Stalking Of  Macpherson 2

By, Seri

Serina lay barely conscious while a medical team worked on her. The Xavier Institute was called. Jean and Scott Summers were the only two there, or at least the two that took the call. Serina was barely aware of them as the police told them what they knew. "She was found on the western side of Central Park. It seems she was dumped there. Witnesses say she was thrown from a dark blue van, late seventies model. They've done a rape kit and she has been raped, quite brutally, by more than one person. She was bound and beaten. The doctor has done his best to get her to be responsive, but all we can get out of her is the name Gambit. Do you know who he is?"

"Yes, we do. He's a close friend to her, officer. He is her, protector, so to speak. He's who she' turns to for help," Jean replied, knowing what was going through his mind.

"Do you know where he is?" the officer asked.

"He's due back into town some time tomorrow night, why?" Scott asked.

"Please take no offense of this, but we'll need to verify....."

"Stop right there. I'll give you his hotel number, and you can call him yourself," Jean snapped angrily. "He's in Monty Carlo." She pulled a paper from her purse. "Here. But I warn you, watch what you say or all hell's going to break loose." She started to hand it to him, them pulled back. "Look, you dial, ask for Remy LeBeau at the desk, then let me break it to him; it'll be easier," she replied.

"Sounds good to me, I'll listen on an adjoining line," he consented.

"Agreed," she said.

They left the room to dial the number.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Remy LeBeau, ci vou plei," the officer requested.

"Bonjour," Gambit answered.

"Gambit?" Jean asked. He sounded as if he were asleep.

"Yes," he replied, then recognized her voice. "Jean?! What in de....."

"I know it's late, but you may want to catch an earlier flight home," Jean suggested.

"Why, what's wrong?" he asked, now fully awake.

"Serina's in the hospital. She was found in Central Park and has been brutally attacked."

"Can't be," he claimed. "We talked before I went to bed. She was at Xavier's."

"What time was that, Remy?"

"'Round nine p.m. your time. Said she was going to have a cig on de bluff, then crash. Said she'd meet me at de airport tomorrow." He sounded almost panicked. "Do you know who...?"

"No, Remy, but she's been calling out your name here at the hospital. There's an officer on the line. They needed to verify your whereabouts because she keeps calling out your name. How soon can you get here?" Jean asked.

"Don' know, have to check wit' de airport. Can you send Scott? I can meet him on de roof, it'll be faster," he asked.

"Yes...hold on, Remy," she requested as the doctor approached.

"She's awake, but she won't speak. She seems panicked. Do you think that you...."

"Of course," Jean replied, turning back to the phone. "Remy, she's awake, I have to go. I'll have Scott pick you up. Be ready. She's scared."

"I'll be ready faster den you know," he said. He'd been packing since she put him on hold. "Get here soon."

"He will," Jean promised, hanging up. She turned to Scott. "He wants you to pick him up," she told his as they entered her room. She was calling out for Gambit. They moved to her bed. "Calm down, Serina."

"I'm going to go pick him up right now, Seri," Scott told her, getting her to turn her head. He turned to Jean. "Call him; he can talk to her while I'm en route," he suggested, leaving the room.

Jean recalled Gambit. "Maybe you can calm her. She's being stubborn, and won't let the doctor treat her," Jean explained. "Serina, here." She put the phone by her ear.

"'Renia? You dere?"

"Remy?" she whispered hoarsely.

"T'rough de wires, petite," he replied softly. "How you doin'?"

"I....I...." she stuttered.

"Scott's on his way to get me. I should be dere in a lil' while. Now, Jean tells me you won' let dem treat you. Why, chere?"

"Hurts," she replied.

"I know it does, petite. I be dere soon, sweety. I be dere soon," he soothed. "You do me a favor, petite? Let dem treat you while I'm on de phone, OK?"

"Ok. Ye keep talkin' ta me?" she asked in a small voice.

"Yes, petite. Now put Jean on for a moment," he told her.

"Jean," she said, letting the phone fall away. "Remy."

"Yeah, Remy?" Jean stated.

"Tell dem she'll cooperate as long as I'm on de phone wit' her," he told her.

