X3: The Ace Of Spades

Disclaimer: X-Men is owned by Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. I do not own X-Men, nor am I making a profit from this work of fan-fiction. So don't sue me! Not that you'd get a whole lot from me anyway ;)

A/N: Hey guys, very sorry for the long wait, but it couldn’t be helped. This is the first half of the Break (originally their whole break was going to be one chapter, but it grew well beyond my expectations, so it’s gonna be a two parter). Not much Romy this chap (next one should have a lot), but plenty of Remy/Ororo and Remy/Sarah, as well as a bit of action. Anyways, on with the new chapter:

Chapter 21: Vacation – Part One

“This way!” Remy yelled over the roar of firing weapons.

The two mutants followed closely as he led them through several twisting narrow passageways found when he memorized the blueprints of the facility.

After one turn he let his companions run past him, and then tossed a charged deck of cards back the way they had come to collapse the ceiling of the passageway, blocking off their pursuers, and forcing them to find another way to them.

“You almost done, Logan?” Remy asked into his slim earpiece.

A moment later, as Remy began to lead again, Logan’s voice crackled over the speakers. “Just finished, Cajun. The rest of the guards won’t be a problem, an’ I just cleaned out the control room. Already headin’ out to the jet. Where are you?”

“Ran into a few problems an’ got hung up. Should be up dere in two minutes. Iceboy?”

Bobby’s voice came over the earpiece. “I’ve iced up everything I could, I’m already back at the jet.”

“Good. Kurt, I need your help – I picked up a few mutants de creeps were keepin’ locked up. Get dem to de jet while I blow dis place.”

“I am on my way,” Kurt responded.

A minute later, Kurt slid to a stop in front of them as they charged up a set of stairs.

Remy glanced to his two companions. “Don’ worry, he’s wit’ me. Follow him an’ we’ll get you outta here. I’ll be right behind you.”

“This way,” Kurt said, and they hesitantly followed him.

Remy moved back down the flight of stairs, and pulled off a glove and slapped his full bare hand against the wall. He gritted his teeth, and slowly a magenta glow began pulsing out along the wall, and then to the floor, moving along the hallway.

Nearly a minute later, Remy pulled his hand away, gasping from the exertion of such a large charge. He gritted his teeth.

“Pick me up – big picture window, south side, third floor down.” He said, his gaze sweeping to the large window of the multistoried complex. He’d mentally delayed the charge, giving himself just over a minute before it blew.

“Already moving,” Ororo said over his earpiece, and he heard the muted roar of the X-Jet’s engines.

A moment later it grew louder and she spoke again. “Just a few seconds.”

The plane lowered, hovering in place with it’s ramp open, in front of the window, and there was a sudden *Bamf*, and Kurt appeared next to him and grabbed his arm. Remy felt a squeezing sensation across his entire body, followed by a sense of complete vertigo, and found himself on the metal decking of the Jet, the smell of sulfur filling the air.

“Get us out of here, Stormy. Dere’s gonna be a nice big boom in half a minute.” He gritted out, climbing to his feet and trying to shake the vertigo as the ramp closed.

He grabbed the back of the nearest headrest, and pulled himself forward against the sudden thrust as Ororo coaxed the engines, making his way up to drop into the copilot’s seat.

Remy punched a button on the console, and a plasma display turned on, displaying the composite view from a number of rear-facing cameras embedded in the hull of the Jet. He watched, still mentally counting down as they started to climb.

“Three, two, one,” Remy muttered to himself before the sky behind them lit up as the upper stories of the facility exploded in a brilliant flash.

He started to turn to grin at Ororo when the camera refocused, and he glimpsed someone running out of the bottom floor of the building, stopping a few dozen feet away.

Remy started to punch up the magnification of the image, and it resolved itself showing a man with a long tube on his shoulder. The back flashed, and something shot out of the front at high speed.

“Shit! Punch it Stormy, de nutjobs jus’ launched a missile at us!” Remy said, reaching over to yank on the throttle before Ororo could even react, and everyone was pressed back into their seats by the increase in speed.

A moment later, the main LCD began to ping, and showed a single missile following them, and quickly gaining ground.

‘Could I ever have a job go off without a hitch?’ He asked himself.

*****************************************************************

72 Hours Earlier

“You sure you got everythin’, Chére?” Remy asked her. He, Rogue, and Dani were standing near the security checkpoint of the airport. Dani had moved a few steps away, giving them a bit of privacy.

Remy had given them a ride, driving one of the cars in the garage, removing the need for a taxi. They’d picked up their tickets, and were about to leave through the checkpoint to the main terminals.

Rogue patted her large duffel and her smaller purse. “Ah should be alright. Don’ think Ah forgot anythin’.” She smiled at him, and leaned closer. “Ah’ll miss yah, Remy.”

Remy placed his forehead a fraction of an inch away from hers, and looked into her eyes. “I’ll miss you too, Rogue. But it’ll only be a few days. Sarah an’ I will be out dere by Tuesday.”

“Be safe, Chére,” Remy whispered, placing a hand on the back of her head. He used it to pull her forward slightly and plant his lips against hers, kissing her deeply until he began to feel light-headed.

He pulled back with a slight grin at the glazed-over look of her eyes, and grabbed her hands which had started to glow, pulling the charge into his own hands.

Rogue shook her head as if to clear it, and blushed. “Y’shouldn’t do that to me without a warnin’.” She said, poking his chest. “Ah should get some sorta notice that you’re gonna try to scramble mah brain like that,” she said, smiling shyly.

Remy’s grin grew wider. “Alrigh’, Chére, I’ll try t’remember to warn you next time.”

Rogue leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “See yah in a few days.” She said and turned, still blushing, to Dani who was grinning at her, and they walked toward the security checkpoint – fortunately with only two people ahead of them already putting their luggage on the conveyor belts.

They pulled off their shoes and passed through the metal detector and x-ray without difficulty, grabbing their things on the way to the tram that took them to their terminal.

They sat down on one of the ends of the tram, only a few others entering with them to stand and hold onto the poles further down the length of their car.

Dani smiled over to Rogue. “That was some kiss. Not exactly what I’d call keeping a low profile.”

Rogue flushed. “It certainly was. Wasn’ expectin’ it from him. We’ve kinda decided to be open with our dating now, Ah mean, it’ll be a whole week before we’re around anyone but you. We jus’ didn’ want t’hide it anymore.”

Dani grinned. “Well that’s good. As long as you two don’t turn all mushy all the time. So I take it things are still going good?”

Rogue nodded as the tram came to a halt and they exited through the doors, slowly moving toward their gate. “Yeah, it really is. Remy’s so sweet, an’ always worryin’ ‘bout me. He always knows when Ah need to talk about somethin’ an’ when somethin’ is botherin’ me.”

Rogue sighed happily as they reached their gate and sat down in two seats – the boarding of their flight just beginning for the first class passengers. “Ah just…. Ah feel it with him, y’know? It’s different than anythin’ else I’ve felt, an’ it jus’ feels right. Ah never felt like this with Bobby, or even with Cody.”

Rogue smiled, and looked over to Dani. “Now what ‘bout you?”

“Me?” Dani asked, looking flustered.

“Yes, you,” Rogue said. “Ah’m pretty sure Ah ain’t the only one that’s been seein’ you makin’ eyes at Sam.”

Dani put a hand over her mouth, blushing. “Have I really been that obvious?”

Rogue grinned. “To just ‘bout ev’ryone but Sam.”

Dani groaned, but her expression changed at that. “I know, he’s pretty clueless when it comes to things like this. I don’t know what to do to get him to notice me or realize I like him.”

Rogue patted her shoulder and stood up as their seating area was called. “Ah’m sure yah’ll be able to knock some sense into him somehow.” She said, and then stepped forward to hand her ticket to the attendant at the gate when the line moved forward.

They made their way down the ramp and to their seats. Dani had gotten them tickets to seats toward the front of the economy class, ones with a bit more legroom than the seats further in the back, and after moving past several people who spent an inordinate amount of time in the aisle, they sat down in the seats.

