All of these characters belong to Marvel and are borrowed without permission with no profit made.

November 1998

A VC presentation:

Her chest raised and fell slowly, his eyes fixed on it.

It felt good.

It felt really good to save a life. He had long forgotten that feeling, especially after that night.. Unfortunately, as everything saving her life had a price. A price he wasn't so sure he wanted to pay. But it was too late now, he risked everything, everything he held in such a secret to everyone, just to save her life. ^Why did I do it ?^ that thought crossed his mind many times during the sleepless night as he sat in the corner of his cell with Betsy sleeping in his arms. The mind link had broken few hours later, and he had not tried to renew it. He decided Betsy's condition was well enough now, and he was right as she slept peacefully in his arms. If only he could find that sort of peace. But that one thought, and the fear of the consequences haunted him all night.  Maybe it was wrong. He had worked so hard on keeping his secrets, he didn't even tell Rogue, the woman who he loved. But the hero inside him, pushed that thought away each time it came back haunting him. He had saved a life, at no matter what cost.

^This is like a deed.^ he thought. ^It's like me paying back for everything I did... yeah right I won't live long enough to pay back that deed.^ He sighed deeply as Betsy changed position in his arms. ^And most of all, why did I do it for Betsy.. The last time I remember she was trying to read my mind, to see what my secret was. I suppose she won't need to do that now. I suppose something has changed inside me over the last few months. Face it Remy... you only saved her life because you couldn't handle seeing another death. You've seen enough of that already, not only then but even when Belle died.^ A war was being fought inside him, he was trying to convince himself he did the right thing because it was the right thing not because he was scared. ^X-Men had to change me, somehow. I just hope, one day I'm forgiven.^

Betsy moved again and opened her eyes. "H..hello." she said in a sleepy but not weak voice.

"How are you ?" he asked.

"Ummm, better I suppose." she said, looking around. "How long had I been sleeping ?"

"About twelve hours now I suppose."

"Ugh damn."

"So I suppose it has worked then, since you're alive." Remy said desperately trying to start a conversation hoping Betsy wouldn't  mention it..

"Yeah, I suppose. I wasn't sure it would. I only vaguely remember hearing about it from Logan, I never thought I would need to know it. But yeah it has worked..."

A uneasy silence filled the cell as they both sat there, Remy praying that she won't start talking about what she had found out and Betsy trying to get her thoughts together, and decide whether she should talk to Remy about it or not. She could feel him sweating under her, revealing just how nervous he was. She decided against it, for now. Maybe later. It was all clear in her head now, as clear as everything else of course but it was. It was just as if all of Remy's memory had taken over a part of her brain. It wasn't dominating, it was just there. She could reach into it at will and pull out his memories one by one, if she wanted, but some memories, they just striked at her mind without her being able to do anything. These were the memories that had pressed themselves in Remy's mind forever, the kind of memories that would give him nightmares or dreams. And one of those memories was the now famous Remy's secret which Rogue had been blabbing about since she kissed him.

When it striked her, the first thing she realized was how obvious it was. They all knew Remy had some sort of past with Sinister. None of them knew actually what it was and none of them admitted to it but they knew Remy had brushed cheeks with Essex before he joined the X-Men. Then, a split second later disgust hit her. How could he do something like that ? Remy ? Anyone else she would have thought so but Remy ? He didn't seem like a murderer, he never made that kind of impression on her. A thief, a loud mouth even a mercenary, but not a murderer. And that was why the next memory, the turning point of it came as even a bigger shock to her. She couldn't believe it, killing a bunch of innocent people is one thing but this ? And was it even more terrible when she found out he didn't know ?

And then, she understood. She understood his pain, his guilt his what she thought was self pity. She understood why he didn't tell them, she understood just why he was so ashamed of it. Finally she understood why he couldn't tell Rogue, as much as he wanted to, this would totally crush him, his self esteem, he had worked so hard to build up ever since then.

She actually felt sorry for him.

Still, what she knew, was a very important and terrifying piece of information. It was something that Remy had tried to keep a secret for so long. And she knew that if she told the X-Men they would kill him. Okay so maybe kill was a bit overrated, but he would be kicked off the team forever. They would hate him, so could she tell them ? If she didn't she would be lying to her teammates, be no better than Remy himself. But could she tell them ? Should she tell them ? Could she just go to the X-Men and tell them everything she had just found out ?

She honestly didn't know. She decided to think about it later. She had other issues to worry about right now. She still didn't know what they did to her, she only remembered being in that horrible water tank, and then waking up on the floor next to Remy. She decided to ask Remy, break the silence.

"Remy ?"

"Oui ?"

"What happened to me ?"

Remy looked at her puzzled. "What do you mean ?"

