(Two)

Logan stood on the red clay outcropping, scowling. Here he was at yet another crime scene, a murder as grisly as Jennah's and the two less than a week apart. Something was going on here, something ugly. One of the Complex's outer patrols had stumbled over the site and called it in. The Professor sent Logan out again, his feral detective.

The targets of this second attack did not belong to the Complex. Two men lay sprawled out on their backs, stripped of all their clothing and butchered just as efficiently as Jennah had been. Logan figured these two had been campers, there was a makeshift campsite here as well. Both appeared to be indigent, the remnants of their clothing were as poor as their supplies. Raggedy cloth tents had been knocked over and open cans of the cheapest food lay open in a small heap. He wasn't surprised to see one of them belonging to Alpo, food for the homeless nationwide. The fingernails of both men were grimy with dirt and their teeth weren't in the best shape as well. No one was going to miss these guys.

"Who are you?" Logan asked his mysterious predator. As with Jennah, there were bare footprints here, ones not belonging to the either of the two victims. Their feet were bare, but relatively clean, their shoes had been removed after their deaths. The size of the footprints seemed to be the same to his eye as the one from Jennah's crime scene and he'd had a cast made of one of them to be sure. It told him that it was only one person doing this, the mysterious print was the same size all around this scene. One person alone had gotten the jump on these guys.

Wolverine looked around the site, trying to fight a vague sense of unease. Maybe it was just the fact that he was at yet another grisly scene of murder, but he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. He found himself glancing up at the canyon tops, checking for spies. Jael couldn't be this close already could he?

Wolverine grumbled impatiently when his radio crackled, "Hey, boss! You there?"

He clicked it. "What ya want, Jerry?"

"We've got a problem here at the Dragon site."

Logan groaned and rolled his eyes. Jerry was supposed to be watching Kimble and this he did not want to hear. He was investigating a mess here, for Pete's sake. "What is it?"

"There was some kind of fight at the worksite and Kimble took off with that Aiden guy."

"Define 'took off'."

"As in up, up and away. They're flying somewhere in your direction."

"Lovely. I'm on it."

Logan clicked off and pulled out his tracker box. Sure enough, there were two little red blips heading his way. He gestured to Rogue who was standing nearby. "Hey, kid. I'm gonna need a lift."

(break)

Remy, having acquired his own transportation in much the same manner as Wolverine, watched the ground whiz by his feet in a blur, always nerve wracking. He had never enjoyed being flown, but he'd had no choice but to ask for help. He had put in a distress call to Cyclops' telekinetic wife and Jean had graciously given him a hand in tracking down his wayward children, flying him out across the desert with great speed. Gambit had his tracker box along and was using it to locate the two Siskans. He scowled when he saw the two blips divide, his quarry had separated. First things first, they were approaching the nearest blip, one that was no longer moving.

Both Kimble and Aiden's locators had set off the alarms as soon as they fled the perimeter - only a few minutes had passed since they took off and thankfully it hadn't been long enough for them to have gone too far. Remy spotted the patch of water and gave a cry, his alarm rising when he saw the flash of an impossibly bright green shirt in the water. Aiden wasn't just not moving, he was passed out or worse.

Jean came to a gentle landing and Remy found his feet quickly, tossing Jean the tracker box to free up his hands. He ran to Aiden and started to look him over, trying not to panic. Aiden was laying on his side in the shallow water, his head down and his eyes glassy. He was catatonic and unresponsive to their arrival. At least the water was too low for him to drown. Gambit scrambled over quickly and shook the Dreamer, trying to rouse him. He saw the nasty burn on his arm and scowled. "Aiden! Wake up!"

The Siskan did not respond, he was limp in Remy's grasp though his eyes were open. The Dreamer was trashed, in some kind of shock, but not screaming like a lunatic or flashing crystalline swords at anyone. It could have been worse.

"Where's Kimble?" Remy asked Jean, seeing she was already looking at the tracker box for the other half of this dubious team.

"About half a mile to the east."

"Give me de box, s'il vous plait. Take Aiden 'ome, den come back fo' me, bien?"

"Are you nuts? It's over a hundred degrees out here!"

"Den fly fast!" he ordered, dumping Aiden's half soaked body into her arms. He took the tracker box from her and took off running.

Jean had no room to argue, she vaulted into the air, carrying Remy's precious cargo.

