"... Wolverine turned up around mid-morning, clothing reduced to rags, dripping with blood and cursing. We decided not to ask." Jean said, leaning back in her chair gazing up at the infirmary ceiling. "Malice was actually two people, the Professor managed to get the personality that didn't belong boxed up in her head. The real owner of the body bugged out before he could get much more than a name: Lorna."

"Arclight, Blockbuster and Riptide are all dead. Vertigo and Scrambler managed to pull themselves together and escape while the Professor and I where thinking about other problems. But Scalphunter and Harpooner have been reprogrammed as useful members of society, with no superpower to speak of."

"That's pretty much all the news," Jean said. "So what shall we talk about now?"

She glanced over at the boy lying beneath the protective tenting on the bed; his skin covered in numerous raw burns and saw his eyes were open. "Hey Remy, you're awake finally," Jean said softly, smiling. "We all thought it was a good idea to make sure you didn't wake up alone down here, given how you are about labs. Unfortunately you do have to stay here until you're skin heals up; burns can get infected. I did my best to keep the explosion away from you, but you charged up the dead cells in your skin, as well as everything else. I couldn't get those away from you."

Remy's eyes crossed as he tried to glare at the venelator tube in his mouth.

"Oh right," Jean exclaimed. "I can take that out now that you're awake. Just hold on, I need to get a mask and gloves."

Once the tube was out Remy whispered. "T'roat 'urts, 'ead's fuzzy."

Jean brought him a cup of ice chips. "Suck on these, it'll help the throat," she told him. "You're probably feeling out of it because of the pain killers, trust me you're better off that way for a while."

She paused for a long moment, her gaze fixing on the floor. "Or it might have something to do with the Professor and I breaking your mental shields," she admitted guiltily. "We had to get into your mind. We're pretty sure you stuck to the molecular level back there against Sinister. You know, releasing the energy in the chemical bonds between O2 and N2, stuff like that, but Hank was worried that you were getting into atomic bonds. That made the Professor realize that there's no reason you couldn't do exactly that. That would be like setting off a nuclear bomb, it'd kill you and who knows how many others. You really don't need that kind of power, especially when your explosions get a little out of control when you're upset. The Professor and I sort of capped off your power. Your shields should heal up with a little time, but that could be affecting you now."

"S'okay," Remy said, his voice a faint sigh, still more than half out of it and responding to the emotions Jean was projecting rather than to her words.

Jean smiled in relief.

A few minutes later Remy drifted back to sleep.

"Hey Remy," Scott said taking a seat beside the younger boy's bed. "You're looking better."

"Dey take away dat tent t'ing," Remy replied sounding very happy about the fact. "T'ing was makin' me t'ink 'bout becomin' claustrophobic."

"I don't blame you," Scott replied. "Um... I really hate to ask, especially since you're still not feeling real good, but that stuff Sinister was talking about; what did you do for him? What does he do?"

"Yo' t'ink mad scientist yo' got Essex," Remy said after a pause. His gaze became distant, focusing on some scene from the past. "De t'ings he done to people… mutants, couldn' believe what he'd done to those poor people."

"People you lured in for him," Scott realized. "He said you make people trust you. Blowing things up isn't the extent of your mutant abilities; you're some kind of psion. That's probably why you're so hard for Jean and the Professor to read... I know you Remy, at least I think I do, you're not heartless, how could you do that to someone?"

"I didn' know!" Remy exclaimed. "He helped me. I t'ought he was GOOD. I nevah dream he could… dat ANYONE could do t'ings like dat to another person... I t'ought I'd seen everyt'ing... I nevah imagined."

"You should have," Scott replied without stopping to think.

"Oui," Remy agreed tiredly. "Once I saw, I did what I could. Couldn't save 'em. Blew de whole place up, hope I put most of 'em out of deir misery. Too scare to go lookin' for other bases, should of, I know, couldn', didn' want to die dat bad."

"You killed them?" Scott was clearly horrified.

"It was de best I could offer dem!" Remy yelled back. "I had to do somet'ing!"

"Killing them?!" Scott exclaimed.

"It was bettah dan leavin' dem to him," Remy said.

"If he was that bad how could you have not known what Sinister was? I mean wasn't the name a clue? Did you think it was an affection?" Scott asked, his voice shocked and confused as much as angry.

"Jus' stupid that way, I guess," Remy replied dully. "Richard say he like me, he goin' to help me, save me, make me normal then he beat me half to death an' try to strangle me. Essex say he help me deal wid m' powers, give me a place where dey won' hate me for m' eyes, den he make me worse dan a murder. Xavier say he teach me, give me a place wid others like me. I'm waitin' for de other shoe to drop."

"Professor Xavier isn't like that," Scott protested.

"Didn' t'ink de other were 'like dat' either, but sometimes yo' need what dey be offerin' so bad dat knowin' bettah don' mattah," Remy replied tiredly, turning away from Scott, shutting his eyes and pretending to be asleep.

Scott stood there staring down at Remy for a long time. "There isn't any hidden agenda this time," he said finally. "You're not going to be betrayed, I promise."

Remy remained silent, shutting Scott out of his consciousness. After several minutes Scott sighed and left.