Rogue shifted around, pulling the seatbelt from under her and buckling it in before lifting the visor that had been lowered in front of her window. Dani sat next to her in the middle seat, and the aisle seat was still open.

Rogue settled back, and glanced at Dani. “Ah’m glad we finally get a break like this. Ev’rythin’s been just goin’ way too fast for me.”

Dani nodded. “I’ll bet. It hasn’t been nearly as hectic for me, but I just need a break from school. And I really missed my family, and it’ll be great to see them again….” Dani trailed off, glancing warily over at Rogue, hiding a wince.

Rogue gave her a slight smile and shook her head, knowing what she was thinking. “Y’all don’t hafta keep tiptoein’ around me about family, Dani. Ah’ve accepted it, an’ it doesn’ bother me much anymore. Ah know mah parents are ‘fraid of me, an that hurts a bit, but now Ah know Ah could have it a lot worse,” she said, thinking of the lives both Carol, and worse, Sarah had had growing up.

Dani nodded with a hesitant smile.

Rogue decided to pull the subject away from that. “How’s Rahne been doin’? Ah haven’t talked t’her in a while. Woulda thought you’d have given her an invite too.”

Dani frowned, and sighed. “I did, actually. But she’s underage, so her dad would need to give his permission, and she said he wouldn’t. I don’t really blame him, but… I met him once, when he picked her up at winter break, and… I don’t know, just something about him seems off.”

“Off? Like, ‘gives yah the creeps’ off, or ‘not all there upstairs’ off?” Rogue asked.

Dani shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s like this strict pastor guy, from what Rahne’s told me, and I don’t think he treats her like he should. I think he’s the reason she’s so shy about everything. I can’t say he, like, beats her up or something like that, but I don’t know. He just never felt right to me.”

Rogue frowned, and bit her bottom lip for a moment. “Dani, Ah think you should tell th’Professor. He should be able to check it out. Maybe the guy’s just a little weird or somethin’, but it’s better safe than sorry.” Rogue lowered her voice. “Y’got at least a bit of telepathy t’make your powers work, so it might actually be somethin’.”

Dani nodded hesitantly. “I guess you’re right. If something’s wrong, we have to stop it. I’ll call the Professor tomorrow so he can look into it when Rahne’s dad brings her back after break.”

Further discussion, at least as far as mutants went, was ended when a man shoved his bags into the overhead compartment and sat down in the aisle seat next to Dani. He gave the girls an appraising look, and then jammed a pair of earbuds into his ears and turned on his mp3 player, the music blasting from the earbuds and audible to both Dani and Rogue.

Rogue rolled her eyes, and Dani returned the look as the flight attendants up front began their safety speech. Rogue felt her seat jolt, and then again, and she realized a misbehaving young boy behind her was kicking her seat, ignoring his mother’s demands that he stop.

She closed her eyes, and rubbed at her forehead. ‘The joys of flying,’ she thought wryly to herself, trying to tune out the kicking and the noise from their row-mate’s headphones.

*****************************************************************

The flight to Washington DC had been uneventful, but their flight from DC to Denver had been delayed because of mechanical problems, and they ended up sitting at the Dulles Airport for over an hour beyond the scheduled layover.

It was already dark by the time they’d arrived, even with the time changes of being two time zones earlier, and they’d been able to see the brightly lit skyscrapers of Denver to the west as they flew in.

After finally getting off the plane, they went to the tram that brought them from their concourse to the large Jeppsen Terminal. Dani had flipped her phone open, and called her parents as they walked through the large open space of the terminal.

Rogue looked over as Dani closed her phone and shot her a smile. “Let’s go out to the pickup zone. My parents are in a parking lot a few miles away from here and they’re starting to head over here.”

Rogue nodded, and Dani lead her up past the baggage claims – they’d both packed lightly and had taken only carry-on luggage – and out into an underground structure open on either end, where cars were parked along the curb as people put their luggage in the trunks and greeted loved-ones.

Eventually, a light blue, pickup truck rounded the corner, and Dani smiled, waving to get their attention. “That’s my dad’s truck,” she said to Rogue.

The beat-up truck pulled to an open spot along the curb a dozen feet to their left, and they started walking over to it. Both doors opened as the truck shut off.

From the passenger’s door, Dani’s mother emerged, and Rogue was struck by the similarity between them. Her mother looked like an older version of Dani, with a few wrinkles on her forehead and around her eyes, and a bit taller than Dani.

Dani’s father circled around the truck as he left the driver’s side. He was a tall, dark haired man with a bronzed complexion, his face clearly well-weathered from time spent outside. He had long black hair pulled back into a braided ponytail – nearly as long as Dani’s own – and a few streaks of gray were visible near his temples.

Dani moved forward, and was greeted by a hug from her mother and father. “Mom, Dad, I missed you both so much.”

“It’s so great to see you again, Dani,” Her mother said, pulling back slightly to look her over. “I swear you get taller each time you’re away.”

Dani laughed. “No, mom, I got a physical a week ago – still the same height. Maybe you guys are just shrinking,” she said, her eyes twinkling.

Dani’s mother let go of her, and looked past her to where Rogue was standing. “And you must be Rogue,” she said, smiling warmly. She moved forward and pulled a surprised Rogue into the same hug she had her daughter.

Dani’s father moved forward and shook Rogue’s hand as her mother pulled back. “Nice to finally put a face to your name, Rogue.”

Rogue smiled. “Thank you for havin’ me, Mr. and Mrs. Moonstar. Ah really appreciate it.”

Dani’s mother placed a hand on her arm. “It’s no bother at all. Dani’s told us so much about you, and we wanted to meet you. I’m glad you could come.”

Her father nodded. “And please, I’m William, and this is Peg.”

Rogue nodded shyly, and then William reached down to grab Dani’s bags. “Let’s toss your luggage in and get going before it gets too late.”

He picked up Dani’s bags and set them down in the bed of the truck, and Rogue moved next to him, placing her own in it as well. Dani pulled the lever on the side of her mother’s seat, pushing it forward, allowing her and then Rogue to climb in the back seat of the pickup.

Peg moved the seat back, and climbed in, while William circled the truck and jumped up into his own seat, slamming the door as he turned his keys in the ignition, starting the old truck up with a loud rumble of its engine, and stepped down on the clutch, shifting into gear to start it moving.

They drove out into the streetlamp-lit road leading out of the terminal, and drove past an enormous statue of a dark blue stallion rearing back on its hind legs. The glowing red eyes of the statue gave it an almost menacing look.

“Wow, that thing’s a little creepy,” Rogue said.

Peg laughed. “I think so too. Maybe if they’d kept the red lights out of the eyes, it would’ve been alright, but now it just looks evil.” She said as they continued down the road.

As William pulled the truck onto the main highway, he glanced back over his shoulder to Rogue. “So, where are you from, Rogue?”

“Ah’m from Meridian, down in Miss’ippi,” she said.

William nodded. “I’ve been to Mississippi a few times before. Nice state – a lot of good fishing.”

Rogue smiled, somewhat sadly. “Yeah, mah dad used t’take me fishin’ with him all the time, before Ah found out Ah was a mutant.”

Peg looked back, shooting her a sympathetic smile. “Dani said you aren’t on best terms with them anymore.”

“Mom,” Dani said, a low warning in her voice.

Rogue shook her head, shooting a reassuring look over to Dani. “We aren’t. They’re scared of me. Last talked t’them a few months after Ah came to the Institute, t’see how they were doin’, an’ that didn’ go well.”

Peg nodded, giving her a sad, knowing look. “I guess some people just don’t react to the news that their kid is a mutant very well.”

Rogue nodded, and looked out the window, feeling Carol’s agreement in her head.

Peg could tell she was a bit uncomfortable, so she changed the subject. “Rogue, if you have anything in particular you’d like to do while you’re here, just let us know. We’ve got a few things planned, but feel free to mention anything and we’ll try to do it.”

Rogue looked back from the window and smiled. “Ah’m not really sure what all there is to do ‘round here, so whatever you guys have planned will be fine.”

The rest of the ride was relatively quiet, the silence broken only when Dani or her parents pointed out a building or landmark as they drove past the city of Denver.