"What did they do to me ? Why was I dying ? All I remember was being in that tank..." her voice trailed off at the painful memory.

"I don't know for sure to be honest." Remy said sighing. "Matuso said something about draining Crimson Dawn from you..." Betsy gasped but Remy continued talking. "He said that they drained every pint of it from you... Said that's why you were dying, guess we crossed their plans then." He hesitated before saying his next sentence. "The red mark is gone."

"The red mar.... it's what ??!!"

"Gone. As if it was never there."

"But.... but how ? Gommour said it was there forever, that there was no way it would disappear.."

"The way I see it, they drained Crimson Dawn from you, they took the mark too. Not that it clears up much anyway, how can you drain Crimson Dawn ?"

Betsy was keeping quiet, wondering just what this all meant. "It's gone, I can feel it now. The headaches are gone, so is the dizziness and disorientation. And I'm no longer feeling like I'm going to die, well not from that anyway. But why ? That's the obvious question. Why ?"

"I don't know why Betsy, and I don't know if you remember that, but Matuso said that he was doing this for a purpose, just before he started the process. What it was, I have no idea, but um.... I guess it's good you're at least alive..." his voice trailed of. ^Why did I just say that ?^

She looked up at him, still holding her in his arms. She could swear she saw a tear in his eye but it was gone so fast she wasn't so sure it was even there in the first place. ^Oh God, what have I done to him.^ "Ummm yeah I suppose. Look Remy, this, this all was a mistake, you shouldn't have come here with me, I shouldn't have gotten you into this mess. " Remy was about to say something but she interrupted him. "I'm sorry Remy, this is all my fault. If you hadn't come here you wouldn't have done what you did. Maybe I would have died, and maybe I even deserved that, but at least you wouldn't have put your life on the line. Your life, and your memories..."

It took a while for Remy to respond, he was trying to choose his words carefully. "Look, Betsy... umm I still don't why I exactly followed you here. It was a hunch... I suppose I knew you would need me.  I saved your life... because, because you were dying. I knew the price. Don't be sorry, it's not your fault...." he couldn't continue and turned his head away, hoping she wouldn't see his tears.

She looked away and pretended she didn't see his tears. "Thank you Remy... thank you. I know it doesn't mean much but thank you."

"Always chere..... I'm glad I was here." he said pulling Betsy closer.

***

The man known as Matuso and the ruler of shadows, Tar looked at the computer screen in front of them, which displayed the cell in which Psylocke and Gambit were held. "Why isn't she dead yet ?!" Tar asked in a serious voice looking at Matuso harshly.

"Don't worry shadow master, it was a simple overlook on our behalf. We can fix that immediately."

"But they're getting away !" Tar shouted.

"Exactly, we can have them surrounded by your Undercloaks and my Hand and killed."

Tar looked at him, unsure if he was telling the truth. He came to a conclusion that he didn't know humans as well as he thought he did, and decided to trust Matuso on this one. What business would he have in keeping Psylocke alive ? "Okay Matuso, I'll believe you. But we have to hurry if we want to stop them before they leave your house."

"Worry not Tar, our soldiers are surrounding them as we speak."

"Let's go there then."

"Okay."

***

Five minutes earlier

^This is too easy.^ Remy thought as he creeped in the seemingly endless corridors of Matuso's underground base. ^They sure must have seen us escape. I didn't notice a camera anywhere in the cell, but it could have been hidden. Good thing Betsy at least had a hair pin, I swear there was nothing on that floor I could have used for a lock pick.^ He turned around to check on Betsy and saw her walking behind him slowly, leaning on the wall. She looked better than she did when they came her but Remy could still see she was very weak, and if they came up against any opposition she wouldn't stand long. ^Should have stayed in the cell a bit longer. You'd make a great leader LeBeau, you think of the consequences once it's too late.^

^I swear that they're gonna drop on us any second, then we're toast.^ he heard a soft rustle and from the floor shadows began to surround them, and out of the corners stepped out Hand soldiers, circling them. "Oh damn." Remy swore under his breath.

Betsy came up behind him and looked around suspiciously as the ninjas circled them. Before she could say anything white light flashed before their eyes and Matuso and Tar appeared in front of them.

"Well, well, well. Who do we have here." said Matuso in a mocking tone.

"What the hell have you done Matuso ?" Betsy tore up out of nowhere. "What do you want from me, haven't you done enough damage all ready ? What did you do to me ?" she screamed at him. She was standing in front of Remy, her fists clenched, angry at Matuso and ready to rip him into pieces.

"My dear, no need to get nervous, I only drained Crimson Dawn from you..."

"Why !" Betsy interrupted.

"None of your business Braddock. Besides you should be dead by now."

