Part Six

Vic looked at the clock again, growling when another hour had past from the last time he had looked. Time was going by, but he was unable to get anything accomplished. His mind kept going back to Remy and he would get lost in thought. Even if Malice, or dare he say Michael was around he could keep his mind on work, but today everyone on his small team were off doing something different. Malice was in the lab with Remy, trying something with the kid's powers, and no one knew where Michael was. He missed having people around and loneliness was a strange emotion to him.

As if someone had read his thoughts he heard a shuffling down the hall, coming towards his make shift office. He was almost happy to have someone visit, until he realized who was coming up the hall. "Michael!" he called out. "Get your ass in here!"

Michael sneered, he was hoping to pass the office without being noticed. "What?" he barked coming to the doorway, but never entering the room. He wanted the ability to run if he needed to.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Out."

"Out where?"

"None of your fuckin' business, mom!"

Creed rolled his head trying to stop the tightening the frustration was causing in his neck. "We have a mission to plan here. How are you going to know what to do if your not here?"

"What the hell does it matter? You haven't figured it out yourself, what ya gonna tell me that I don't already know? Why should I stay here locked up in this basement?

Creed's anger flared, flushing his face. He wasn't sure if it was his anger towards his younger teammates attitude or if it was the fact that Michael was partially right. There wasn't much different about the plan from when Blockbuster had left. He was about to make some excuse to argue when the intercom on the wall beeped interrupting the argument.

~"Victor?"~

Vic punched the button on the intercom, cracking it's fixture. "What, Mal?"

~"Essex would like you to come to the lab."~

"Why?"

~"We need help with Remy. Just get down here."~

Creed's anger quickly turned to worry and anxiety with the mention of Remy needing help. "I'll be there in a minute."

Blockbuster's eyebrow raised in confusion. Some things had changed while he was gone. He had no clue who this Remy was, but this person's name alone had caused a total change in Creed's behavior. "Who the hell's Remy?"

"If you stuck around you would know!" Creed pushed past Michael to make his way to the lab. Half way down the hall he stopped, going back to the office that Michael has entered once he had left. "Don't leave. I mean it! We need to go over some shit before you disappear again." His upper lip curled when the younger man shrugged his shoulders in indifference. "Don't touch anything either!"

Michael raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine."

---

Creed walked through the large metal doors into the main observance level of the lab. He was surprised to find Malice standing at the large glass window overlooking the laboratory floor below. "Hey, Mal. I thought you were working with the kid today."

Malice turned her attention to Creed for only a moment, not saying anything. Just turning back to the view below.

Creed found the behavior strange, but shrugged it off and walked towards the window. First thing he noticed was a familiar syringe in her hand. It was the medicine that Sinister had made for him. He was about to ask her why she had it, but the flicker of lights caught his attention. He looked above him at the lighting fixtures to see all of them flashing strangely. He figured it was just generator problems until his sights went below to the lab. Remy's pale, naked, form was laying on a medical table below. Numerous wires and tubes were attached to the limp body and Sinister stood over the boy, deep concentration on the doctor's normally emotionless face. "What's going on?"

Before Malice could answer the doctor below hit a few buttons on the keyboard, making the lights flicker again. The surge was accompanied by a flopping noise that was barely audible through the glass by Creed's sensitive ears, but it was enough for him to put the pieces together.

"Is he electrocuting him?"

"It's shock treatment. It is about over. The levels are getting too high to continue for much longer. Remy will need to be carried to his room since he lost consciousness earlier on in the process. That is why I called you."

"Are you crazy?" Creed ran towards the main lab doors, shaking off Malice's hand as she attempted to grab him. He busted through the metal doors, causing the hinges to warp, leaving the doors swinging violently. "What are you doing? Get away from him!"

Essex turned from his charge only to hit Creed with a blast from his hand, knocking the large man across the room into the wall. "I believe I have warned you before about questioning me, Creed." Just out of disrespect the doctor hit the buttons on the computer in passing to the intercom, sending another unneeded shock through the young man on the table just to torment Creed. "Malice I am through with the patient, this treatment is fruitless. Please, medicate Creed and have him take LeBeau to his room for now. Once that has been accomplished join me in the secondary laboratory. I will need your assistance on further research."

