The Cold Hearted Truth
Chapter Nine
Kaleidopy 

UPSTAIRS

Opening his eyes, Remy slowly rolls over on his back to stare at his new surroundings. He could hear the humming of an electric field, knowing full well, the windows were protected by an energy field to keep him inside the room. Grabbing a book from the nearby night stand, he tries to charge it, when nothing happens, he is mystified. Tossing the book down, he sits up, he suddenly realizes the reason why he can't activate his powers. Grabbing the collar around his neck with both of his hands, he tries to pull it off. Failing, he begins to get frustrated. Glaring down at the book he had just tossed on the bed, he picks it up and walks over to one of the windows. The energy beams over the window begins to hum louder as he appoaches. Not only have the X-men kidnapped him, but they have made sure that he would not have use of his powers, or the means of escaping anytime soon. He angrily throws the book at the window, watching as it is destroyed by the force field. Turning his attention to the door, he walks over to it quietly, placing his ear to the door to hear if anyone was coming, he decides to try the door knob. No such luck, picking this lock, it was one of Forge's little inventions, meant to keep a prisoner behind the door. Hearing footsteps approaching, he quickly pretends to be asleep.

The door creeps open, and a tray is placed on the night stand. Gambit listens for any sign of who his visitor might be, but the movement was unfamiliar. A hand suddenly touches his neck, the opening he needs, Gambit grabs the person.

" Would you please release me?" Cecilia glares at him. " I normally do not have my patients attacking me."

" Y' be?"

" Cecilia, Dr. Cecilia Reyes." She tries to jerk free. " If you release me now, I will not recommend that McCoy keep you sedated." Cecilia sighs when he doesn't take the hint.. " Look, I don't know the complete details of what happened between you and the rest of the X-men, and I really do not care." She continues. " I would like nothing more than to get on with my life and believe me when I tell you that it does not include a life with the X-men."

" Join de club," Remy smirks. " Gambit don' wanna b' here. Y' least gotta choice in de matter, uh?"

" Depends on who you talk to," Cecilia struggles. " You are only going to make this worse on yourself if you try to leave your room."

" Unlock de collar, chere," Remy tells her. " Gambit not hurt y', just want outta here."

" Only Cyclops has the key, and right now he isn't in the mansion." Cecilia was rapidly losing her patience with her patient. " I don't want to get physical with you, but you are fast making me run out of options. Now for the last time, release me before you force me to activate my powers."

" Oh y' scarin' Gambit," Remy tries to get more pressure around Cecilia's neck but he was beginning to realize that his strength was leaving him, why he didn't know. " What did y' and de Beast do t' me?"

" Just the after affects of the sedative, it will wear off in a few hours," Cecilia answers him. " You are only going to make this worse on yourself if the others come up here."

" Remy, let Cecilia go." Hank suddenly appears in the doorway. He begins to make his way closer to the two. " My friend, you are not in any condition to be up and such display of emotions are not really necessary, when I can easily have you,"

" Non!" Gambit slowly gets off the bed, his arm around Cecilia's neck. " Henri, y' stay back and dis one don' get hurt." He walks around the bed. Turning his back to the door, so he can keep Hank in his line of sight, he slowly takes a few steps backwards and slips.

Beast had enough time to grab Cecilia before Remy fell to the floor.

" Sorry to do that to you Remy, but you gave me any other choice." Bobby stands nearby the ice patch he had created. " You alright, Cecilia?"

" Yes, I am fine." She glances down at Remy, who was glaring at them. " McCoy, maybe you should,"

" My thoughts exactly." Walking over to Gambit, Beast offers his hand to him. " Remy, please we do not want to harm you but under the circumstances it would be best if you allow me to keep you sedated until,"

" So y' can d' what t' me, Henri, no t'anks." Remy slowly gets to his feet. Knowing he would not be able to escape while the three of them were watching him, he lays back on the bed. He begins to think of another plan to escape.

" I brought you something to eat," Cecilia breaks the tension in the room.

" Don' want nothin' from any of y' X-men." Remy mutters.

" Hey, Jean cooked this especially for you." Bobby angrily speaks up. He walks over to the bed and glares down at him. " Jean wasn't in Antarctica, you don't have to take it out on her."

Gambit turns over and looks up at Bobby, glancing over at the tray, he reaches over and pulls it to him. Lifting the lid, without looking at it, he smiles slightly before throwing it at the shocked Iceman. " Y' eat it, Drake."

" Why you,"

" Bobby!" Beast grabs his friend and holds him back. Glancing down at a laughing Gambit, he could only shake his head. " I guess we have no other choice but to allow Charles and the telepaths to do their work."

