As for telepathy and stuff, if their summat around it, its telepathy. Iffin there¡¦s not, its thought, k?

Henry McCoy examined his patients from head to toe. Wolverine was in perfect health.

Lament . . .

"You said you can ¡¦synch¡¦ with people. Why didn¡¦t you do so with Logan?" McCoy asked. "This would be long gone."

Lament turned red. "I didn¡¦t think of it." Logan swore and reached out a hand. Lament¡¦s fingers touched his and she felt the x-factor in her body change and the wound Wolverine had carefully stitched healed before Beast¡¦s eyes. The doctor blinked several times.

"As quickly as Logan¡¦s own. Astounding."

Lament¡¦s hands fell limply to her side as she fainted.

"She seems t¡¦ be makin¡¦ a habit o¡¦ that," Wolverine remarked.

Psylocke¡¦s cool eyes scanned the woods outside the mansion. Her gut told her he was out there, even though she saw nothing, heard nothing. Her body fought the urge to chase him down and cut out his throat. She sensed Jubilee walking toward her. She stayed in her ready crouch.

"Hey Bets, whatcha lookin¡¦ fer?"

Psylocke didn¡¦t turn her head. "You never told us," she said quietly. "Why?"

"I¡¦ve had a hard time thinkin¡¦ ¡¦bout anything pre- X-Men, y¡¦know? I lost my twin, then my parents. Then I found myself in Australia with nobody. When I met up with Wolvie, it was like a new chance at life." Jubilee crouched next to Psylocke.

"You never even told us about your ¡¦cousin¡¦."

Jubilee ducked her head. "I¡¦ve always been a little scared of him. Lament never was. She was so quiet and gentle, he always seems almost calm when she¡¦s there." A startled look crossed Jubilee¡¦s face. "I¡¦d forgotten that until now."

Elisabeth turned her lilac eyes to the girl. "Sometimes, forgetting is essential to survival." Soft understanding lit her eyes. She looked back to the woods.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Lament touched the cold glass of the cryo-pod. Inside, Paige Guthrie slept, waiting for Lament¡¦s cure. Fifteen more pods waited as well. And the one who waited for Paige.

Lament wiped the fog from Jonothan Starsmore¡¦s pod. Black bandages cover his face and chest.

Lament leaned close to the glass. "I¡¦ll get you out of there. I swear it!"

"Even if it kill you, p¡¦tite?" The Cajun voice flowed through Lament¡¦s bones. The accent was Gambit¡¦s key to success.

Lament looked up into Gambit¡¦s red-on-black eyes. "Qu¡¦est-ce que vous pensez, homme?"

Remy blinked at the perfect French coming from the white-haired girl¡¦s lips. "Bien, chére. Je suis vous voulez mourir. Pourquoi?"

"Vous savez? How do you know? What makes you so sure I want to die?" Venom dripped in Lament¡¦s voice. Her eyes shone brightly with unrevealed emotion.

"¡¦Cause you down here, like Gambit. Doin¡¦ what Gambit do. Makin¡¦ the promises Gambit make." A deck of cards appeared in his hands. He began to shuffle absently. "They in pain, even tho¡¦ they sleepin¡¦, the pain still d¡¦ere."

Lament closed her eyes. Tears spilled down her dusky cheeks. "I can feel it. I don¡¦t know how, but I can." She laid her head on Jono¡¦s pod, weeping silently.

She felt a soft touch on her shoulder. Lament turned and buried her face in Gambit¡¦s white t-shirt, sobbing her sorrow to him.