"Yes, sir." Malice answered through gritted teeth. She waited for the doctor to leave before making her way over to Victor. She went to medicate the unconscious man, but the needle was snatched from her hand with a growl that quickly developed into a cough of pain and weakness.

"I can do it. Go check on the kid. I'll be okay in a second."

Malice did as she was told. Checking the computer for Remy's vitals and condition she found that he was surprisingly stable. "Everything is alright, he will live. He will just be down for a few days." She turned to the medicine cabinet to retrieve a vile of muscle relaxer and some pain pills for the boy only to have the medication snatched from her hands again by her teammate. "Victor?"

"What is this?"

Malice was hurt by the distrust of her friend, but also understood it's birth. She reached out her hand, silently asking for his trust. She looked into Victor's eyes, never breaking the gaze until Victor understood that she was not the one out to hurt the younger man. She smiled when Victor gave the vile and pills back with a huff. "Thank you. This one is a muscle relaxer. It will stop the muscle spasms he will get after the adrenaline in the his system wears down." she explained before plunging the liquid into Remy's arm. "These are pain pills." She handed the bottle back to Victor. "These he can take when he wakes up. The relaxer I just gave him is laced with a mild pain medication, but he will need more then that for a few days."

Creed took a seat on an adjacent medical table, his body still sore and weakened by the blast he had taken before. He watched as Mal slowly removed the machinery and various wires from Remy's body. He shook his head not able to understand why the treatment was preformed in the first place. "Why would you do this, Mal? What next? Leaches? Maybe we can get out the rack and stretch him."

Malice wasn't happy about Essex's procedure either but she was not in a position to state that. Sinister was fickle, if he lost the need for the doctor she inhabited he could easily kill the host, which in turn could kill her. "Essex believed that the shock treatment could revive dormant parts of Remy's mind that are causing the growth of his powers to a level his body cannot handle. Obviously it was a failure. Now we have to find a way around the cells or figure out a way to remove them. I'm sorry that you walked into all of this, I know you like Remy and don't want him hurt, but what he is going through with his powers is not an easy fix."

Creed shook his head as he jumped off the table, unhappy with Malice. "Stop sucking up to that bastard. He is just torturing the kid, and you're defending it."

"It could have worked, Vic. I saw the research."

Creed cut her off with a wave of his large hand. "Just get him ready to go so I can get him out of here. I don't want to hear anymore bull shit."

"He's ready to go. Take him." She barked, stepping out of the way for the larger man to take Remy away.

Victor pulled the sheet from the table he was once sitting on and carefully wrapped the young man up, tucking it under as he lifted Remy into his arms. He left with the boy in silence. The tension was heavy in the room and he didn't want to start anymore turmoil. He just wanted to leave and get Remy to a safer place to heal.

Malice stood watching Victor's back as he left. She knew Essex had been watching from the corner of the lab and was waiting for him to come out of the shadows. "Why did you have him come down? One of the assistants could have taken Remy to his room, or you could have. There was no need for Victor to see that."

"It was an experiment, as is everything I do. I believe the medication I supply him for his rage is becoming too strong. I fear he will be unable to fulfill his duties on this mission if it is not adjusted."

"Adjusted?"

"Yes, I want you to begin diluting the serum to half its potence over the next two weeks. I also want you to research the production of an anti-serum. I want him at his full potential when the time comes. Of course, Creed needs to know nothing of this. I am sure you understand."

Malice bit her lip in fear and guilt, but finally nodded in agreement, feeling trapped into doing so. She hated to turn on a friend, but she cherished her own life more. She also felt that Sinister was right to some degree, Victor was getting too soft on the drug and his new found fondness of Remy could create a major problem during the mission they were all getting paid a lot to accomplish. Maybe giving her teammate back some of his edge could strike down those doubts. "I'll see to it, sir."