Remy sat in Alex's SUV with
Rayne curled up next to him and listened to the rest of the conversation in the
car. Ty kept up a nonsense stream of conversation to keep their thoughts
distracted from the battle. Warren sat in the front seat not saying much of
anything but would occasionally look over to Alex and make a comment.
Remy sighed about the whole incident. He
held Rayne tightly to him, thinking of Sabretooth's attack on Hayley. Now, two
people he cared for had been brutalized by sadistic bastards and this time it
almost happened right before his eyes, he shook his head sharply to get rid of
the painful memories and looked out the window.
Rayne knew he was really upset by the
grasp he had on her, as if by taking better care of her would change the past.
"She gon' be all right Remy. It‘ll jus’ take beaucoup temp. But she won‘
ever be da same ‘gain." Rayne had meant to lift his spirits up but the
darkness she still felt inside came out instead.
He looked down at his sister all snuggled
against him like a tiny child being harbored by a parent, "Yo' came ta
help me, little one?"
He smiled and she nodded seriously,
"Ah’d die for yo’ Remy. Yo‘r all ah have an ah don‘ wan‘ anyt‘in ta happen
ta yo‘ ever."
That broke Gambit’s heart and all he could do is hold her close
and rest his chin on her head.
She shuddered a happy sigh and wiggled
closer against him glad to be with him for a while. She had missed him so much
over the lonely years she was exiled. Not a day went by that she didn’t pray to
be by his side again. Now he was back in her life, and she decided that if the
assassins dared show their faces she would defend Remy with her life. She
shoved the thoughts aside then and listened to Ty rattle on about all the
Stucky's he was going to count on the way back. ‘Dere’s somet’in seriously
wrong wit’ dat boy.’ She chuckled.
Remy looked up at Alex in the rearview
mirror as she drove her car in silence. When their eyes met he said,
"T’anks chere."
Alex smiled, "For what?" She
looked back at them in the back seat and was happy that the brother and sister
were together.
"For finding us and bringing
reinforcements," Remy sighed. He was angry with Justice for bringing Rayne
out to a serious battle and he would address that later when he could get him
alone. He had recklessly believed that the four of them would have fought their
way out of the situation easily, but after Hayley froze when she was attacked
by Sabretooth he wasn't so sure that was a wise assumption.
"You are damn lucky she found you
too," Warren piped in.
"Pardonez moi?" Rayne jumped in.
"No, I mean your brother,"
Warren reassured her and glared at Remy, "Hayley could have
been….."
His yelling was interrupted by Alex's slap
against his arm. "Cool it flyboy this kind of conversation isn't needed
right now," Alex interceded. "Remy didn’t have any control over what
happened."
Warren still glared at him. "Oh? I
think he could have handled it better."
Remy grew angry at the shots Warren was
taking, "Me‘se‘f, Gambit t’inks yo' did real good 'gainst Sabretooth, eh
homme?"
Warren turned around completely, "I
wouldn't have endangered her in the first place by dragging her out of the
mansion. You knew that the brotherhood was after the Cats and you foolishly
thought that you could handle any situation. Well, see what happened because of
your ‘t‘inkin‘’?"
"Whoa," Alex stepped in,
"Hayley is a grown woman and can make her own dumb decisions. If she wanted
to leave the mansion for a while there would be no way of stopping her. Don‘t
put the blame on Gambit just because he is a male." Then Alex pointed a
finger at both men, "Let's have some peace the rest of the way home. I
mean it!"
Gambit glared at Warren and reminded
himself to get Warren alone sometime soon. Then He sighed and gave Rayne a
squeeze. He felt so angry right now he felt he could take on all the
brotherhood on his own and win without breaking a sweat.
Rayne looked at him concerned. She could
feel his anger and she knew him well enough to know that he hurt very badly
inside for not being able to help Hayley. The others just don‘t understand him.
She wanted to tell him Hayley wasn't worth this torment, but he seemed to
really care for her and maybe even loved her.
Rayne didn't like the idea of Remy
settling down with a woman now, because she was afraid of being left behind.
