Uncle shrugged as Cassie left. He wanted to suggest that Pony should have a say as well considering all she had done for Lucien, but after the Cyborg's little tantrum he didn't consider it a good idea. Reaching over to the incomplete sensor, he grabbed a tiny screw driver and set to work upon it. [i]Who knows?[/i] he thought, [i]It might actually be useful.[/i]

***

Groaning, Lucien tried to roll over to his side to be more comfortable. He always felt more comfortable lying on his side, the hard floor of the caves often leaving his spine in knots despite all the nesting blankets and pillows. Only he couldn't move. It wasn't as though he was strapped down or anything, it was just that his body refused to move for some reason. Then he realized why: his body knew that if he moved, the pain would come back worse than it was now. The came the sick realization as to why he waking up, the horrid knowledge that the pain was already there. It was a tsumani of agony that surged up and plowed through the breakwater that the drugs had provided, and Lucien was completely open and exposed before that wave. Seconds after Cassie took his hand, Lucien's body seized up with his back arced high beneath him and gave out a pitiful sound that was half moan and half strangled scream.

"Cassie!" he gasped as his eyes popped open. "Oh. Fuck. Cassie. God, it hurts! Pony was here... Pony... she was crying... Cassie." Eyes filled with haunting pain, he stared right into Cassie's eyes. His lips trembled as he begged for her. "Cassie. Take care of Pony. T-take... take care of each other... You'll do that right? Y-you'll take care of each other after I... after I..."

Lucien closed his eyes against the tears that were starting to form. "Oh fuck," he whispered faintly, "I'm not gonna make it, am I, Cassie? Th-that's why everyone's crying. God, Cassie. Just... kill me, Cassie. Please? I can't... I can't take this... S'not fair. I j-just get you back... in time to get beaten up and blown up... in time t-to die..." Through the red hot iron searing in every part of his body, a bark of laughter burst through. "Spent months t-trying to kill myself without you. Now you're back w-when I most want to live, and... and... Shit... Fuck... Shit-fuck."