"Well I'm not, and I promise you by the end of today you'll be the dead one." she was beginning to loose her grip and she was about to throw herself at Matuso and even fight him with her bare hands, if her powers didn't respond. Gladly she felt Remy's hand grab her wrist, just in case she tried something stupid.

"I seriously doubt that Elizabeth." Matuso said smiling. "My ninjas will finish what I have begun. KILL THEM !"

Matuso's and Tar's image began to blur as they started teleporting away. "For the last time Psylocke. Good bye, die slowly and painfully." then he disappeared.

Betsy backed against Remy's back as they watched the ninjas and shadows approach them slowly. There was no way they could handle them in a fight. There were way too many of them, their either thought of something really quick or they would die. As the first ninjas threw themselves at them Remy tried his best at protecting Betsy. He knew she was still weak and wasn't able to handle a proper fight. "Betss, think of something, some mind trick... fast !" he shouted.

A Hand solider approached him, and Remy didn't wait for the punch to come, he kicked the man in the stomach and sent him flying across the room. Unfortunately there were about ten more Hand ninjas on his place. Remy didn't have any cards to load so he took off his coat and charging it he threw it at the Hand soldiers in front of him. He swept kicked them in the legs and they all fell to the ground with a loud thump. He turned around to face more soldiers and he couldn't see Betsy anywhere near. ^Not good^ he thought. As he turned around a shadow appeared behind him and hit him on the head.

Remy screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Immediately there were about six Hand soldiers standing over him. One of them began kicking Remy in the face and then the rest followed delivering hard bows to his whole body. He tried shaking them off, but there were too many of them. He screamed in pain and then suddenly everything stopped.

He looked at his enemies as they stood over him, frozen, their movement stopped. "What the..."

"It's... me..." said a voice behind him.

He turned around to see Betsy standing behind him, her teeth clenched, obviously concentrating on something. "Whoa, I never knew you could pull off one of those tricks." Remy said as he got up.

"Neither was I... not recently anyway. Can.. can we go now ? I'm still in no shape to do this. If Hank saw me he would probably ground me for life."

"Oh yeah of course Let's go." he said grabbing her hand. They began running down the corridor, Betsy trying her hardest to keep up with Remy but obviously staying behind. "How much longer can you keep them like that ?" Remy asked.

"Not long. A minute at most."

"We won't make it...." Remy mumbled. "You have to run faster."

"I... I can't."

Remy stopped. They were going to get caught. He picked up Psylocke in his arms and began running with her again, praying to find the strength to get away. "I... I'll loose it soon Remy." she whispered, her full concentration on keeping the Hand soldiers and shadows in tact.

"There !" Remy shouted as he ran into Matuso's living room. He stopped and placed Betsy down, taking deep breaths. He head Betsy scream and then with a shaky voice she announced she lost them. Remy looked around desperately. He had to buy himself time. He noticed a large coffee table standing in the middle of the room. An idea arose in his head and he began moving towards it. He picked it up and charged it to a full extent, kinetic energy sparkling from it. With a loud scream he threw the table at the door they just came through.

When the charged table came in touch with the wall it released the energy blowing the wall into pieces with a loud bang. It collapsed on itself blocking the doorway perfectly. Remy smiled at his idea, and couldn't believe it worked. It was amazing what your powers could do if you tried improvising. He turned around to see a very shaky Betsy leaning on a wall. He turned to her and just then her legs gave way from under her and she fainted to the floor. Remy quickly checked she was breathing and when decided positive he carefully lifted her up and began running out of the house. Within few seconds he was outside and heading for the Blackbird parked in the woods.

***

He charged into the plane, up the steps and placed Betsy in a med. bay area of the plane. He turned back quickly to start the plane. Betsy was breathing and just seemed to have fainted. As the plane took off he set the automatic pilot to the mansion and ran back to the med. bay. He quickly checked Betsy was all right, trying to make use of the apparatus that were there. ^Where is Henry when you need him.^ he thought as the threw the wires away. Even if he wanted he couldn't make any use out of them. He checked Betsy's pulse and found it was normal, just like her breathing. Then he did the next logical thing and went back to the communication desk. He dialed the mansion number and soon Iceman appeared on the small screen.

"Hello ?" he said in a sleepy voice. Remy just realized it must have been night in America now.

"Bobby give me Hank. NOW !"

"U-huh Gambit you're in so much shit, you have no idea. Cyke is gonna kill you." Bobby said teasing.

"Just shut up and put me across to Henry's lab now."

"Okay, okay what's the rush. Later."

The screen went blank for few seconds and then Beast's furry face appeared on it. "Henry prepare the medical supplies, I'll be home in an hour."

"Medical... what ? why, what happened Remy ? Is Betsy with you ?"

"Yeah she's the one that needs help. I tried using some of the stuff that's on the Blackbird but I have no idea how it works."