Gambit was soon gasping for air as he ran, it was sweltering out here. At least Kimble had landed, or so the box claimed. He was approaching a set of cliffs and saw what looked like a cave there. The tracker said Kimble was inside, the Siskan probably couldn't take the heat any better than he had himself.

He scrambled up the rocks and went inside. His skin sighed with instant relief, though it smelled funny in here. It was still hot, but at least ten degrees cooler in here out of the sun. It was larger inside the cave that it had looked from the outside and he was thankful that he wouldn't have to crawl. He hadn't gone far when he was forced to stop, there was a large red stain on the floor here, the source of the smell.

His eyes opened wide. Dis where Jennah was killed!

/ Ignore it and move on! Shi'ow-ri ordered. / She's gone but Kimble is not. I can hear him. /

It was true, there was the unmistakable sound of Kimble bawling, a sound he had heard far too many times not to know.

Gambit moved on, passing from the front room to one deeper in. The further he went, the larger the cave grew, making this all the easier. He didn't have to go far to find his friend, the sounds of Kimble crying were louder. A cough and then he heard the unmistakable sound of Kimble heaving again. Oh yeah, this was going to be bad.

"Hey, Kim? You okay?" he said, moving more quickly.

"Stays away!" Kimble howled in agony and sent a warning volley of spikes out in his direction.

Gambit tried to dodge the attack, but he had nowhere to go. He was nimble yet not as quick as he could have been. One small spike caught in his thigh and he jumped back, snarling from the pain. It was the size of a large pencil and hurt like a bastard. Blood poured down his leg and he fell against the wall with a shout. The pain was unbelievable, about as much as the idea that Kimble would actually hurt him like this. It could have been much worse, it was a minor miracle he hadn't been spiked in the belly. He slid back away against the rock wall and pressed his hand to the wound, trying to halt the bleeding. His fingers were shaking too badly from the heat and shock and he couldn't think straight. Sparkly things danced before his eyes. This day was going from bad to worse.

He looked up in relief when he heard Jean come scrambling up behind him. She had brought company this time, Wolverine and Rogue. Remy didn't know if that was good or bad. He gasped, "Stay back, he playin' fo' keeps!"

Jean saw his injury and moved instantly to help him. She could see he was a little sunburned from his journey here and going into shock from his injury. She had a small backpack with her this time and gave him a bottle of chilled water. He drank half of it down greedily and poured the rest over his head, clearing his mind immediately. He had to get Kimble out of here. He had work to do. He would suffer the pain of his injury later.

Logan called out. "Kimble! C'mon back now. Yer breakin' yer curfew. Time ta quit this. We got Aiden back all right. Let's go home." He had kept his voice level and was honestly trying to do this right.

"Lemmie 'lone!" Kimble wailed. "We's bad! We's so bad!"

His voice was a little too high pitched for Gambit. It was too much like Lin's.

"Den talk to me, little brother. What happened t'day?"

Kimble wailed loudly in mental agony and didn't answer.

"Kimble. Dis's me. You know Gambit's never gonna hate you," Remy said in Siskan now. He hoped that maybe Kimble would be willing to talk in this more private form.

"Seth's been all messed up! I tried ta fix it an' now it's all fucked! It's fucked!" Kimble replied, following Gambit's example as he had hoped and using the Siskan.

"How you try an' fix it?"

Kimble's only answer was another gut wrenching wail.

"What's goin' on?" Logan asked.

Jean already knew her telepathy was useless on the non-organic Siskans so she tried her best on Gambit's thoughts but got nothing. His well trained mind had blocked her out, this conversation was private.

"What you do, little brother? C'mon, now. Talk to me."

"I- I- I lay with him!" Kimble bawled, confirming Remy's worst fears. "He begged me an' I done it an' I made him promise not ta tell but he did anaways an' now Fallen's all mad an' it's all my fault! All my fault! Arghh!" Kimble screamed and flailed around, overcome with emotion. In his hysteria, he released more spikes. They weren't directed at anyone, they just shattered against the walls and made a lot of noise. Chips of rock fell with a clatter and raised a cloud of dust in the air, almost blocking Gambit's view.

"Is this going well?" Wolverine asked Remy tersely. It didn't sound like it from here.

"He communicatin', comprenez vous! Jus' shut up!" Gambit hissed impatiently.

"Yeah, he's communicating all right," Logan grumbled but quieted when Jean pinched him. It was time to wait and he would just have to be patient.