She couldn't remember him ever being this serious with a woman except for Belle
and look where that had gotten him. She thought about how he and Belle had to
get married to pull the guilds together. ‘Never shoulda happened,’
Rayne thought about the two carefree young
people. They had spent a lot of time together when Rayne was busy learning from
Tante’. And she would have liked to have seen them get married and have a
family. She grinned at the thought of little Remys but not for the sake of the
guilds. That is what killed their happiness.
‘Damn guilds!’ They where
responsible for the death of many a happy life. She had kept tabs on what was
happening in the guilds from time to time. Whenever she could manage it. She
thought of how she missed Tante’ and her Papa and she buried her face into
Remy’s side.
Remy kissed Rayne's head, "Don' worry
petite," he whispered, "Ah love yo’ ta da moon an back."
Justice had convinced Cyke to let him
drive Hayley home. He was paying for it too in that he could hardly keep the
car on the road, but he hoped Hayley would open up to him.
So far she kept her knees to her chest
and stared out the passenger window.
He sighed he thought if it was just him
she might talk. "Hayl, we have been through a lot together," He said
sadly as he struggled hard to concentrate on driving his own car.
She nodded but looked on.
Justice hated seeing her suffer like
this, "Hayl, what happened?"
The question brought a new batch of tears
to her face.
"I am here for you Hayl, no matter
what," he said low, "You know that."
"I know," she sniffled.
"When you and I were Captured and
taken to Eric's," he didn't get to finish before she began to bawl and
hide her face in her hands. "Creed hurt you didn't he?" Justice wiped
some of his own tears remembering how powerless he had been to help his sister.
Hayley looked at him with her face red
and swollen and nodded.
"What can I do?" he reached
over and touched her hand but she flinched involuntarily.
"Nothing Just'," Hayley
mumbled, "I just want to be alone."
"That won't help, Hayl," He
sighed. Justice needed to know what happened, and he thought Hayley needed to
say it out loud, "Sabretooth raped you didn't he?"
Hayley turned to him angrily. "I
didn't say that," She snapped and cried again.
"You didn't have to," Justice
had wished he had been wrong and now much more made sense. "Hayl, I think
I know the rest. I was tortured with you, remember?"
Hayley looked at him wondering if he had
been raped too. She couldn't fight Victor Creed at the battle for the
overwhelming feeling of nausea and powerlessness. Only when he started to hurt
Justice did she find the strength to fight him. She buried her head in her
hands. Remy must have seen everything. She felt humiliated. As long as she had
been the only one besides Beast knowing about the rape, it was ok. It made it
seem unreal. But now everyone will know.
Justice sighed, "I love you
Hayl." She was the baby of them all and they had always been a little more
protective of her and her danger prone ways, "I won't let Creed or Eric
hurt you, ever again."
Hayley's mouth dropped, "How did
you know about Eric?" She hadn't planned on everyone knowing Eric had
taken the pleasure of trying to create his own heir, and her stomach churned at
the thought.
"I was there," He turned a
corner of his mouth ruefully, "If I had been Ally or Alex they would have
done the same to me too." He paused and felt sick, "They did push
that crystal woman on me though."
Hayley threw her hand to her mouth at the
thought of Justice being taken advantage of too. That Brave heart bitch
carrying her brother's child by forcing herself on him!
The idea made her sicker, "Will you
look for her?"
Justice looked at her puzzled,
"Why?"
"To make sure she isn't carrying your
child," Hayley's eyes grew wide.
Justice turned a little red hoping his
embarrassment would help relax her. "Funny thing about male rape,
conception, needs the male to be…um…willing."
Hayley laughed thinking about how frustrating
it would have been for the crystal woman when she couldn’t get him to respond
to her. She mulled the thought over again and looked at Justice's berry red
face and laughed harder.
She plopped her head on his shoulder,
"I love you too, silly brother."
He pulled her too him and stroked her hair
glad she relaxed more under his embrace. "What about your baby,
Hayl?" he said softly and he felt her tense up again, "Two out of
three chance it's not Scott's kid."
Hayley cried on Justice's naked chest,
"I am hoping that it is Scott‘s Just‘. I don‘t want the baby to be those
bastard‘s."
"Hayley, the father doesn't always
matter," he smiled trying to comfort her, "Look at our mom and
dad." He almost cried at the thought, "Mom took care of us enough for
five fathers and we turned out all right." Hayley shrugged. "Think
about it," Justice sighed, "When you come to terms with this, I think
you should find out who the father really is." She relaxed knowing he was
right. "Don’t leave Scott thinking it is his if there is a chance it
isn’t. He deserves to know." Justice went on, "Right now though, you
just worry about healing."