"Ok, I'll let them know," she assented, propping the phone on the pillow beside Serina's ear. She then pulled the doctors aside to tell them the plan.

"'Renia? You back?" he asked when all he heard was breathing.

"Yes," she replied as they began to treat her wounds.

"Talk to me, chere," he began. "Tell me what happen."

"No." She began to cry.

"It's all right, Serina," Jean tried to soothe her as they cleaned one of the more severe cuts on her body. She stroked the scared girl's hair. "It's all right," she cooed.

"'Renia...." he began, hearing her cry out. "'Renia, Scott's here. I'll be dere in twenty minutes. Hang on, baby, please. I'm on my way. Listen to Jean, she help keep you safe," he told her, Scott now at his side. "Jean...Jean!" he called out loudly.

She picked up the phone. "Yeah, Remy?"

"Scott's here. We be dere in twenty minutes. Hum to her like before, you know, when we come back an' you go t'rough her mind?" he said rather fast.

"I remember." Jean cringed at the subject. She still had nightmares from what she had seen.

"We on our way," he told her, hanging up. He turned to Scott. "Let's go."

(On the mini-jet.....)

"Ok," Gambit began. "What happened to her, really?"

"Blunt or gentle?" Cyclops asked.

"Straight," he replied.

"She was brutally gang-raped and dumped out of a van on the west side of Central Park. As of yet, they have no idea who did it, and she won't talk," Cyc told him as best he could. His memory of how she looked angered him. "How could anyone do this to a person?"

"What should I expect?" Gambit asked levelly.

"When I saw her last, they had only been able to do a rape kit and take pictures. They were trying to treat her injuries when I left, so you know more than I do."

"Logan?"

"Haven't been able to reach him, and no one wants to tell Moira. Sean's on his way, and so is Xavier," Cyc informed him as New York came into view. "The media is everywhere, so we'll land on the roof of the building next door."

(In the hospital, the moment they enter......)

"Serina, please!" Jean had to almost scream to be heard over the screaming girl's cries as she struggled, with doctors, to try and hold her down.

Gambit assessed what he saw. "Let her go," he said above the roar in the room. "'Renia." He moved to stand clear.

She leaped at him, trying to hide behind him. "No more," she cried softly.

"Could you give us a moment?" he requested softly.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but she needs medical attentions. Now she's obviously on something, so please step out of the way....." the doctor began.

"She on not'ing," Gambit interrupted. "She terrified. She spend most of her life in a place like dis. You want to help her, get out. I calm her down den you treat her, or you get nowhere." He turned to Scott. "Get Hank here, fast."

"You got it," Scott said softly, stroking Serina's hair. She now cowered between him and Gambit.

"Jean, I need time," Gambit told her. "Get dem out."

"No problem." She turned to the group. "Look, we were getting nowhere this way, so please, let him try." She began ushering them out.

"Can he calm her?" one doctor wanted to know.

"He's probably the only one who can," she told them as they all left, leaving Remy to stand with Serina crying and trembling at his feet.

"'Renia." He knelt down to her, lifting her up. "Come on," he picked her up, cradling her in his arms. She seemed to be a mass of bruises. He walked over to a chair, cradling her in his arms as he sat quietly. "It's ok," he said softly as she cried, holding him tight. "I'm here now. No one can hurt you." He kisses the top of her head.

"They do," she cried softly.

"I know. But dey only wan' to fix what de others did," he whispered softly. "Do you know who did dis, chere?" He pressed the issue once again as Scott entered the room.

"Guild," she replied. "They did afore, too." She looked up at him. Letting him see for the first time what they had done to her face. "Why?"

"Why what, chere?" He was seriously concerned. "Which guild?"

"Said ye'd pay. Said they share an' share alike. Only took turns tha first time." She didn't sense of hear Jean slip a sedative in her I.V., but her voice now slowed. An officer quietly sat inside the door wit ha tape recorder, recording the information that Gambit had agreed to get out of her. "But I fought 'em, Remy. One, he's hurt real bad. Got his hand cut deep. Knocked them aroond a bit." She searched his face with unseeing eyes. "Why couldna I go wit' ye this time?"