They eventually neared Boulder, swinging slightly south of it. Rogue stared out at the mountains as they passed them – she’d spent some time in the mountains in Wyoming with her parents, years before, and a short time when she was on the road in Canada, but she was still awed by their size – not something seen often in Mississippi, and definitely larger than the mountains around New York.

They pulled off onto a side road, taking them closer to the Front Range, and then turned onto a long gravel road. They rumbled over a cattle guard, passing a barbed wire fence, as well as a “Private Property: Do Not Trespass” sign.

Even in the dark, Rogue could make out the large shapes of cattle on either side of their road, some still grazing, but most sleeping. They drove close to a mile further in before a large, well lit building became visible. It was a squat, two-story structure, the outside paneling making it look a bit like a log-cabin. The front had a number of large windows on either side of the door.

William pulled the truck to a stop in a large, gravel covered area next to another truck, and shut it off, pocketing the keys. The four of them got out, and William grabbed their bags from the back, throwing them over both shoulders.

Peg, who had already gone ahead, unlocked the door and pushed it open, flicking on the entry-way lights before moving to the side to let the other three enter the house.

The first four feet of the floor of the entryway was covered in a green-gray slate, and several small rugs sat to the side. William, Pat, and Dani kicked off their shoes, setting them on the rugs, and Rogue followed suit, placing her shoes next to theirs.

Rogue looked around the house, which had a warm, homey feel to it. The walls were colored a light peach color, which contrasted subtly with the darker furniture in the visible family room. Aside from the slated area on the entry, the rest of the floor was a dark hardwood, nicely polished. Several rugs lay over it in places, including a large area rug in the living room, visible under the couch as she walked in.

A large television sat in a tall television stand, and the L-shaped couch was set up so both sides had a good view of it.

Rogue smiled at Peg and William. “You have a really nice home here.”

“Thanks,” Peg said warmly, while William set the bags down near the base of a set of carpeted stairs that led up to the second floor.

“So this is your ranch? How much land do yah have?”

William smiled. “Yes, all of the land as we drove in is part of the ranch – all the cattle we passed are ours. Our property goes about a mile further west, and we also have a lease for some land to our south with the Bureau of Land Management, and we just rotate our cattle through different areas for grazing.”

“We raise mainly Black Angus cattle here, and sell the beef. We have some milking cows, and a pretty big chicken house where we get eggs from, and we sell all of those as well. Most of it is online or through a CSA, but we also sell some at the local farmer’s market.” He said.

Rogue nodded, and glanced around the family room as they walked further in. Photos covered the walls, most of them being of Dani and her parents over the years, including her parents’ wedding photos, but there were several of other people, whom she assumed were family and friends.

One wide photo caught her eye, and she looked closer at it. It was a black-and-white picture, and it showed a large group of soldier’s, all in camouflage and wearing their helmets, posing for a picture in front of a dense jungle behind them.

“Were you in the Army?” She asked William, and he nodded, coming up next to her.

“Yeah. Vietnam. I joined in ’69 when I was old enough, and they sent me to Vietnam almost right away. Stayed there for a while, but things were already starting to wind down by the next year and we started pulling out.”

He tapped his finger on a young Native American man near the center of the photo. “That’s me.”

Rogue smiled, and then her gaze froze on the Captain of the group, whose face was quite familiar to her. “Is- is that - ?” She began, pointing to the man.

William grinned and nodded. “Yes, that’s your Professor. Charles was a great Captain – we never left a man behind no matter what it took. He and I have been good friends for years – that’s how we found out about the Institute for Dani.”

“Wow, Ah had no idea. That’s pretty neat.”

Peg, who’d gone upstairs shortly after they’d entered the house, walked back down, and looked at Dani and Rogue. “You two are probably both exhausted. Let me show you your room, Rogue.”

Rogue glanced at her watch and hid a yawn at the reminder – it was already almost midnight here, which mean close to two in the morning back in New York. “Goodnight, Dani,” Rogue called, grabbing her bags.

She followed Peg up the stairs. The second floor was somewhat smaller – it didn’t extend fully over the bottom floor with the way the roof was designed, and it was mainly bedrooms. Peg pointed out the master bedroom as well as Dani’s bedroom, and then the bathroom before they reached the final door to the guest bedroom.

The room was relatively large, and didn’t seem to be used much, judging from its unfurnished state. The only things in the room were a large, queen-sized bed, a lamp, a small desk, and a dresser with an old television sitting on it.

“I hope this will be alright for you,” Peg said. “If you need any more blankets, there are a few in the dresser.”

Rogue turned and smiled. “This’ll be fine, thanks. An’ thanks again for havin’ me, Mrs. – sorry, Peg.”

Peg nodded, and was about to turn, but paused. “Dani said something about your boyfriend and his…. daughter?... coming later this week?”

Rogue smiled at that. “Well, not technically his daughter – she an’ another mutant were th’only ones that made it out of that mass-killin’ in New York a few weeks back, an’ he took her in. She’s pretty much become his daughter now, though.”

Peg’s eyes widened. “Oh, Dani didn’t mention that! That poor girl. If those two need a place to stay, just let me know and I’ll figure something out. Our couch has a pretty comfortable pullout sleeper.”

Rogue smiled. “Ah’ll ask him, but Ah think he was already getting’ a hotel in town – didn’ want t’impose on you an’ William.”

Peg nodded. “Okay. If he changes his mind, let me know. Dani said you all wanted to ski together, so we were planning on a trip for later in the week. Oh, and tomorrow we were talking about going on a hike on one of the good trails a few miles from here, if you feel up to it.”

“Okay, that sounds great,” Rogue said, and Peg started to back out of the room. “G’night.”

Rogue sat down on the bed, pulling her duffel bag up next to her. She unzipped it, pulling out a pair of pajamas and setting them down next to her before grabbing her toothbrush and some toothpaste.

She was about to walk out to the bathroom, when she heard the door close, and the shower start to run – likely Dani beating her to it.

Rogue sighed, and let herself drop back tiredly onto the pillow. She dug sleepily in the pocket of her jeans, fishing out her cellphone. She flipped it open, and hit her speed dial before bringing the phone up to her ear.

It rang several times before she heard Remy sleepily answer it. “Hey, Chére, what’s up? Everythin’ okay?” He asked, and she could hear him fighting back a yawn.

“Yeah, Remy, sorry Ah woke yah up. Ah just got to Dani’s place – figured Ah’d just give yah a quick call, let yah know we made it here alright.”

“Dat’s fine, Chére. You got dere late. Traffic?” Remy asked.

“No, plane problems. They took forever to get our connectin’ flight workin’.” Rogue said.

“Hm, dat sucks. Thanks for callin’ t’let me know you’re okay, Chére. ”

Rogue smiled, her eyes closing as she settled back into the bed. “Ah’m gonna go t’sleep now, Remy. Ah miss yah.”

She could hear affection in his voice as he responded. “I miss y’too, Rogue. Have a good sleep.”

“Yah too, Remy. Sweet dreams.”

Remy chuckled. “I hope so. If they’ve got you in dem they should be.”

Rogue smiled to herself. “G’night, you ol’ charmer.” She said.

“Bonne nuit,” Remy said softly as she reached up to thumb the power button.

Rogue flipped the phone shut and tossed it down in the direction her duffel, her eyes still closed as sleep began to overtake her, the soothing sound of the shower, and Remy’s voice fresh in her ear helping her slip into a deep sleep.

*****************************************************************

“Remy, I’m gonna go over there an’ look at all the flowers.” Sarah said, pointing to a nearby long table of assorted flowers.

“Alrigh’ petite, jus’ make sure I c’n see you.” Remy said, and watched her skip off to the nearest flowers, bending down to smell them.

Remy leaned down against the railing of the flatbed cart he was pushing, and glanced over to where Ororo was examining the potted trees around the lot. Two trees already rested on the bed of the cart, and Remy was sure they’d be leaving with a full cart.

They’d already spent much of the day together at the mansion, minus some time Ororo had put aside to grade the assignments she’d gotten during Friday’s classes.