Remy returned his attention back to his hysterical Siskan. "Why he beg you fo' dat, eh? You his brother."

Kimble took a gasping breath and blurted out in a hysterical gush, "It's the Kundatesh. It's makin' him all crazy. He gots it now. It's been comin' awake all inside 'a him an' makin' him crazy. I lay with him and made it come out and he wuz better. He had an understandin' of it. I made him promise not ta tell cuz Fallen wuzn't ever gonna unnerstand. None of yous would cuz ya never unnerstands nuthin' 'bout me, 'bout us, but he done it anaways! Now she hates me! She said I cain't never sees him again! She's gonna rips him apart an' it's all my fault! I shoulda jus' said no, but he wuz beggin' me cuz he wuz all sick inside an' he said I could fix it an' I loves him so much so I done it and it's all fucked now...fucked...!" Kimble's voice trailed off in to an agonized wail. There was a scuffle as he fell, the Siskan was finally spent and all smashed inside. He lay down and cried and cried.

Gambit waded through the garble and understood had happened with Seth, feeling a little sheepish for not realizing it earlier. Shemusk. Seth was suffering as Talalanay had, as he himself had all those years ago when the Kundatesh came on him with a vengeance. Apparently Remy had been too busy to put it all together and the thief felt a little stupid when he considered all of the hints that Aiden had been dropping as well. Seth hadn't been dealing with it so well and had reached out to one he knew he could trust. What was puzzling here was why now? Seth was eight years old, shouldn't this had happened before now? Did Aiden have something to do with this? What was going on?

Remy grunted as he got himself moving, there would be time enough for questions later. He was hurting badly now but he did his best to shut it out. He had to get to Kimble and let him know it was okay. He hobbled over to where Kimble lay and put his arms around him. Kimble's skin was hot and dry and covered with dust and grime. His face still showed the ugly scratches Fallen had given him. He sobbed as Gambit came around him, but didn't fight.

"Easy, now, Kim. Dis gonna be all right. Gambit knows what Set's trouble's been now. Shoulda seen it comin'. Don't you worry 'bout nuthin'. We gonna work it all out. You jus' gotta come back wit me. Come sit wit' your Angel. Gambit's gonna talk wit Fallen, get it all cleared up. We gonna make dis all right, d'accorde?"

"I still haves it," Kimble said softly.

"What's dat?"

"My disease. I thought maybe it wuz gone cuz Aiden come ta love me, but I wuz wrong. It's still here. I hurts the ones who love me. Fallen said I took advantage of Seth...she said...she said I raped him. Called me a child molester... Oh, we's bad, Remy. We's so bad...!" Kimble shivered off a vibration of revulsion, of a self hatred that was sickening in its intensity.

"Non, Kim. You jus' misunderstandin'," Gambit said, squeezing him even more tightly. This was far worse than he could have imagined, Fallen couldn't have said any worse thing. Kimble was sure to crash. "It ain't true what she say. She just real mad. She didn't mean it. You would never 'urt Set' dat way. Don' do dis."

Kimble heaved a heavy sigh and shuddered. He let go of it all and lay still. Finding no place to hide here, he withdrew into himself. Shutting down as Aiden had.

"Kimble? Kimble! Aw, hell!" Gambit complained when he saw the light in Kimble's eyes go out. He grabbed the pilot and dragged him out as best he could.

The others helped him and they all scrambled and scuffled out of the cave, not a one of them caring to look at the red smear marking Jennah's demise. Gambit hoisted Kimble up in his arms, wordlessly demanding he be the one to carry the stricken pilot. Jean helped him as best she could and they took off, followed by Rogue and Logan, up into the sky.

(break)

A half an hour later, Gambit sat on a hospital examining bed, smoking in a deliberate show of defiance of the rules. He was stretched out and comfortable with a puke tray in his lap for the ashes. He knew he would have to quit for good soon, Molly was already starting to show. He didn't smoke around her and never in their apartment anymore. But at this moment, he was just a little bit stressed out.

Henry came in with his x-rays and scowled at him. "Put that out. Just because you want cancer doesn't mean the rest of us do."

"Je suis de'sole, doc. Just a little wigged out is all." Remy crushed out his butt and lay back, folding his arms under his head.

"Hey, Remy," Maylee said, coming into the room.