"Justice, What Sabretooth did out
there today," She cried wetting his strong chest more, "Everyone saw.
Remy saw. They all know now."
"I don't think Remy cares," He
breathed deep, "He seems to be a better guy than that." He thought of
how angry the X-men and the rest were at what had happened.
He smiled thinking of how even Rayne was
upset. That girl sure was a puzzle. He waggled his head and chuckled.
Then he looked at Hayley. He knew she
would try and cocoon herself now.
Scott watched the other two vehicles pull
up and as Ally and Logan stood next to him looking at what his eyes were pulled
to. Justice walked wobbly as he picked Hayley up. They could hear her mumble
she could walk but he held her to his chest and staggered on.
Scott looked to Ally, "When will you
stubborn Adams let people in?" He half joked with her.
"This has nothing to do with
that." Ally reassured him and the others began to make the out of their
vehicles.
Ally watched Remy's head turn watching
Hayley disappear in her brother's arms. He took a deep breath and looked at
her.
"What can I do, Chere?" He looked
down at the eyes that matched Hayley.
"I don't know Remy," she sighed,
"I am not even sure what I can do."
"We all want to make it easier,"
Logan grabbed his cigar, "But she'll tell us when she's ready." Ally
smiled at her husband who seemed to understand and love each Adam deeply, even
nutty Justice.
Rayne made her way to Remy and touched his
back. He gave her a smile and hugged her and carried her towards the infirmary.
Beast and Jean heard Alex's heads up
about bringing everyone in. They began to move around gathering things that
were needed.
They heard the doors open and Justice came
in shirtless with his sister clung to him. Beast ran over and put his arms out
to take him but Justice shrugged off placing her on a bed.
Beast looked her over for injury but
unlike her brother she looked fit. "Hayley, my dear what is it?" She
found a new wave of tears and Jean moved away realizing this was an emotional
injury. She grabbed Justice's arm and began to tug him to a bed. He shrugged
Jean off but she looked in his face forcefully, "How can you take care of
Jordan if you can barely stand?"
Hayley looked up, "Just' I am all
right."
Beast's face fell realizing what had
happened, "Sleep Justice, I think I can help your sister."
Justice moved on realizing Beast knew
something all along but then being a doctor he would have to. He nodded and
followed Jean groggily. He barely saw the pillow and he fell asleep.
Hayley looked at Beast, "Will you do
a DNA test for the child's father?"
He nodded, "Are you all right?"
She nodded but buried her face in his shirt. "Were you tossed
around?" He said readying the baby monitor. She nodded slightly and he
gave her a hospital gown. He stepped out to let her change and shook his head.
Jean looked over at him and swallowed
hard, "Raped?" she mouthed to him and he nodded and looked to the
ground.
Remy carried Rayne in and his eyes went to
the bed with the curtain pulled and an already asleep Justice. He found Rayne a
bed and placed her on it gingerly.
Rayne knew he was worried because he
didn't say a lot and she knew he would aim that worry at her and taking care of
her. Ally came in with Logan, Scott, Ty, Warren and Alex. Most carried the face
wondering how something like this could happen to one of them.
Alex and Ally looked at the pulled curtain
and they went for their sister.
Beast stopped Ally short guiding her to a
bed and pointed to Logan as well from the cozy seat he found by the beds.
"I'm all right," Logan grunted.
Henry nodded seeing no marks on him,
"you will still need rest."
Then he looked to Ally, "I am sure
you were tossed around," he pointed to the baby monitor by a bed and
pulled the curtain so she could change.
Alex found her sister in the gown now and
Hayley looked at her upset. Hayley could hardly face her and hopped up from the
bed.
Alex pointed a finger at her, "You
are not going anywhere."
"I need to shower," Hayley wiped
her tears.
Alex snatched the blanket from the bed and
wrapped it around her and walked her to the adjoining showers with her arm
around her shoulders.
Jean began to look Rayne over and smiled,
"You look great considering you shouldn't have been out," she teased.
Remy looked at Justice's pathetic form,
"Good t'ing he not awake," he growled lightly.