Sheer terror suddenly floods Gambit's face at the mention of telepaths. He wasn't about to allow anyone in his mind, and the thought of those who wanted to kill him, doing the probing, chilled him to the bone. " Y' touch me and Essex will rip out y' hearts and feed dem t' his creations."

" You're nuts if you want to sic Sinister on us, don't you know what he does to people he experiments on?" Bobby studies him carefully, suddenly noticing something he didn't like. Gambit was wearing the same smirking look, Sinister has worn the many times the X-men have crossed paths with the evil scientist. " You really do belong to him don't you?"

" Bobby, that was uncalled for," Cecilia walks over and pulls Drake away from the bed.

" Well it's the truth and everyone knows it, they just don't have the guts to say it." Bobby continues his outrage as he glares down at Gambit, who stares back at him with the same anger, Gambit eyes glow brighter as his anger mounds. This only fuels Bobby's anger as well, " Look at him, you can see Sinister's handy work all over him, there's no telling what kind of things Sinister has done to him." He was getting edgy knowing Sinister and the Marauders were going to attack the mansion in order to get Gambit back. " If you think for one second that we are going to let you walk out of here and tell everything you know about us to Sinister, you're wrong. You're not going anywhere, LeBeau."

" Y' ain' keepin' me no prisoner, Drake." Remy makes a motion to jump at Bobby, who retreats a few steps back, laying back on the bed, Gambit laughs again. " Tell y' what Drake, mebbe Gambit asks Essex t' take y' first,"

Bobby couldn't take it anymore, he jumps on the bed and attacks. Both men manages to get in a hit before Hank drags Bobby away. " Let me go, Hank, I want to teach the jerk a lesson he will never forget."

" Bobby, my friend you are only going to agitate your emotions and blood pressure if you vigorously continue to allude with this inclination you are,"

" Alright Hank, you made your point." Bobby shrugs as he interrupts his friend. " You can bore me to death just like Scott does when he gives me one of his long lectures."

" Well it worked, didn't it?" Hank smiles slightly. He turns his attention back to Gambit, who made no attempt to control his temper. " Remy, I shall return momentary, if you have not calmed down, then I will sedate you and keep you that way."

" Y' better bring de rest of de X-men t' help y', Beast," Remy eyes him threateningly.

McCoy shakes his head as he, Cecilia and Bobby leave the bedroom, locking the door behind them. Gambit begins to scream curses and threats at them while beating on the door.

Charles watches at the three go down the hallway, hearing Gambit's threats for several minutes, Xavier could only lower his head in defeat. Entering the mind of one of his students against their will was the last thing he wanted to do.

Elizabeth walks into the professor's library. Jean and Charles waits as she sits down. " Sorry for arriving so late Charles, but my flight was delayed for three hours and I couldn't just teleport myself back to the mansion when hundreds of people are standing around me," She says. " Jean has filled me in on what you want us to do but I fear if Sinister attacks before we break the link, the X-men will be outnumbered."

" The Starjammers are here to help us." Charles glances over at Jean who was deep in thought. " Jean are you ready to begin."

" Charles, are we doing the right thing?"

" Jean, surely you don't approve of what Sinister has done, do you?"

" Of course not," Jean glances over at the other woman. " I just don't like the idea of what we are planning on doing." She turns to Charles. " We are about to force our way into a mind that doesn't want us there. I consider it an act of violation." Jean lowers her head before speaking again to Xavier. " Charles you have taught us to value our gifts and never force them on others, shouldn't we at least try to talk to Remy again?"

" I see that I have taught you well, Jean." The professor turns to Elizabeth. " She does have a point."

" Agreed."

" We do have one problem, though," Jean adds. " I really didn't want to bring this up until I thought the time was right, but I think you should know this before we talk to Remy. While I was in trying to enter his mind, I learned something," She takes her time before speaking. " Sinister is not controlling him, Remy is acting on his own free will."

" That is impossible." Psylocke protests. " The Gambit we all know would never attack you or any of the X-men."

" It seems he isn't the same anymore. " Xavier closes his eyes as if to think first before speaking. " Sinister has twisted things around to make us look like we wanted to kill him."

" And he still thinks that?" Pyslocke shakes her head.

" Yes, Remy feels betrayed by the X-men. Sinister has convinced him that we only used him to get information out of him." Jean answers. " And from what the others have already told us, Gambit thinks of Sinister as the only person he can trust or depend on. He considers Sinister family, a father."