He couldn't help but smile at her. She had grown up so pretty and was such a good kid. " 'Ey, dere, May. Kick anyone's butt at cards lately?"

"Won fifty bucks last night," she boasted with a smile.

"You a good girl. Been trained by de best."

"Got that right."

"Ahem," Beast grunted good naturedly. "Now that the 'feel good' pleasantries are over, my Cajun friend, you want the good news or the bad?"

"Good news firs', you know de rules, homme."

"Well, Kimble's spike didn't break the bone, only grazed it. No major arteries or veins were damaged. Looks like it's just a flesh wound."

"And de bad?"

"It's a good sized spike. Looks like you and your crutches will be reacquainted."

"Gambit figured dat one out already, mon ami."

"All right, then." Henry nodded at Maylee and she went to work on Remy's leg. Gambit grunted and twisted as she began to work the spike out. She had injected him with painkillers before starting, but they didn't seem to be working. He was trying hard to be brave, but this hurt like she was ripping him apart.

"Me an' Kimble gonna 'ave some words," he gasped. They all knew he wouldn't yell at Kimble, just wring out an apology or two. Maylee yanked on the spike again and he saw stars. "Baise!"

"Watch your mouth," Henry scolded gently, he wasn't completely without sympathy. "Some of us can understand that word in any language."

Remy gasped and tried to breathe. He glanced up at Henry. "So long as de petite here torturin' me, may as well give me de skinny on Seth. You do a scan on 'im?"

"Yes, but as you know, empathy won't show on any scanner."

"So what you do?"

Henry just smiled. "Simple. I just let him touch me."

Remy nodded. "So 'e empathic now."

"So it would seem. He has this Kundatesh as Aiden calls it."

"Babette have it, too. It's what she called it de firs' time we met."

"Not anymore," Logan grumbled with a scowl as he walked into the room. He paused momentarily and frowned unhappily when he saw the size of the spike trapped in Remy's leg. That was going to be painful when it came out.

"What you mean?" Gambit wheezed.

"Babette's dead. Looks like all yer Siskans 're psycho. What a surprise."

"Eh?"

Logan handed him a slip of paper that had been sealed in a plastic evidence bag. One look revealed that it was nothing less than a suicide note, written by Babette to her Dreamer. Gambit read it slowly, feeling the lump harden in his throat before he even got past the first line.

My Dearest Aiden,

I am writing this to you in the hope that you will understand what I feel I must do. I love you, I always have, my little Dreamer. I love you for who you are, for taking care of me, for trying to save my life. The truth is I died on the day Jael came and stole my David away. I know he is dead, the Kundatesh tells me so, and so it must be. I have no wish to live without him any longer. Please don't be angry with me. This is not your fault. Do not weep for me, though I know you will. You are so kind and loving though you do your best to hide it. I know you've got your Kimble now and he will look after you as I have done. Because he is here, I know it's okay now for me to leave you. I am at peace knowing you will not be alone. Talalanay and Father won't trouble you anymore either, now that Kimble is here, too. You haven't spoken much to them around me since Kimble has come so I know this must be true. Never have I seen such peace in your eyes as I do now. They will grow to love him, I know they will. Stay good and be safe, my dearest love.

Babette

Remy closed his eyes and shook from the pain. She was so beautiful to him, always had been. All the Siskans were. He would feel her loss for a long time. "How you know she gone?"

"She took a razor and bled herself out in the bathtub. I got the call right when we got back with the boys. Found these." He held up a plastic bag with three blackened orbs inside. Babette's stars.

Remy took them with a trembling hand. "Mon petite fille, l'amante... Oh, no...!" he whispered softly as the pain took him. Seemed like he couldn't catch a break, he hadn't come close to seeing this coming, there had never been any indication in her shine that she was that bad off. He realized now that all this time, when he had been seeing the improvement in her, it was because Aiden's bond with Kimble was giving her the freedom to leave. She wouldn't have to worry about the Dreamer anymore. Gambit's whole body shook with the loss and he closed his eyes against a rise of tears he couldn't hope to stop. Holding these stars was like holding her ashes, her dead body.

Logan's whole face changed when he saw Remy react so strongly. He had no idea Gambit and Babette had been that close. Really, he should have known. Gambit was close to them all, these Siskans. "I'm sorry," he stammered lamely, too late now.

Gambit wiped at his face, not even trying to hide the shake of his fingers, it was simply too late for all of that. His voice was cracked and strained as he said, "Je suis bien. Does Aiden know?"