Rayne found her brother's eyes,
"Chere, he didn' kidnap me."
Remy was angry, "Yo’ shouldn't have
been dere, Rayne girl." "Ah know Rem, but ah had ta come an help
yo’" Rayne watched his eyes travel to Justice again.
"Yo’ not ta do dat again, yo’
here?" He snapped his head back to her and waggled his finger in front of
her face.
"Careful Gumbo, she bites,"
Logan piped in.
Remy removed his finger and looked
over at Justice again, "An ah’m gonna have a serious talk wit’ dat
red-head later on."
"Pouah!" Rayne waved her
hand at him, "Yo‘r not dat mad at him. Mostly yo’r angry 'cause she,"
pointing to where Hayley went, "gon' have dat monster's baby."
Many eyes fell on Rayne.
"Excuse me?" Beast said lightly
and made his way to her.
"Dat monster, dat Sabretooth,
said it's his baby," Rayne pointed at the curtain where Hayley had been.
"Sabretooth isn't a very reliable
source my dear," Beast sighed.
"Nah, ah can smell it‘s his
too," Rayne said, "Jus’ like ah can smell de' poison on him."
She pointed to Justice.
Beast had thought there had been a poison
but he couldn't be sure. All the tests turned up negative for poison. He looked
to Wolverine who shook his head no.
Beast looked back to Rayne curiously.
"How is it you could smell this and Wolverine and I couldn't," He
enquired politely.
"Not jus' da smell," She
sighed, "Ah get a feeling for t’ings and mostly dey turn out right."
She looked at Remy, "Lik' when Remy was in trouble. Ah could feel it.
An," She pointed to Xavier, "He has the poison too. Only he more sick
cause he has more in him. He needs ta be cleaned out." She looked at
Beast.
Beast cocked his head at Rayne’s
unusual description, "Pardon my ignorance memselle, but what do you mean
by cleaned out?"
Rayne scoffed, "Yo’r a doctor an
yo’ don’ know?"
"You have me at a disadvantage
I’m afraid. Perhaps if you gave me an example."
Rayne thought about it a minute,
"Yo’ know. He has toxins in his body dat needs ta be cleaned out. Yo’ give
him some chickory coffee wit’ a bay leave in it an it’ll fix him right
up."
Hank didn’t know what to say. He was
quite puzzled by this young woman.
Remy cleared his throat, "Rayne
is a traiteur an she studied some wit’ da guild healer as well."
"A traiteur?" Hank was very
intrigued.
"Some people are born wit’ the
gift of healin’," Remy elaborated, "Rayne’s one. Ah saw her take da
sickness out a many people."
Scott sat with his eyes open wide at the
exchange, "Is that possible? Anyway," He shook his head sadly,
"You’re saying that Sabretooth is the father of Hayley‘s baby?"
He looked at Jean who gave no
indication of thought or emotion. But she watched Scott intently as she hooked
Ally to the monitor. Scott stood and walked out mumbling an excuse me.
Logan cocked an eyebrow, "Guess
junior was set on being a dad."
Jean finished with Ally and left to find
him. She was a little surprised to find him with his head in his hands and a
few tears streaming past his visor. She touched his back for support.
"I guess I got used to the
idea," He smiled ruefully.
"Scott, it's for the better in the
long run," she sighed. Scott nodded but he couldn't so easily shut off his
protective nature for the child. He felt like the news killed his own child.
"It will take some getting used
to," He sighed. He knew he would have to talk to Hayley and finalize
things, giving him a sense of closure. He felt bad for her carrying
Sabretooth's child and he could only imagine how she must feel. He wished it
was really his child, not only to make Hayley feel better but to keep a child
that had Sabretooth’s genetics from running about unchecked.
Alex watched Hayley stand in the shower
dumbfounded. She kept her stare straight ahead. She scrubbed but without
looking at her body and couldn't seem to get clean enough.
"Hayley, you are going to scrub your
skin off," she joked lightly but Hayley didn't stop, "Come on Hayl,
let's get you checked out and on the monitors."
Hayley stopped at the mention of the
word. 'Monitors for the baby. HIS baby,' she collapsed in tears and let
the water spray her and hoping it would hide them from her sister. She couldn't
bring herself to face Alex, the perfect sister, the one who would never get
herself in this situation. She felt Alex’s hand on her back and she shut the
water off.
