"No, don't say that," Rene shakes his head. "This is happening to all of us. I know you don't wanna be down there, watching . . . all that. We worry on nights when you don't come, you know? We worry that he's done something to you. You know that, maybe, you turned away."

He lets that thought sit there for a moment while he rests his throat. It's the truth. He worries about the kid. And he likes the kid. But he also hopes the kid can help him, maybe help them all. "You do help when you come talk to me, you know? It helps a lot." Rene pulls himself into a sitting position. "Listen, Cassidy," He pronounces the name with the Southern penchant for dropping syllables so it sounds like Cass'dy, "do you you know where we are? Or do you ever go outside, maybe see anything that might help us figure out where we are?"

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Rene nods in resignation. Accepting both that there is no information to be had and that his voice needs a break. He gives Cassidy a thumbs up as he lies down and lets his eyes close.

He doesn't remember if Cassidy was able to come back. The next thing he knows he is waking up in the Lab. Sinister was literally in his face. He was removing the heavy power inhibitor collar from around his neck. Rene immediately tries to grab something, anything, and charge it, but his hands are strapped to the table, and charging the table he was lying on wasn't an option.

Sinister laughed at him. It was a cold sound, pitched to humilate. "Certainly you realize that I'm aware of what your powers are and how to effectively inhibit them, even without the collar?"

Rene gathered all of his fear, anger and hate and threw it into Sinister's mind. Unfortunately, it bounced off the scientist's shields, and smacked right back into Rene's mind, something he'd never experienced before. He screamed.

Sinister shook his head. "You have so much power, but you are like a toddler trying to walk. Too much momentum and you fall. Your balance is hit and miss at best. And you expend so much energy for so little result." A horrible smile crossed Sinister's face. "But I'm going to fix that."

"You know, I kind of have an aversion to the word 'fix', so I'd just as soon you not, if it's all the same."

"I assure you, it is not all the same to me, LeBeau."

"Boudreaux," Rene spit out.

It irritated Sinister. "Do you think it matters to me what you're called?" He grabbed Rene by the hair and pulled his up so that the straps on his wrists were cutting the skin. "I. KNOW. WHAT. YOU. ARE."

"I'm an assassin, and I'm a thief, and you are a dead man as soon as I get loose, I promise you that!"

Sinister let Rene go and his head banged against the metal table. That was when he got his first glimpse of Cassidy, standing by the wall, watching.

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