rush, "No phone! No rapin'! No lovin'! No killin'! No cats! No babies! No chocolate! No castles in the snow! No Master! No belt! No, no belt fer me, please!"

Kimble's guards reacted quickly. Fallen took a step forward and hastily used a shield to put Kimble in a box, forming it around him and keeping him away from the house marker. She had no desire to see him get zapped. He didn't resist her, but curled up tightly inside of it, comforted by the confinement and his words drifted off into Lin's as he tucked himself away.

"What's going on?" Henry complained, completely baffled by what just happened.

Seth was horrified and apologized quickly into the phone. "I'm sorry, Remy. Henry didn't know. I forgot to remind him. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Gambit's gettin' real used to this," Remy said with an exasperated sigh. His voice betrayed his fear. Did Kimble say 'babies'? It came out right after 'cats'. Damn, I don' wanna know. I really, really don't. "Jus' don't ask him again. It's cool you all experimentin' and stuff, but mebbe you should just put Kim somewhere quiet, bien?"

"Fallen's got him quiet now. When are you coming home?"

"Don't know. Gambit's gettin' real pissed off. Dis takin' way too long."

"I thought you said the Games Master would be there."

"Trishnar say March. Dere's t'irty one days in March, buddy. T'day's only de fo'teenth. Got plenty more days to go."

"That sucks."

"Take care of my Kimble. Remember, keep 'im in someplace small, bien? He'll be quiet dere. I gotta go now. I'll call ya back in a few hours."

"Okay, bye."

Seth hung up just as Logan returned to stand slouched and angry in the doorway of the house. Seth was on the lawn chair, Kimble was contained in a shield with a shirt wrapped all cock eyed around his head. "What? This freak show ain't over yet?"

"We were interrupted," Henry said, helping Fallen bring Kimble back to the lawn chair.

"Yeah, well it's over now. You kids can play some more tomorrow. It'll be dark soon and I want this circus packed up and back inside. You know the bounty hunters'll be all over this."

"What makes you say that? The attacks have stopped," Seth said, looking around them fearfully.

"They stopped 'cause they couldn't get inside. Now yer brother's comin' outside. It's gonna start up again, just you wait 'n see. They hafta be watchin' the house. Yer little experiment's probably gonna stir up a hornet's nest of trouble."

The words were no sooner out of Logan's mouth when a plasma fireball, looking for all the world like a miniature comet, streaked across the sky and slammed into the house just above them with a bang, shattering through a window and engulfing one of the upstairs rooms in flames. The hunters were here.