Her efforts made Hayley's tears more
evident but she still didn't look at her or speak to her. Alex wanted to cry
with her. She looked down at the usually strong woman who seemed pale and
tired. Her black hair was a strong contrast to the white showers and she
couldn’t help but to think her sister looked like a broken porcelain doll. She
bent down and hugged her wet sister who did not return her hug but found a new
round of tears.
Beast had Remy on a table looking him
over, finding only minor cuts and bruises, "I hope the other guy looks
worse?" he joked with Remy. Gambit turned the corner of his mouth up at
the weak joke but the solemn faces around him kept the atmosphere dismal.
Beast hesitated, "Oh dear." He
quickly removed his gloves, "Logan would you retrieve Jean for me?"
Ally looked at Beast as Logan made his way out of the infirmary, "What is
it?" He was momentarily stunned to realize Alex had asked him something
telepathically. He had thought she was standing next to him talking to him.
Being around telepaths could be very confusing sometimes. He understood why
Alex had asked him to summon Jean in the privacy of his own mind. He was asked
this way because he and Hayley had kept this secret among them for so long.
Alex wanted to try and keep it secret. Little did she know the powers of Rayne
and how the girl had a special gift for saying things at inappropriate times.
Hank sighed. "It would seem Alex
needs a little assistance with Hayley," Beast sighed again as Jean, Logan
and Scott came in.
Remy moved to get off the bed, "Ah’ll
go." Henry held his hand up, "I think she isn't ready to see you just
yet."
"Why?" Remy said but he knew the
answer.
"She's quite upset still and seems to
only want to deal with one person at a time," He removed his glasses and
looked from person to person, "While I have everyone’s attention. Let us
settle something before she comes back in." He crossed his arms and looked
at the confused faces.
He knew everyone seemed to know a little
of what had happened already, "I am only telling you this because mixed
facts are confusing and harmful."
He sighed as Alex pulled at his mind
again and he promised to be right there. Also he was hoping Hayley would open
to Alex a bit more.
"Several months ago after Hayley and
Justice were taken hostage by Magneto and rescued. Hayley was in the labs one
night looking for a cure for Josh's poison to help Alex. She became very upset.
She said that she had been keeping something secret."
He sighed knowing some people here in the
room had no idea of the incident and some remembered all too well when Allyson
had been ripped from them and almost killed. "Uncharacteristically, She
told me the entire truth, because she needed help as well as the fact that I
had stumbled upon a pregnancy test she had been running for herself."
Rayne held Remy's hand listening to this
but she wasn't sure if it was for him or her. She looked at her brother's eyes
and she worried for him. She knew he loved this woman but would he be able to
after this.
Rayne didn’t like Hayley, but the woman
made Remy happy and Rayne wanted her brother to be happy. She felt slightly
ashamed for her feelings towards Hayley. The woman’s siblings had been nothing
but nice to her. One of them even helped save her life. Her eyes floated to
Justice who had turned over on his stomach and began lightly snoring and
interrupted Beast.
Beast looked at Justice exasperated and
shook his head at him, "Indeed, you all know now that she is pregnant. She
did tell me who the possibilities were and what happened, I suppose she didn't
want everyone to know and the only reason I am telling you now is because I
want there to be no rumors, speculations, theories or conjectures." He
looked at them to make sure they understood what he was saying. "She said
that she and Justice had been beaten badly while at Magneto's, and she also
told me that the encounter with Sabretooth took place not long after her
encounter with Scott," He took a deep breath and willed himself to finish.
He was not happy with breaking a
confidence but he knew it would help her in the long run, "She also said
that Eric had raped her as well."
Remy's eyes narrowed and felt his anger
grow but he could only stare at the floor.
Rayne went pale as a ghost.
Logan growled lightly and looked over at
his wife wondering what had been done to her when she was been captured. She
merely pulled the sheet closer to her body and wiped the tears from her eyes.
Logan walked to her and raised an eyebrow in question.
Ally's eyes widened, "They never
touched me." Logan regarded her carefully for a minute then hugged her
tightly.