Ororo had taken charge of the project to improve the grounds of the mansion between now and the beginning of the next school year when they’d have a large influx of students, as well as teachers. One of her first plans was to plant a number of fast-growing, trees around the grounds, mainly near the benches located across the lawn to provide shade.

Remy had talked Sarah into coming along with them to the nursery they were at, something she was a bit reluctant to do. He’d realized it was because she’d rarely gone out in public – never while she lived in the tunnels, and likely only when her mother had still been alive: he didn’t think her father would have taken her out in public.

She’d seemed a little scared about the reactions of others, but when they’d entered the nursery it seemed to be quickly forgotten as she wandered among the flowering plants with them.

Ororo caught Remy’s eye and he pushed the cart over to where she stood next to a tree. “Let’s get four of these, Remy.” She said.

He grabbed two, hefting them onto the bed of the cart, and Ororo grabbed the other two. “What are dese ones?” He asked her – the others already on the cart had been several Sycamore, which she planned to plant further out, closer to the stables, given the over seventy foot height they could attain.

Ororo shot him a smile. “This is a Royal Empress tree. They grow pretty fast, and have very beautiful purple flowers. Nice big leaves once those are gone,” she said, fingering the large leaves of one – each was almost six or eight inches across.

She nodded to the next set of trees down the row. “I want four of these, too. They’re Summer Red Maples – their leaves turn a bright red in the summer, and then gold in the fall.”

Remy nodded, keeping an eye on Sarah as they moved to the Maples. “I think you an’ Henri would really get along,” he said with a grin. “He’s really gotten into gardenin’ lately.”

Ororo smiled. “Well, at least one of you has a green-thumb,” she teased.

Remy chuckled. “It ain’ my fault, Stormy. I take care of my plants good enough, ain’ my fault dey end up dying. I t’ink all plant-life jus’ hates me.”

Ororo rolled her eyes. “Sure, it couldn’t just be that you’re forgetful and never remember to water them.”

“Non, dat’s not it!” Remy said, grinning. “We better find de rest of your trees b’fore de ones in de cart decide to die b’cause I’m here.”

Ororo shook her head, and pointed to a group of trees down the aisle where he’d been standing earlier. “I only need a few more – three or four of those.”

Remy nodded, and started to turn the cart around to follow her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sarah start to back away from some snapdragons, when a man - easily in his late thirties - walking side-by-side with a young woman and looking the other way, ran into Sarah.

Sarah stumbled forward, catching herself on the table, and the man tripped over her, stumbling against the woman he was walking with..

Sarah pushed herself away from the table, and turned around. “S-sorry,” She said quietly, but loud enough that he heard from where he stood.

The man just shot her a disgusted look. “Watch where you’re going,” he said with a snarl, turning away.

Remy’s eyes narrowed when the man grabbed the hand of the woman he was with, and looked over to her as they began to move past Sarah. “Stupid gene-jokes. If their parents want to take them out in public they could at least try to cover it up so we don’t have to see them.”

“Be right back, Stormy,” Remy said tightly when he saw the stricken look on Sarah’s face at the man’s loud comment, and he released his hold on the cart. He was standing in front of the man in mere moments.

“Dere a problem here?” Remy asked, his arms crossed in front of him. He was nearly a foot taller than him, and outmassed him by quite a bit, and the man backed up a step at the intimidating sight in front of him.

“No, why?” The man said gruffly.

Remy shot him a mock-quizzical look. “Well dat’s funny, ‘cuz I could have sworn I heard you makin’ some bigoted comments ‘bout my kid right in front of her, an’ I don’ much ‘preciate it when people do that. So why don’ you run ‘long off to whatever hate-group y’belong to, an’ get off your memories of insultin’ little girls or whatever it is you do dere. Hein?”

Remy tipped his sunglasses down, and both of them paled and shrank back when they saw the glow of his red-on-black eyes peek out over the glasses.

“A-alright - I don’t want any trouble,” the man said, grabbing the woman’s arm and beginning to skirt past Remy, as close to the edge of the aisle as they could get.

“Dat’s good, ‘cuz you wouldn’ want t’see me when I’m angry.” Remy shot back as they hurried away from him.

His gaze followed them until they were out of sight, and then he turned to Sarah. “You alright, petite?”

Sarah forced a small smile onto her face, and nodded. “Yeah.”

He looked at her with a doubtful expression, and stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You sure?”

Sarah nodded quietly, avoiding his gaze. He was about to let it go, when she raised her face to look up at him. “Why does everyone hate us, Remy? We don’t do anything to them.” She said softly.

Remy shot her a sad smile. “It ain’ everyone, petite. Dere’s some decent people out dere dat don’ care ‘bout us bein’ mutants. De ones dat do, like dat assh– sorry, jerk back dere are scared of us – scared of what we can do, what we look like. An’ sometimes people hate things dey’re scared of, an’ things dey don’ understand. Lots of dem turn to things like de Bible an’ try to rip out verses to support dem, even if it doesn’ – dey want some sorta approval to reinforce their fear an’ hatred. There’ll always be people like dat around. Jus’ happens dat right now dere’s a lot of dem, but eventually dat’ll change.”

Sarah frowned, and nodded slightly. “So it’s like how some people still don’t like black people?”

Remy nodded, a slight smile coming to his face at how quick she’d understood. “’zactly, petite. Some day it’ll drop to a few, but things like dat take a while.”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “De only thing we can do is not let dem bother us. In fact, we should feel a little sorry for dem.”

Sarah smiled slightly, and Remy heard a cart moving up behind him. He glanced back to see Ororo, who flashed him a smile. He glanced at the cart and saw she’d gotten the rest of the trees she’d wanted.

“You got everythin’ now, Stormy?” Remy asked.

“This should be it.”

“Storm?” Sarah asked. “Could we get some flowers too?”

Ororo smiled. “Well, I guess a few flowers couldn’t hurt. Several of my bulbs didn’t sprout in the front of the mansion, and I think they might be dead. We can get some as long as you help me plant them,” Ororo said.

Ororo smiled at the eager look that appeared on Sarah’s face at that. “Which flowers did you have in mind?” Ororo asked her, and Sarah grabbed her hand and she soon found herself being pulled along the aisle to the plants that had caught Sarah’s eye.

They ended up with the rest of the cart being filled with several colorful varieties of Daylilies and Coneflowers, and the three of them pushed the cart toward the two check-out lanes.

A woman easily in her early sixties stood at the only open register, and Remy pushed the cart up alongside the register.

“Hi, did you find everything alright?” The woman asked, smiling at the three of them.

Ororo nodded. “Yes, we found everything we wanted.”

The woman nodded, and grabbed a handheld barcode scanner, and knelt next to the cart and began to scan each item.

As she finished scanning the last few potted flowers, she glanced up at them again, and smiled at Sarah. “That’s a very cute outfit,” she said. “My granddaughter has one that looks just like that.”

Sarah blushed, and smiled slightly. “T-thanks, ma’am.”

“You’re welcome.” She said with a smile, standing. She set down the scanner and pressed a button on the register, and the display popped up the price.

Remy began to reach for his wallet, but Ororo was already handing the woman a credit card. She flashed a smile to Remy. “This is all for the school so I’ll take care of it.”

Remy nodded, and stood to the side so Ororo could sign the receipt. The woman smiled at all of them. “Thank you. You three have a great day.”

Remy gave her a slight nod and a smile. “You too, ma’am.”

Outside, Remy pushed the cart up to the pickup truck they’d taken from the Institute’s garage, and lowered the tailgate. They started loading the trees in, and across the parking lot, Remy caught a glimpse of the man from earlier, who quickly ducked out of sight into his car, and took off as soon as he could get it in gear, and Remy smirked to himself as he lifted the last tree into the bed of the pickup.

***

“You doin’ alright, petite? ” Remy asked from the open door of her room.

Sarah looked up from the homework she was doing – he’d convinced her to finish all of her work early before they went to Colorado so she wouldn’t have to work on it then – and looked over at Remy.

“Yeah, Remy.” Sarah said.

He walked further into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. “Whatcha workin’ on?”

Sarah crinkled her nose. “English. We have to go through sentences and figure out how to class’fy the words, like nouns an’ pronouns an’ adjectives. It’s alright, but it’s boring.”