"Who's Talalanay and Father?" Wolverine asked instead, not answering.

"No clue," Gambit lied. If he admitted he knew, Logan would know he was reading Aiden's journal before Seth was finished with it. Still, he offered this, "Knowin' dese Siskans? Probably de same as Zander an 'Shay."

"Well, that's just great," Logan snapped, unhappy.

"Does Aiden know she gone?" Remy repeated sharply, demanding an answer.

"Not yet. Got him in one of Henry's medical lock ups. Kimble's in the other."

"What for?"

Logan just looked at him like he was an idiot. "Aiden's an asshole and Kimble spiked you, don't be stupid."

"Kimble was upset."

"And now he's locked up. Fair is fair."

"I want to talk to 'im. I want to talk to dem all."

Logan nodded. "Seth's in one of the beds and Fallen's in Henry's office. Take yer pick."

Remy shivered as Maylee finally got the spike out. The hole it left behind was large and it was bleeding quite nicely now. Wolverine cursed softly as he watched Maylee next flush the wound to clean it out. Remy was white and shaking, prompting Wolverine to ask, "You sure yer up to this?"

"Oui," Remy said, closing his eyes. Another tear leaked out, he couldn't help it. This hurt so bad. The spike was long and jagged, some chunks of flesh came with it, but it was nothing compared to the emotional spike that had run through his heart. All of his Siskans had crashed at once. It hurt him like nothing else ever could. "You seen Aiden? How is 'e?" Gambit wheezed, just to take his mind off of this.

"He's out of shock now. He's awake and just sittin' quiet."

"What you t'ink? You an' him was gettin' along good when he firs' came."

"I think he's dangerous. He's got some kind of agenda, I'd bet on it."

Gambit squinted and snapped, "Aiden's got nuthin' goin' on, you paranoid old man."

"You love him. Yer biased," Logan returned, not missing a beat, the words not exactly complimentary.

"Aiden was tryin' to 'elp, but nobody was listenin', dat's de only t'ing de boy 'ad goin' on. He knew what was wrong wit Set', dat 'e was comin' into 'is power."

"And just how would you know that?" Logan questioned, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms.

All he got in return was another dark scowl from the thief. "Aiden been askin' a lot of questions about Set'. Jus' t'ought 'e was curious about Set' 'cause 'e Kimble's brother. I was wrong. Aiden seen Set' was sufferin'. De Kundatesh tell him."

"If this Kundatesh is so great, how come you didn't know yourself?"

Remy retreated a little, hardening up as he took the blame. "I seen it. Jus' didn't know what it was. T'ought mebbe 'e was just stressed out on account of all de trouble Kimble was in. Didn't know it was much more dan dat."

"So Seth really was sick in some way?" Beast interrupted, hoping to calm these two down. He didn't much like Remy's Gambit face, the one that said he was taking this too hard.

"Oui. De power grows when it starts, it get stronger over time," Remy explained. "I know dis 'cause it happen to me, way back when Kim first took off all dem years ago. It more dan just empathy, dis Kundatesh. It takes over yo' whole life, affectin' de way you see people and dey see you. It strong wit de older Siskans, now it strong wit Set' too. It's a way of communicatin' 'tween all of us dat have it. Dat's why Gambit's t'inkin' Set' was telling the truth about his changin'. Set' got de same codes as Kim. Mebbe it jus' took dis long fo' 'im to grow into 'is power."

"Codes...yes," Henry said thoughtfully.

"Eh?" Remy queried, hearing something in Henry's voice.

Beast sighed softly before saying, "I'm breaking a confidence in saying this, but I feel that it's just too important to leave unsaid any longer."

"What's dat, mon ami?"

Henry nervously glanced once at Logan before saying to Remy, "Seth has altered his codes."

" 'Scuze-moi? How dat possible?"

"Don't ask me, but he did it. He said he was trying to fix his clumsiness, his sensitivity to sensory input. He used codes he saw the Games Master use on Kimble."

"When 'e do dis?"

"The first week we were here."

Remy closed his eyes. "Well dat explain why 'e been actin' all funny."

"Yes. Now, I'm guessing it triggered a reaction of some kind. One that boosted his empathy, brought his ability with this Kundatesh to the fore."

"Dat's not all it did."

"What?"

"Shemusk," Remy said, "Dat's what Aiden kept pushin' on me. What 'e call dis sickness."