Ty squirmed in his chair. Scott looked
ahead at nothing in particular and Warren stared at the floor and shuffled a
foot. "Tyler, you were there when Ally was captured," Beast stated,
"Is she totally aware of all that 'she' was put through?"
Ty nodded, "I know what Sabretooth
tried to do and what he and Eric would have done if she had stayed," He
whispered. He had never told Ally for the fear of what she did anyway and that
was cry. "Eric went on all the time about how the Brotherhood should breed
with the powerful mutants to create an army of powerful mutants," He sat
back, "I pulled Sabretooth off Ally a couple of times and Magneto seemed
happy to push himself at her too but they didn't hurt her like Hayley."
"Why Tyler?" Beast asked.
Everyone listened intently realizing that Ally too almost succumbed to the same
fate as Hayley.
"She was almost dead when they got
her there," he sighed, "She wasn't strong enough and they wanted her
alive."
Rayne hugged Remy, burying her face in his
shirt at the horrible ordeal the two sisters had faced and it brought back bad
memories to her mind as well.
Jean looked at Beast, "She's kept this
to herself all this time?"
"Without a clear recolection of the
incident I am sure it was easily pushed aside and she had told herself the
father of her child was Scott," he sighed, "There is a chance this
child is Scott's or Eric's or Sabretooth's. Though, it has been stated that
Sabretooth said it was his own."
He looked at Rayne then Logan.
"Wolverine and I both have a highly developed sense of smell as well as
Sabretooth. It is entirely possible that he deduced he was the father by scent
though I am skeptical at how accurate such a thing would be."
He looked at Remy, "I am sure he could
smell Gambit on her quite easily and it is entirely possible that Victor Creed
deduced that he was the father by the scent of the child. Though he would
certainly use the rape and pregnancy as a means to weaken Hayley as an
opponent."
"Consequently, I wouldn't make any
final conclusions yet with what was said or smelled," He looked from
person to person, "Let us not reason a truth to be so until we have
scientific proof of such truth."
Logan held Ally tenderly, but he wanted to
punch something. He knew he had smelled Eric and Victor on Ally and Hayley and
he cringed at thought of what happened. He knew he could still catch traces of
his scent on Hayley from when they had been together. He sighed and thought of
when he had told Remy no matter how hard he scrubbed he wouldn't be able to
scrub Hayley's scent off.
Hank was finished, "Now if you will
excuse me I must attend a patient." With that said, he walked out.
Rayne looked at Wolverine, "if yo’ all
can smell so good, den why can' yo’ smell who poisoned them?" She pointed
at Justice then Xavier.
Logan looked at the kid amused, and took
her question as a playful banter, "Some alcohol contains formaldehyde or
any number of ingredients other than pure alcohol. It depends on what they
drank."
Logan sighed knowing the argument was weak
at best, "Plus the kid, had a lot of visitors and it would be hard to pick
up a scent like that out of so many."
Rayne's whiskers twitched thoughtfully
and she thought she would like the chance to look over Justice's room herself.
Logan sat next to Ally, "'sides until you get used to the that ability of
yours, you're gonna find it's hard to distinguish old scents from new
ones." He looked at Ally, "It can get very confusing sometimes. I
doubt that your abilities would be able to tell the difference. You haven‘t had
any training."
"But why do ah smell all dose
other men on her?" Rayne wondered but regretted asking the question when
she saw Remy slump a little. She knew he didn't want to know of the men who had
been there with Hayley before him, but she wanted her brother to know the
truth.
"Can you smell Gumbo's Ex's?"
Logan chuckled knowing he had been with a lot of women.
She looked at Remy and had to admit there
was faint older smells even of poppa and Belle and of course many many others.
She nodded lightly and began to speak when Gambit cut her off.
"Never mind, petite," he kissed
Rayne's head, "It don' matter where we been." He sighed hoping it
wouldn't matter to him later about Hayley and it hadn't, but if the child had
part of the psychotic Sabretooth’s genes then how would he and Hayley handle
that. What if the kid turned bad like his father?
He stopped, realizing he had coupled
himself with Hayley like that and he shook his head. Were his feelings for her
that strong? He looked at Rayne and wondered if when she took a lover, would he
be as fussy about him being with her?
He hugged her then, knowing he would be
very protective. Then a shadow passed over his heart and he wondered if her
past experience would prevent her from ever getting that close to someone.