Remy smiled. “Yeah, I remember from when I was in school.”

Sarah looked up. “When was that? Like thirty years ago?” She asked.

“What?! No, it was….” He trailed off when he glanced over and saw her trying to hide a smile.

“You little rat,” Remy said, reaching out to tickle her mercilessly in the sides.

Sarah dropped her pencil, giggling, and tried to squirm away from him. “N-no, stop Remy! I didn’t mean it,” she managed to gasp out between laughs.

Remy finally relented, smirking at her. “Dat’s what happens when you’re a little troublemaker,” he said, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

As Sarah caught her breath she slumped down against Remy. She looked up at him with mock disapproval. “That wasn’t very nice, Remy.”

He slung his arm over her shoulder. “Neither was tellin’ me I’m over thirty years old.”

“I was just teasin’. You don’t hafta tickle me to death.” She said, snuggling her head against his shoulder.

Remy smiled, and his gaze turned to the still-open English book. “You need any help wit’ your homework, Sarah?”

Sarah shook her head. “I’m okay right now.”

Remy nodded. “Alrigh’, but you let me know if y’need any help, hein?”

Sarah smiled. “Okay. Could you look it over when I’m done an’ make sure I did it right?”

“Oui.”

They sat like that for several contented minutes before Remy decided to bring up what he’d come up there to ask her.

“Petite, I wanted t’ask you somethin’. We need t’get you a passport b’fore we fly out to Denver. I got a friend in New York we’re gonna go see tomorrow t’get y’picture taken, an’ he needs some info t’get started makin’ one for you.”

Sarah shrugged. “Okay, Remy. What does he need?”

“Well, I already tol’ him your birthday,” Remy said – he’d asked her that weeks ago when they’d been staying at Henri’s, and he’d not mentioned it to her, but it had been the day before the Tunnel Massacre – being down there she hadn’t kept track of the dates.

“What I need t’know is what your last name was, petite. ”

Sarah’s expression changed, and her eyes dropped to her lap. “It was Rushman.” She said softly. “But I don’t want it to be anymore.”

Remy’s expression softened. “It won’ be, petite. He jus’ needed it t’figure out some stuff for your passport. Yours is gonna be Sarah Lord.”

Sarah’s eyes widened in comprehension. “Your friend makes your fake stuff for you?”

Remy nodded – she’d spotted one of his fakes in Henri’s house when he’d forgotten to put it away, and when she asked him about it he’d told her about what he’d once done for a living and why he needed fakes like that.

“Yeah, petite, he’s de one dat makes ‘em for me, an’ he’s gonna make one for you. Otherwise we’d hafta wait months gettin’ dem de real way.”

Sarah nodded in understanding. “As long as I’m not Sarah Rushman anymore. My mommy kept her old name when she got married, an’ I don’t wanna have his name anymore.”

Remy tucked a hand under her chin, raising her eyes to his. “Y’won’, petite. Never.”

Sarah smiled and kissed him on the cheek, and he pulled her closer into a hug.

“Now, de other thing I came up here for is to see how much of y’homework you got done.”

Sarah gestured to her open English book, and a Math book sitting at the end of the bed. “I just hafta finish up English an’ then do my math an’ I’m all done.”

Remy nodded. “Well, dat shouldn’ take too long, an we still got three days ‘till we fly out. I was askin’ b’cause I figured you might want a break, an’ Stormy wanted t’know if you wanted to help plant de trees an’ flowers wit’ her tomorrow.”

Sarah’s face lit up, and she nodded rapidly. “I do. Are you gonna help us too?”

Remy smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s wake up early t’morrow an’ get t’ings done by de afternoon, so you an’ I can go to New York an’ get you dat passport, hein?”

Sarah nodded, and Remy pulled back, standing from the bed. “Alright, petite. You finish y’English tonight. I gotta go call Dan ‘bout y’passport.”

By the time he’d exited the room, her nose was buried firmly amongst the pages of the book, her pencil tapping thoughtfully against her chin as she started the next problem.

He smiled fondly, and quietly closed the door, slipping his cellphone from his pocket, walking to his own room. ‘Rushman, ’ he thought to himself as he flipped open the cell. ‘Just might have to pay a certain Rushman a visit sometime in the future. ’ He thought darkly as he dialed Dan’s number.

*****************************************************************

“So is this where yah usually shop?” Rogue asked, looking around the large King Soopers grocery store as they entered. Back in Meridian, the only grocery store in town, other than the Wal-Mart, was easily a third if not a quarter the size of this store.

Dani nodded, grabbing the handle of a cart and pulling it away from the others. “We never really need any meat other than pork, with the ranch and all, but this is where we get cereal and fruits and veggies and stuff like that.”

Rogue nodded absently, her eyes running over the large produce section.

It was already Monday, and Peg and William were back at the ranch with several hired men, herding the cattle to their spring and summer fields further up toward the foothills. Dani had driven them her mother’s pick-up truck to get some groceries for the next few days before they headed west to Arapahoe Basin for several days of skiing.

They’d spent Saturday hiking on a local trail to the south of their property. Rogue had been surprised at the lack of altitude problems she had, unlike the previous time she’d been in Wyoming with her parents. She wasn’t out of breath, and seemed to be just as adjusted as Peg and William who lived there all the time.

She and Carol guessed it had to do with her powers – Carol remembered how easy everything had been when she’d first gotten them, her endurance increased greatly. Rogue guessed that the easy adjustment might also have to do with her ability to fly, her powers automatically adjusting as she gained altitude.

Perhaps when she got back to the Institute she’d start experimenting on the limits of her flight powers, Rogue thought to herself as Dani led her through the store.

They picked up lettuce and other ingredients for salads, and a bag of potatoes that Peg wanted to cook with dinner later that night. They moved on, grabbing a loaf of bread, and passing the meat aisles, and were headed toward the cereal aisle when Dani stopped in her tracks, Rogue nearly running into her at the sudden stop.

Dani started turning the cart down the aisle, when a voice came from ahead of them.

“Well, well, look who’s decided to show her face back in town,” a short young man, no older than Dani or Rogue, said.

Dani closed her eyes in resignation and muttered a soft curse as the young blond-haired man, accompanied with three others close in age, approached them.

He crossed his arms, glaring at Dani as she slowly turned to face him. “What makes you think you’re welcome around here, Moonstar? Get lost – we don’t want you contaminating our city.”

“Pat,” Dani said, her voice sounding strained, “please, don’t start this again. I’ve apologized to you so many times for what happened. What more can I do?”

“You can get out of town, and never show your face here again. Your apologies don’t mean anything after what you did with your freakish powers.” He sneered in Rogue’s direction. “Bringing more muties to town with you, too?”

He stepped forward, uncomfortably close, and reached out a hand to shove Rogue’s shoulder back. “Are you a mutie too-“

He broke off in a gasp as Rogue’s hand shot up and grabbed his wrist, slowly squeezing tighter and tighter until she could feel the bones start to grind together, and he gasped out in pain. “Yeah, Ah am a ‘mutie’. Now, didn’ your Ma ever teach yah to keep y’hands to yourself?” Rogue said calmly.

“Shit, lady, let go!” Pat managed.

Rogue released him, shoving him back into his friends. “Get lost.” She said.

He cradled his injured hand, and looked back at his companions. “Bitch is freakin’ crazy. Let’s get out of here.”

He shot them one last glare before he and his friends left, moving down another aisle out of sight from them.

Rogue glanced over to Dani who was looking over in the direction he’d left with a sad expression. “You alright, Dani?” Rogue asked quietly.

Dani nodded. “Yeah, thanks. I just… that’s the only thing I hate about coming back home, is the chance of running into him like that.”

“What was that all about?” Rogue asked, and then bit her lip. “Y’don’ hafta tell me, Ah-“

Dani shook her head. “No, that’s fine. Believe it or not, Pat and I used to be friends, all the way through our second year of high school.”

Rogue looked at her with surprise. “Really? What happened?”