"I already explain dat, petite," he began. "Which guild?" He could see that she was drifting off.

She laid her head against him, relaxing once again, the drug taking effect. "Ye're guild. Tha thieves," she slurred. "Said ye'd regret ever crossin' them." Her eyes closed.

"Where did dey do dis, chere?" He asked, his anger rising, along with Scott who heard the whole thing. Henry entered the room at Remy's last question.

"Tha woods. Behind that mansion. "She was fading on him. The officer left the recorder running as he stepped out the door. "Tol' everyone I fell from tha cliff. Even flew down it so it looked like I did. Threw tha rapists in tha ocean. No one knew," she rambled as if proud. "Ashamed, not gonna fail Xavier. Act like nothin' happened there, jus' clumsy." She began to cry as sleep took over a bit more. "Pro..mise.....duenna....lea...ve...me, Remy..."

"I won', chere. I promise. You jus' sleep; Hank's here," he told her, unsure if she had heard him till her eyes fluttered open to look at him.

"Hank took her hand. 'Sometimes, the hardest cases are those too close to home,' he though as he tried to control himself. "You'll be safe now, Serina." She turned her head to look at him. "I'll stay with you as well. But I will need to take care of your other injuries. Will you let me?"

She only nodded, passing out. "Ok," Hank began, "let's get her to bed and get to work. That sedative isn't going to give us much time."

Gambit barely laid her in the bed when cuffs were slammed on his wrist and his arm pulled behind his back. "You have the right to remain...." the officer began, reading him his rights.

"What on earth?!" Jean began. "He wasn't even here!"

"He matches one of the samples we took from her, Mrs. Summers. He's now a suspect," the detective replied.

"Samples?" Hank inquired. "You mean one of the rape samples?"

"Yes, sir," the officer replied.

"Remy?" Jean questioned. "How?"

Gambit dropped his head. "She an' I sleep together night before last. She my wife, remember? De first time Sinister get us. Ororo Munroe can verify it, Hank," Gambit continued. "Remember de last time? She tell you she knew."

"I remember that all too well. I thought the two of you...." Henry began.

"No. I talk her out of it again," Gambit answered.

"Two of you what?" Jean practically demanded as Hank went back to work on Serina.

"She wanted a divorce, for Rogue's sake," Hank explained.

"Got any proof of this?" the detective wanted to know.

"At home. Ororo knows where," he replied.

"Well then, until this Ororo can come up with the proof, we'll just hang on to you," the detective snapped. "Take him away.

"I'll get Ororo," Jean called out.

"Under my bed in de bag wit' de pictures," he told her as they began to drag him out. "Only grab de license, please. De others be too painful. Psylocke and Angel know, too." They dragged him out as Scott and Jean ran to the roof, hopping into the jet and heading for the mansion.

(Later....at the mansion.....)

Ororo Munroe walked down the hall which ended at the stairs to her attic loft. She heard voices and rusting of papers from Gambit's room. The door was ajar. She pushed it open to see Scott and Jean going through one of Remy's bags. "I thought that privacy was one of Xavier's number one rules."

"Storm. Thank God!" Jean exclaimed. "Remy's in jail, Serina's in the hospital, and Remy needs his marriage license to clear his name."

"He said it was in a bag under his bed, but which one?" Scott asked.

Storm casually strolled over, pulling a bag from the side of the bed that had pictures of both Serina and Rogue. She removed it from beneath the photo album that only she and Remy knew about. "Let's go," she sighed.

(The hospital.....)

"Remy?" Serina whispered, slowly opening her eyes.

"He'll be back soon, Serina," Hank soothed. "I sent him to go change and get a bite to eat," he explained as Jean entered the room to hear him soothe her.

She approached the bed from the other side. "He'll be here in the morning. He's been detained," Jean said softly. "I promised him I would stay with you in his place until he can get here."

"And I'll be here until you're released," Hank stated.

"And Scott, and Ororo will be here as soon as they can," Jean replied.

"But he promised." She began to cry.

"Serina," Jean began. "Are you and Remy married?"

Serina looked at Hank; an officer sat by the door. Hank nodded. "Yes. Have been fer almost eight months now," she replied, then gasped. "Oh Gods! They found him?"