"Explain."

"Aiden say dat some of de empat'ic Siskans, dey go t'rough Shemusk, a kind of puberty wit deir powers. Supposed to 'appen de first couple of weeks or so after dey made. Dey get a teacher for dis, someone who finish de process." He looked across to Logan, wary of the response when he said next, "Sex usually involved. Don' afta be dat way, but Aiden say it de best way dey learn since de Kundatesh most often used dat way. Looks like Seth was takin' applications. Kimble got chosen."

Henry nodded. "Now it all makes sense."

"What makes sense?" Logan asked, hearing more than simple acknowledgment in Henry's voice.

"Seth has been chemically changed."

" 'Scuze me?" Remy questioned, sitting up a bit.

Henry opened a file folder he had brought in with him and took out some papers. "As you know, the Siskans are notoriously hard to scan, I can't take physical samples because they just shimmer away."

Remy nodded, following along. "Oui."

"Well, one good thing about having our Siskan guests in the house is that it gave me a chance to try a little experiment. Empathy doesn't show up on a scanner but that doesn't mean I couldn't scan for something else. I already knew that one of our Shi'ar examining machines can do a quick chemical scan based on heat signature. I had used it years ago to scan Kimble and then Seth after he was finally removed from the system. The scan isn't perfect by any means, but I at least had something that can be measured."

"And?"

"I have scans from Kimble and Seth that date all the way back from when they first came. I did some more on Aiden and Babette when they arrived as well. When I had four scans to look at instead of only the two, I concluded that the health of the Siskans can in fact be tracked this way. I just scanned Seth and his isn't even close to what it had been only two months ago."

"What you mean?"

"It's not the same. It changed just slightly when he altered his codes – not enough that I paid it much mind, but it's not the same now. It's stronger. Something happened today, something that changed it significantly. His used to be the weakest scan, now his is more like Babette's was."

"See?" Remy said, looking at Logan. He was pleased that Henry had some kind of physical evidence that backed him up. He of course hid how much the sound of Babette's name still hurt. He had a battle to win first. "Set' was sick just like Aiden say."

"Maybe so, but it don't excuse what went on today," Logan replied. "Seth should have asked for help, not gone about it this way."

"No, you right, you right. T'ing is mebbe 'e just nervous an' all wit de way Kim been treated lately."

"I certainly hope that wasn't directed at me," Logan growled, instantly defensive.

"Boys," Henry threatened. He didn't want them to fight. "There's more," he said, trying to change the subject.

"What other good news you got?" Logan snapped, his eyes still glaring at Gambit.

"What happened today was not to Kimble's benefit."

This time, both Remy and Wolverine gave Henry their full attention.

"Kimble's heat signature has been reduced, almost like he and Seth traded places. I cannot explain this, not without further research. Right now Kimble is too trashed for me to do much more than simply watch him. I don't know if this is due to emotional distress or something much worse. I don't know if it is permanent or not. All I know is that Kimble is going to need some real care for a while."

Gambit settled back down, shifting to get more comfortable. "It ain't gonna be a problem, now dat Gambit knows what's goin' on. Gambit's gonna get Kimble and all of dem all straightened out, even Fallen. Once she know what went down, she's gonna be all right. Dey all gonna be all right. You just give him a chance, bien?"

Logan did not believe. "Gotta run it by Chuck. It ain't really up ta me."

"He approves," the Professor said, the whir of his powered wheelchair announcing his arrival. His crisp blue eyes were concerned as he asked, "How are you, Remy?"

"Better now de fille all done torturing me," he answered in a playful tease. Maylee had cleaned his wound and was injecting him with more local anaesthetics before stitching him up. His words were a jaunty cover. He was hurting on more levels that he even knew, but he wasn't going to let it show. He had to keep it together, he had to do it for all of the Siskans. He could crash later.

"Good. You rest a bit and then you'll get your chance. I think you'll get this worked out sooner than anyone else here. I want Karen to assist you."

"P'etetre, dey talk better one on one."

"I insist."

Gambit shrugged. "Si bien. But if dey clam up, it ain't Gambit's fault."

"I've got other things to attend to just now, but Logan and the others will be close by. I'll be back to check on you."

There was a sudden pause as the curtain parted and Molly stood there, her face tight with anger.

Remy nodded at the others. "Mebbe you best leave us alone, mes amis."