“I happened. I was visiting his house – his parents had invited me over for dinner.” Dani paused for a moment. “They’re like these uber-Evangelical Christians, y’know, really right wing. Everyone used to joke they’d moved to the wrong place – should’ve been down in Colorado Springs with James Dobson and his whole ‘Focus on the Family’ thing instead of such a left-wing place like Boulder.”

“My powers…. Went out of control while I was there – it was the second time: the first time, when I realized I was a mutant, was while I was at home. Anyway, no one – not even me – knew Pat is… well, he’s gay, I guess. His greatest fear was being outed to his parents with their beliefs and all that.”

Dani looked down at her hands, which gripped the handle of the cart tighter. “We were arguing over something stupid, and my powers reacted, and pulled that fear out of his mind and projected it right there in front of his entire family.” She shook her head, clearly fighting back tears. “He’s never forgiven me for it, and he’s hated me ever since.”

Rogue placed a comforting arm around her shoulder, and spoke softly to her. “Don’ let him get yah down, Dani. Some people jus’ hold onto grudges an’ things that happened, an’ won’ let go of them no matter how much yah try t’make it up to them.”

“I know, Rogue, I shouldn’t let it bother me – it’s his choice, and I guess I see now the person he really was deep down, but we were good friends, and then my powers ruined it. It’s the reason I always try to avoid using them, even with the Professor helping me get better control of them.”

She reached up and wiped away a lone tear, and smiled slightly to Rogue. “Remy’s been after me to try using them in training sessions,” she said. “But this is why I’ve been trying to avoid it. I don’t want to lose control and… do the same thing to one of you.”

Rogue smiled fondly. “That sounds like somethin’ he’d get worried about. If y’want, Ah can talk t’him, tell him not t’pressure you on it.”

Dani took a deep breath, finally calming down after the confrontation, and shook her head. “No, really, it’s fine. He’s right that I should start using them, it’s just getting over that fear – it’s tough.”

Rogue nodded. “Ah know what that’s like. When Remy an’ Ah started workin on mah powers, Ah had a hard time mentally breakin’ mah instinct of pullin’ away right away when Ah touched him. He hadta grab mah hand t’keep me touchin’ him the first few times.”

Rogue grabbed the box of cereal they’d come to the aisle to pick up, and glanced over a gain to Dani. “Yah can try just practicin’ with me b’fore you try something in one of our training sessions if y’want. Ah’m pretty sure we both have an’ idea what mah fears are.” She said, absently rubbing her gloved hand against her arm.

Dani’s expression brightened. “Really? That’d be great.”

Rogue smiled, nodding. “Of course, Dani.”

Dani grinned and placed a hand on Rogue’s arm. “Thanks.”

Dani glanced at her watch. “C’mon, Mom’s probably wondering what’s taking us so long. Let’s go check out – hopefully you scared off Pat and his buddies and we won’t run into them,” she said, pushing the cart back to the front of the store.

*****************************************************************

“Any clue what dis is ‘bout?” Remy asked Logan while absently playing with a deck of cards.

They were sitting in the “War Room”, having been called there by Xavier. Remy thought it a bit unusual, given he, Logan, Ororo, and Bobby were the only X-men at the mansion, and about to be one less, as he and Sarah were going to leave the next day. Hank was back at his place in DC, packing up the last of his things for the move to the mansion

“Nope.” Logan said, leaning back in his chair. “Not a clue.”

The door to the room slid open at that moment, and Xavier entered, followed by Kurt.

Remy nodded in greeting to the blue-furred man he’d met only once during his time at the mansion.

“Kurt,” Ororo said, smiling. “You’re back! It’s been quite a while.”

Kurt smiled back, sitting down at one of the open seats as Xavier moved to the head of the table. “Far too long,” he said. “But I think I am back for at least a vhile.” He said, looking at Xavier.

Charles smiled and nodded. “Kurt has been visiting with mutants I’d like to hire for the next school year for teaching positions. He’s also been traveling around the world, contacting families of mutants I think could use the help we provide here at the Institute. Right now, I think we’ve gotten into contact with everyone we can.”

His expression became more serious. “He’s also been in contact with a… a source of information I have, and that’s why I’ve called you here,” he said, noticeably pausing to word the sentence carefully.

“My source is in a position that receives a lot of information, especially from some less-than reputable sources. One of those has given us information on one of the bases used by the Purifiers. It is my hope that we can raid the base and try to find something linking them to Creed.”

“While I would normally hesitate against taking such a drastic action, my source is under the impression that aside from information at this location, the Purifiers may be keeping mutants captive there. We’re unsure why they are, but given the nature of their organization, I’d hazard a guess that there are no good motives behind them doing so.”

Charles tapped some controls at the base of the desk, and in the center, a 3-D hologram, similar to those of the Danger Room, was projected out, coalescing into an image of a building over ten stories tall.

“This is the building, it’s located nearby – about seventy miles east of here in a rural area. I’d like it to be as quiet as possible – knock out the guards, release any mutants, and get any information you can find about their links to Creed. No big fights, nothing unnecessary.”

He looked over in Remy’s direction. “Gambit, you’re probably the most experienced person here with something like this. I’d like you to lead the team this time, if that’s alright with you, Ororo.”

Ororo nodded. “It’s fine.”

Remy leaned closer to the plans, chewing his lower lip for a few moments.

“I’d like to do this today, because I know you were going to leave tomorrow for the rest of break, Gambit.”

Remy nodded absently. “Jus’ gonna be de four of us?”

“Five. I’d like to come as vell,” Kurt said.

Remy nodded, and then looked up at Xavier. “Dis all we’ve got?”

Xavier pressed another button, and a set of blueprints appeared in the place of the previous image. “Just these – blueprints filed when they built the place. They’re working under a dummy corporation that’s supposedly a travel agency.”

Remy sighed. “Alrigh’. Give me an hour t’get a plan t’gether. I can’t promise dis’ll be real quiet or anythin’, but I’ll do my best. Usually I’d be spendin’ a month or two casin’ de place, figurin’ out guard rotations, things like dat. So dis one could get a bit messy.”

“I’d like that as well, but for all we know, they could be gone in a month, or find out about their leak and secure the place. Just do your best.” Xavier said.

“Alrigh’, Remy said absently, but he was already engrossed in the blueprints, his thieves’ mind committing every detail to memory while also analyzing them, finding escape routes, places that likely would be unguarded, places where security cameras would probably be placed, and the most likely place to deactivate them for the raid.

*****************************************************************

“I still don’ like dis,” Remy muttered to Logan, who was crouched next to him on the rooftop three hours after the meeting. Behind them, the cloaked X-jet sat on the roof of the Purifier’s building.

Ororo remained inside, ready to take off at a moment’s notice, and Bobby and Kurt stood behind them as Remy dug through a dizzying array of wires on a panel he’d pried open.

“Doesn’ hafta be perfect, Cajun.” Logan said. “Your plan’s good, we just have to hope we don’t run into any big surprises.”

Remy grunted and pulled out a tiny voltmeter, reading the charge on the wires. He pulled up wires of a larger device he’d cobbled together on the flight over using spare parts from the hangar. He clamped the wires onto particular wires in the control panel, and then snipped them below the shunts.

“Dere. Dis thing has enough power to last for thirty minutes, an’ keep foolin’ de security system to think it’s still receivin’ its signal.”

“Now, we jus’ need to get to de control center an’ take out de people dere so we don’ hafta worry ‘bout de cameras.”

Remy had identified one room with a large amount of wiring and fortification on the blueprints that he believed was likely the control room of the building where everything was managed.

“Alrigh’, you all know your jobs, let’s get dem done.” Remy said.

He watched the three of them move to the doorway on the roof that led to stairs below. They were moving to the control room to first take out the guards. Kurt and Bobby would then move around the base, disabling any equipment they could find, doing everything possible to cripple the installation, while Logan downloaded as much information as he could from the computers.

Remy had the hardest job – searching the base for any sign of the rumored mutants. He shook his head, and took a deep breath he always took before starting a job, and then moved to a ventilation shaft where he pried the hatch open.

While air ducts in all but the largest buildings were much too small to crawl around like you saw in the movies, the ventilation shafts that fed them their air were much larger – large enough for him to squeeze easily into.