"What do you mean, 'found him'?" Jean asked, afraid she knew

"There were still traces of his semen. I forgot." She began to cry harder, closing her eyes. "They think he did it." Her voice trembled. "He's not here, he's in jail." She was almost incomprehensible. "It's all my fault," she cried.

"No....no, Serina," Beast began, stroking her hair while Jean dried her tears. "This is not your fault. Someone else is behind this."

"Ororo and Scott took your marriage license down to help clear him. But you need to rest. Hopefully, when you wake, he'll be here," she soothed as Hank injected a stronger sedative into Serina's I.V. "Just relax and I promise, I won't leave this room," she said, holding her hand as she sat on the edge of the bed.

(The next morning, 10 a.m.......)

It had been a long night for Storm, Cyclops and Gambit. Gambit had to remain behind for further questioning on the Thieves' Guild. Storm phoned the hospital to inform Jean from a restaurant across from the police station. "How is she?"

"Sleeping. How much longer?" Jean asked.

"Not sure. They're questioning Remy about the guild. Could be hours," Storm replied. "Could be tomorrow. Scott and I are across the street. We hope to be there soon."

"Please hurry. We can't keep sedating her. She knows he's in jail; she keeps blaming herself," Jean explained. "Is there any way to rush it?"

"We'll do our best," Storm promised.

(7:45 p.m......)

Scott quietly opened the hospital door. "Pssst."

Jean looked up to see the smile of her husband. She quietly got up to greet him. "Is he here?"

"Yes. He's trying to clean himself up a bit before he comes in." He stepped the rest of the way in, hearing Serina begin to toss in her sleep. "How is she?"

"Restless," Hank replied. "Glad to see you made it," he said, walking over to him. "She's beginning to have severe nightmares. Keeping her sedated has become dangerous," he explained as Serina began to thrash violently, screaming wildly. "Help me hold her down before she tears her stitches!" The three attempted to hold her down.

Remy and Ororo walked in on this. Storm rushed to help as Gambit leaned near her ear. "Shhh," he said softly. "I'm here, 'Renia. Shhhh. It's all right." He smoothed her damp hair. "It's all right; I'm here." She began to calm her limbs began to tremble. "Move," he told them, gathering her blankets and all and sat down on the bed. He began to rock her back and forth. "It's all right. Shhhhh," he cooed, beginning to hum softly.

"I think it be appropriate for us to depart now." Beast suggested quietly. "Buzz if you need us."

Gambit nodded, never missing the beat. Everyone, including an unwilling cop, left the room, giving him the privacy to show a side of him very few ever saw.

She slowly began to open her eyes, the room black to her unseeing eyes. "Remy?"

"Yeah, chere?" he said softly.

"Light?" she asked.

"Sure, petite." he reached back, turning on the light. Her hand cautiously searched his face. "'Renia, do you doubt me?"

"Doubt everyone," she replied, holding him tight. "Didnae want anyone ta...."

"Shhhhhh," he told her softly. "We your friends an' family, chere. We here to help you." He lifted her face to his. "We love you too much to lose you."

"Nothin' but trouble." She closed her eyes, pulling her head away. "Love you too, Remy." She opened her eyes in shock. "No."

"No, what, chere?" he asked.

"I wanna go home, Remy," she said softly in a distant voice. "I wanna go home now," she now demanded.

"Not 'till Hank says so an' you answer my question. Why did you say 'no'?" He insisted, holding he tightly to him.

"No, you didnae hear mae," Serina replied.

"Didn' hear what, 'Renia, what didn' I hear?"

"Won' repeat it. Never say it again," she replied stubbornly.

"Den we don' go home," he stated, wanting to hear it again.

"No," she reaffirmed. "Ye caenna do that. I go without ye." She remained stubborn.

"You know, chere, in de dictionary under stubborn, it say see defiant, an' under defiant it have your picture," he sighed, holding her close. "All dis trouble because you admitted you love me."

"Do not," she said defiantly. "Admit nothin', then duenna get hurt."

"Whatever you say, chere. Whatever you say." He smiled, holding her against him tightly.