"Okay." said Beast getting up. He began preparing his lab for their arrival. "Is she breathing ?"

"Yeah and the pulse is all right. I think she only fainted, but after what happened over the last day it could be a lot worse than it seems."

"What happened Remy ? Where did you go ?"

"Something.... something bad happened." Remy said hesitating. "I don't want to talk about it now. I'll tell you when I get there."

Hank raised an eyebrow while he began putting sheets on one of the beds. "Fine then. What about you, are you injured ?"

"Nah I'm okay just a bit sore, and tired. I'll see you in a hour then."

"Okay good bye, I'll be waiting."

"Remy out."

***

Matuso and Tar teleported into one of the numerous small rooms in Matuso's house. "You need to worry about nothing Tar, my ninjas will take care of Psylocke and Gambit."

"Good because I've already retreated the Undercloaks. Are you sure that your soldiers can handle them ? Remember that Psylocke has to die."

"You worry too much Tar." Matuso said with a fake smile. "Now I'd like to thank you for your help. Here's your side of the deal." Matuso said clapping his hands twice. A large door opened on the left wall and a group of Hand soldiers entered. "Hundred bodies as promised, all to your own."

"Thank you Matsuo Tsurayaba, it's been nice doing business with you." Tar said opening a portal made of shadows behind him. The hand soldiers began walking into it one by one. "I wish you luck with your experiments and if you need anything just call." he said laughing to himself. Matsuo only raised an eyebrow as Tar disappeared in the shadows.

^That's that taken care of.^ Matsuo thought as he began walking out of the room. ^He's right, Braddock should be dead by now, and I honestly didn't think she would find a way to survive in that cell and yet she did. I could have just killed her, but once I thought about it, it will be more useful for me if she lives. And to hell with Tar, he'll never find out she's alive.^ He walked up to a book base and searched for a book called "New England" Finding it, he pulled it out opening a secret doorway and stairs. ^It took me years to build this underground complex.^ he thought as he began walking down the stairs. ^And finally after so many years I achieved what I wanted, and on top of that my plan worked.^

By now Matsuo entered a large room, very similar  to the one Betsy was held in before. On the far wall there was also a water tank, a bit smaller in size than the one Betsy occupied few hours ago.  There was a blurry outline of a body in the tank, it's pink flesh reflecting in the water.

Matsuo sat down by one of the computers and began preparing something. ^Good thing I approached Nathaniel for help with the lab equipment, I would never have managed to get these computers. And definitely not her.^ he thought. He typed in a password and a the computer began transferring some data. Matsuo leaned back on his chair and awaited as everything got ready. His thoughts were on the future, he was thinking on how this was going to  bring Hand back to the top of the assassins guilds. He still couldn't believe that he managed to pull it off, that it was actually happening.

A loud beep announced that the data was updated and that the mechanism was ready for the experiment. Matsuo opened a lid and prepared to press a large red button which read transfusion. ^This is it, the last stage. Let's start.. now.^ he thought pressing the red button. He turned in his chair to observe the water tank. The body inside began moving as some strange black fluid began pumping into it's veins. It shook a bit, but for most of the time it was floating still, accepting the strange transfusion. Not a single scream escaped from it's mouth and it was quite obvious the process was less painful than the one Betsy went through few hours ago. The dark fluid disappeared from the container it was in and the last remains of it entered the body's veins.

The computer announced that the transfusion was complete. The water began disappearing from the tank and soon it was empty. The person inside who now could be recognized as a woman smashed the glass in front of her and stepped out of the tank onto the floor. She appeared to be European, and had strangely purple hair, all through her nakedness revealed something totally else. She looked around the room suspiciously. "Whe... where am I ?" she said in a confused voice, her brain not quite registering what was going on. It was going to take few days before it would function like a proper one. She looked down at her naked body trying to figure out what happened, but there obviously was a period of blankness in her memory.

Matsuo walked up to her and offered her a robe which she put on her frame. He pulled her close and kissed her lips. After few seconds of shock she absentmindedly pulled her body towards his burying her tongue in his mouth. When they finally pulled apart Matsuo looked at her with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Welcome back. You've obviously been through a lot of changes, but you're still my one and only.... Revanche ...."

NEXT ISSUE:
"Revenge"
A kind of cool down issue. Betsy and Gambit arrive back in the mansion, while Cyclops and Wolverine have a little pep talk about Scott getting reaaaallly angry lately ;) Senator Kelly has a meeting with the president, discussing the possibility of reassembling Freedom Force. Warren takes the plunge into beginning of his business even further. That and more on the mysterious Lukin. And, who's planning against Magneto ? The answer's here ! And more on Revanche.... not ! You're gonna have to wait for that one a bit ;)