He slid in, bracing his shoulders against one side and his knees against the other, and slowly let himself slide down, when he needed to sop he merely pressed against both sides.

He slid down, the progress slow, but eventually reached the very bottom where it opened up in the upper basement floor.

Remy quietly charged the screws holding the covering in place, and caught it as it fell, setting it down on the floor without a sound. He crawled out cautiously, looking around.

He froze as a man walked swiftly past the small side hallway where Remy had emerged, but the man didn’t even spare a glance down the maintenance hall.

During the two seconds he was in sight, Remy sized him up, noting a lack of military discipline, or any sort of discipline, and a white lab coat covering him. No sign of weapons, and every sign this guy wasn’t one of the guards of the facility.

Remy moved cautiously forward, pulling a handheld mirror from a pocket of his trenchcoat. He crouched near the edge of his hall, and poked the mirror out around both corners. He saw nothing other than the man, so he made his way out into the main hall, following the man silently.

He eventually entered a large lab room, and Remy crouched near the doorway, using his mirror to peek around the corner once again to se what he was doing.

The man moved over to a table that had something on it, covered by a sheet. The man pulled back the sheet, and Remy could see the form of a person, obviously dead, on the table as the man hovered over it.

“Damn it,” the man muttered. “Why isn’t it working? We’re gonna need more muties if I keep going through them like this.”

Remy’s eyes hardened, and then his earpiece clicked on, Logan’s voice sounding over it quietly.

“Cajun, we’ve got problems. Here were a lot more people than we thought, and they locked themselves in the control center for minute before we could get in. We took them down, but they got a warning out, and we’ve got more on the way up.”

“They also shot up the computer system. I’ll try to get anything I can, but I think most of it is shot to hell. Bobby and Kurt are moving to do their job, I’ll stay here and get what I can and hold off the guards.”

Remy tapped a small transmitter button on the earpiece twice, sending two clicks to confirm he’d heard.

The radio that sat on the man’s belt suddenly squawked to life, the person speaking over the radio warning about intruders attacking the base.

“Damn,” the man said, straightening from the corpse. “If they’re after the specimens….” He turned and started running for the doorway.

As he ran out, Remy’s bo staff swept up, clotheslining the man, knocking him out instantly.

Remy swiftly entered the room, his gaze moving to the form on the table. It was a young mutant, no older than he was, with clear animal features. Overall he looked like a mix between a normal human and a bear. His eyes were open in death, milky white and lifeless, and his chest had been clearly cut open and then stitched back shut while he was still alive.

Remy reached out, closing the man’s eyes, and slid the blanket back over him, not even wanting to know what they’d been doing to him, and from what the man had said, other mutants.

Remy glanced around the room which was relatively empty, save for a large amount of medical equipment. He turned to leave the room, delivering a sharp, deliberate kick to the side of the man’s head as he began to stir, knocking him out once more.

Remy replayed the details of the blueprints in his head, and dashed down the hall toward the stairs, checking any room he passed. They’d keep the mutants as close to the lab as possible, Remy surmised – less space and time for them to be able to break free as they were being moved.

Remy moved down the stairs, and came upon a man guarding a room with a large, closed door. He startled the man with his sudden entrance, and used the element of surprise to leap on him, his arm going around the man’s throat in a choke hold, placing pressure on the blood vessels that carried oxygen to his brain, until the man passed out.

Remy patted down the man, grabbing the gun from its holster and tossing it out of sight, and then grabbed a keychain from the man’s pocket. He put one of the keys in the keyhole of the large metal door, and turned it, unlocking it.

He swung the door open, and entered a large, circular room. The walls of the room were lined with what amounted to prison cells, with barred doors on each cell. Most were empty, and the one directly in front of him contained a mutant that looked like he had been through what the man upstairs had been through, blood covering the floor of his cell, clearly dead.

Two cells, fortunately, were occupied by two mutants that looked relatively unharmed. The cell to his right contained a tall, young, African-American boy clad only in a pair of jeans, with grayish, metallic-looking lines tattooed in intricate patterns along his body, even onto the top of his head, which was completely hairless.

The occupant of the other cell was a young woman - no older than Rogue as far as he could tell - with brilliant green hair, sitting on a small cot, her knees pulled up to her chest.

He pulled out the ring of keys, and found one that looked about the shape of the lock on the cells, and turned it in the woman’s cell, opening the door. She didn’t look up, and Remy could now see her arms were covered with bruises, and a large bruise was visible on her left cheek in the shape of a handprint.

“Hey, femme?” He said softly, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

She tensed as he neared, and the moment he touched her she sprang forward, swinging wildly with her fists.

“No!” She shouted into his face as one fist connected with his stomach – he was grateful he’d worn his body armor for the mission as it took the blow. “You’re not going to do it to me, too,” she growled, her green eyes wild as she struggled to get past him.

“Hey, hey!” Remy said, grabbing her flailing arms, holding her wrists and pressing her against the wall. He turned to the side, so as not to leave himself open to any below the belt blows she might throw at him.

He switched hands, gripping both of her thin wrists with one hand. He reached up and tipped his sunglasses down, looking into her eyes. “Calm down, femme. I ain’ here t’hurt you. I’m a mutant too. Me an’ some friends are here t’rescue you.”

She started at him without comprehension for several moments, and then her struggles died down. “R-rescue?” She asked, her eyes showing her confusion, but the sight of his eyes seemed to register with her, making her realize he was a fellow mutant.

Remy smiled gently at her. “Yeah, long as y’don’ keep tryin’ to beat de crap outta me.”

She relaxed finally, and he let go of her wrists. She sagged forward against him, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Thank you, thank you,” she whispered. “The others – they’ve done things to them. They took them away and when they came back they were like zombies. They cut them, and I don’t know what else.”

Remy rubbed her back, nodding. “I know. I saw one of dem wit’ a dead mutant. Whatever they’ve been doin’ here, y’don’ hafta worry anymore – we’re takin’ down dis place.”

She pulled back slightly, swiping at the tears on her face. She gestured to her wrist, which had a metal cuff-like device on it. “Can you get this off? They use this to stop our powers, Mr…….”

She trailed off, realizing she had no clue who he even was.

“LeBeau. Remy LeBeau.” Remy said, reaching into his pocket for the key ring. He pulled her wrist closer and began trying different keys on the lock that held it on her wrist. “What’s your name?”

“Lorna Dane,” she said softly as he tried another key. This one turned, and the power restraint snapped open and fell off her wrist and onto the floor.

She slowly pulled her hand back, rubbing at her wrist – the scraped skin clearly showing the attempts she had made to get the device off.

Remy smiled. “Well, Lorna, let’s help dis guy out of his cell,” he said, gesturing at the man who watched them quietly, “an’ den we’ll get you out of here.”

Lorna nodded, and followed Remy over to the other cell where Remy cycled through several keys to find the correct one.

“Hey, mon frère, you hear what’s goin’ on? I’m here t’get you two out.”

He nodded back to Remy.

“Alrigh’, what’s y’name, homme?” Remy asked, finding the correct key.

“Nezhno Abidemi,” he said in a low, deep voice that suited him well.

“Alrigh’, Nezhno, gimme y’hand, let me get dat thing offa you.”

As Remy undid the cuff, he heard the click of a safety on a gun, and Lorna’s gasp. He started to spin when he heard the loud retort of the gun, and he braced himself for the impact of the shot that he was pretty certain had been aimed at him.

It never came, and his eyes widened when he saw the bullet hovering in mid air, and saw Lorna’s hand stretched out toward it.

The man who’d shot fired again, and again the bullet froze in midair. Suddenly both bullets dropped to the floor with a clatter, and Lorna clenched her fist. The gun flew from the man’s hand, arced around the room almost to Lorna, and then curved back, slamming with a sickening crack into the man’s face.

The man dropped like a rock, falling back unconscious. The gun raised above him again, and for a moment, it seemed Lorna was struggling, deciding whether or not to hit him again. Finally she unclenched her fists, and the gun clattered to the floor.

Remy smiled gratefully at her. “Thanks. Dat was a close one. You a telekinetic?”

Lorna shook her head. “No, I can control metal.”

Remy nodded, and looked behind him to Nezhno. “Alrigh’. You two ready t’get de hell outta here?”

They nodded, and he moved toward the door, looking cautiously into the hallway. “Alrigh’, it’s clear. Stick wit’ me, an’ move when I move. We have to get to the top floor – too dangerous t’get a pick up on ground level.”

Lorna nodded, and the next moment he was moving out the door with the two of them trailing close behind.

***

“This way!” Remy yelled over the roar of firing weapons.

The two mutants followed closely as he led them through several twisting narrow passageways found when he memorized the blueprints of the facility.

After one turn he let his companions run past him, and then tossed a charged deck of cards back the way they had come to collapse the ceiling of the passageway, blocking off their pursuers, and forcing them to find another way to them.

“You almost done, Logan?” Remy asked into his slim earpiece.

A moment later, as Remy began to lead again, Logan’s voice crackled over the speakers. “Just finished, Cajun. The rest of the guards won’t be a problem, an’ I just cleaned out the control room. Already headin’ out to the jet. Where are you?”

“Ran into a few problems an’ got hung up. Should be up dere in two minutes. Iceboy?”

Bobby’s voice came over the earpiece. “I’ve iced up everything I could, I’m already back at the jet.”

“Good. Kurt, I need your help – I picked up a few mutants de creeps were keepin’ locked up. Get dem to de jet while I blow dis place.”

“I am on my way,” Kurt responded.

A minute later, Kurt slid to a stop in front of them as they charged up a set of stairs.

Remy glanced to his two companions. “Don’ worry, he’s wit’ me. Follow him an’ we’ll get you outta here. I’ll be right behind you.”

“This way,” Kurt said, and they hesitantly followed him.

Remy moved back down the flight of stairs, and pulled off a glove and slapped his full bare hand against the wall. He gritted his teeth, and slowly a magenta glow began pulsing out along the wall, and then to the floor, moving along the hallway.

Nearly a minute later, Remy pulled his hand away, gasping from the exertion of such a large charge. He gritted his teeth.

“Pick me up – big picture window, south side, third floor down.” He said, his gaze sweeping to the large window of the multistoried complex. He’d mentally delayed the charge, giving himself just over a minute before it blew.

“Already moving,” Ororo said over his earpiece, and he heard the muted roar of the X-Jet’s engines.

A moment later it grew louder and she spoke again. “Just a few seconds.”

The plane lowered, hovering in place with it’s ramp open, in front of the window, and there was a sudden *Bamf*, and Kurt appeared next to him and grabbed his arm. Remy felt a squeezing sensation across his entire body, followed by a sense of complete vertigo, and found himself on the metal decking of the Jet, the smell of sulfur filling the air.

“Get us out of here, Stormy. Dere’s gonna be a nice big boom in half a minute.” He gritted out, climbing to his feet and trying to shake the vertigo as the ramp closed.

He grabbed the back of the nearest headrest, and pulled himself forward against the sudden thrust as Ororo coaxed the engines, making his way up to drop into the copilot’s seat.

Remy punched a button on the console, and a plasma display turned on, displaying the composite view from a number of rear-facing cameras embedded in the hull of the Jet. He watched, still mentally counting down as they started to climb.

“Three, two, one,” Remy muttered to himself before the sky behind them lit up as the upper stories of the facility exploded in a brilliant flash.

He started to turn to grin at Ororo when the camera refocused, and he glimpsed someone running out of the bottom floor of the building, stopping a few dozen feet away.

Remy started to punch up the magnification of the image, and it resolved itself showing a man with a long tube on his shoulder. The back flashed, and something shot out of the front at high speed.

“Shit! Punch it Stormy, de nutjobs jus’ launched a missile at us!” Remy said, reaching over to yank on the throttle before Ororo could even react, and everyone was pressed back into their seats by the increase in speed.

A moment later, the main LCD began to ping, and showed a single missile following them, and quickly gaining ground.

‘Could I ever have a job go off without a hitch?’ He wondered to himself.

“You got flares, Stormy? Now would be a good time t’use it if you do.” Remy said.

Ororo nodded, her face tense, her hands gripping the controls tightly. “Third button from the right, second row down.”

“Got it,” Remy said, his eyes scanning down the controls to the button she’d indicated, and pressed it, waited several seconds, and pressed it again.

On the screen, it showed two blazing white flares pop out from the X-Jet, shooting off in front of the incoming missile. Remy held his breath for a second, and then the missile blew past the decoys, and he cursed under his breath.

“Damnit, dey must be using one of de laser-guided ones. All de flares in de world ain’ gonna draw it away if de guy on de ground can still see us.”

The incessant beeping grew louder as the missile neared, and Remy exchanged glances with Ororo, and her look gave him all he needed to know: the only way they were getting out of this was to outrun the missile until it ran out of fuel, and they weren’t up to nearly the speed needed to do so.

Remy racked his brain, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and he whipped off his restraint harnesses so he could turn to look at the back of the jet.

“Lorna! You think you can handle a missile de same way?” He asked.

She unbuckled her own restraint and unsteadily moved up to the front of the plane. She bit her lip, seeing the approaching missile on the video screen.

“I’ll try,” she said softly, biting her lip nervously. She closed her eyes, stretching her hands out to rest on Remy and Ororo’s headrests, and her brow furrowed as she stretched her mind out across the magnetic fields until she found the piece of metal she was looking for.

Her fingers clenched on the headrests, her knuckles turning white from the grip, and on the screen Remy could see the missile begin to wobble.

Slowly, getting closer every second, the wobbling became a jerking movement from side to side, and suddenly the missile exploded in a fireball, close enough that the blast wave caused slight turbulence for the Jet.

Remy let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, and turned in the seat to look up at Lorna. A line of blood trailed down from her nose, and her already light complexion had paled even further.

“Did I do it?” She asked, her arms trembling.

“Y’did it,” Remy said, standing and grabbing one of her arms. “Let’s get y’back to your seat.”

He had to support her most of the way as he helped her to the seat – next to Nezhno – and then he found a tissue in one of the compartments in the back of the plane and handed it to her. She blotted up the blood on her upper lip, and then pushed the tissue firmly against her nose, trying to get the bleed to clot.

“Sorry,” she said, looking up to him. “This always happens when I try something as big as that. Little stuff I can handle, but the bigger it gets the harder it is.”

Remy shot her a comforting smile. “S’alright, Lorna. You jus’ saved all our asses. Y’gonna be alright?”

“Yeah. It just takes a while to stop bleeding. I’ll be fine.”

Remy nodded, and handed her a clean tissue, which she switched out, and then he moved back to the front of the Jet to sink into his seat once again.

Everyone seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief when no more pings sounded, and they were no longer in sight of the facility.

Kurt shook his head, and looked over to Logan. “Mein Gott, vhat is it with you people and missiles?”

Logan chuckled. “Elf, stay with the X-men long enough, go on enough missions with us, an’ you’ll find missiles are the least of your worries.”

Remy smiled over to Ororo at that, and she rolled her eyes back at him. “Stormy,” Remy said as he leaned back against the headrest, “let’s punch it. If I’m back late, Sarah’ll have my hide,” he murmured, closing his eyes and letting himself come down from the adrenaline high that had kept him going during the operation.

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A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter – lot’s of character interaction, and the first strike in the “war” against the Purifiers, along with the introduction of two new characters (most will likely know Lorna, and for those who haven’t read any of the recent comics, Nezhno is a mutant known as ‘Gentle’).

Again, sorry for the horrible wait – I ad a bit of writer’s block for about a week or two, and then when I was getting over it, my laptop’s LCD screen decided to crap out on me, so that’s been shipped off to the tech center, and the screen’s been replaced (thank god I had insurance on it when I bought it – just a simple little screen would have cost 400 bucks without the insurance – that’s like half what I paid for the laptop! :-O ).

In any case, it’s back now, and I’m typing when I can when not in school or at work. Next chap will hopefully be out by the end of the week if not by midweek. Next chap, plenty of Romy, we get to see Kitty and Piotr’s vacations, and some of the findings from the mission are revealed. See you all next time (and thanks for all the reviews last chap)!