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 please don't sue me! Not that you'd get a whole lot from me anyway. ;)
A/N:Hey everyone, thanks for the great feedback last chapter – don’t hesitate to let me know what you thing, be it criticism or anything else. I’m officially out for the summer, and moved into my new place so that should mean more frequent updates. Anywho, hope you like this chapter (either my longest or second longest yet, I believe) – lots of Romy, a nice Danger Room sequence, and lots lots more. Enjoy.

Chapter 29: Memories

Rogue smiled tenderly from where she stood, leaning against the doorjamb of the slightly open door to the garage. She watched as Remy spoke to the entire class, who had gathered around him as he took apart the engine of one of the school motorcycles. He was teaching the high-school aged kids, and somehow had managed to get everyone engaged with something as simple as finding out how a motor actually worked.

‘He’s so good with kids,’ she thought to herself. He was already practically a father in everything but name to Sarah, so it wasn’t that surprising, but he’d seemed to have adapted from thieving over to teaching rather easily.

‘Of course the whole X-Men and X-Force thing might be taking care of that particular part of himself,’ she thought.

Either way, he was quickly becoming the favorite amongst all the kids, and this was an indicator that he‘d managed it even with the high-school group – the least likely to respect a teacher, as she herself knew from her own high school years.

She made a mental note to ask him how he did it – she knew if she ever ended up teaching she’d not want that particular age group. She figured she’d end up being the disciplinarian rather than Remy when they-

She froze, her breath catching in her throat before she completed that thought – had she really been thinking about having kids with him?

Heat crept up in her cheeks when she thought about it and realized she could easily see it some day. Perhaps things had become more serious between the two of them then even she’d realized.

She chewed on her lip, wondering if Remy had ever had similar thoughts. A frown came to her face when she realized why she’d always scoffed at the idea of having kids in the past – her powers. Would she ever be able to do it?

She tensed up when a pair of slim arms moved around her waist from behind, hugging her tightly. She smiled slightly, when she recognized the presence, and twisted around to kiss Sarah’s forehead. “Hey sweetie,” she said softly. “Yah out of class?”

Sarah nodded and pulled back slightly. “We got out a bit early with the Professor. Ten minutes ‘till my next one, an’ I saw you here. Whatcha doin’?”

Rogue moved to the side slightly, and put an arm around her shoulder to bring her up next to her in the doorway so she could see Remy. “Waitin’ for Remy t’finish. Ah’m gonna see if he’ll take me ta mah campus in town. Gettin’ close to finals an’ the teacher’s settin’ up extra credit stuff.”

Sarah nodded, and spoke in the same low voice Rogue was using. “He will,” she said, smiling slightly. “I’ve got three more classes today, so I’ll see ya when you get back.”

The low tone of the programmed school bell sounded throughout the lower levels of the mansion. “I better go,” Sarah said, Rahne catching her eye down the hall. “Have fun. Tell Remy I said hi.”

“Ah will, see yah later Sarah,” Rogue said, watching with amusement as the younger girl sped down the hall toward her redheaded friend.

Rogue moved out of the way to avoid the mass of young teenagers that began to flood out the door she’d been standing in front of.

As the last ones cleared the door, she moved back to where she’d been standing, and after a moment entered the garage. Remy was putting together the last few pieces of the engine, and he glanced up when he heard her step down onto the concrete floor of the garage.

“Hey, Rogue, what’s up?” He asked, smiling.

Rogue walked up to where he was, and leaned on the workbench he’d set the engine on. “Havin’ fun?”

Remy nodded, as he screwed in the last screw into the engine block. “Oui. Been a while since I worked on a bike. An’ they seemed to like it.”

Rogue smiled. “I know, I was watching you.”

Remy nodded. “Saw you an’ Sarah when de bell rang. So, you just practicin’ t’be a voyeur, or somethin’ else?” He asked her with a grin.

She rolled her eyes. “Ah was wonderin’ if yah could give me a ride inta town to campus. They’re havin’ a sort of ‘Meet a Biologist’ day in an hour or so, an’ our biology prof e-mailed us an’ said we’d get extra credit if we came.”

“Alrigh’, Chére. I just need to finish up here an’ clean up, an’ I can take you.”

“Thanks,” she said smiling slightly. “Could yah, maybe, sit in with me? We’ve got a huge class so no one’ll know yah aren’t in the class. We had to sit through a ‘Meet a physicist’ day last week while yah were teachin’ here, an’ it was borin’. An’ maybe we could go out an’ get ice cream after or somethin’?”

Remy smiled. “Y’don’ need to bribe me wit’ treats, y’know. Woulda come anyway.” He reached out to take her hand, but then thought better of it, seeing the grease on his hands from pulling apart the bike and the engine.

“I’ll get dis back in, an’ scrub up, an’ den we can go.”

“Thanks,” Rogue said, leaning forward carefully to kiss his cheek.
***********************************************************************

Remy ran his thumb in lazy circles across the back of Rogue’s gloved hand as the latest biologist, a bio-engineer, droned on about how he came to be a bioengineer, and what his work involved – something to do with engineering e-coli bacteria to change colors, Remy wasn’t paying close enough attention to be sure. Rogue had her head propped up with her other hand, and looked about ready to fall asleep.

There had been about one interesting biologist in the five that hade come to talk thus far, and the others seemed to, as they began to talk, forget that they were addressing students rather than colleagues who understood the technical stuff they were getting so excited about. The first man, the interesting one, had actually engaged them and spoke in an understandable way, explaining what he did and what it meant.

Remy wasn’t surprised she’d been bored, if the physicists had been anything like these guys. He thought the idea behind the “Meet a…..” day was good, but they should have gotten better people.

Remy glanced around the room. Bobby, Dani, Kitty, and the others –they’d come on their own, whereas he and Rogue had come on his motorcycle – were all in varying states of reclining in their chairs, and it seemed Bobby had actually fallen asleep.

They were in the back of the lecture hall, which contained an easy two-hundred people and could hold likely a hundred more. Most of the lights were out, aside from where the biologists were speaking in the center of the room, so it wasn’t really noticeable if they did drift off.

Remy leaned forward slightly, puffing a breath of air at the side of Rogue’s neck, causing her eyes to snap open from nearly falling shut. She shot him a dirty look, and he grinned.

“Hey now, Chére, how come I’m de only one here dat isn’t in dis class, but I’m de only one not half asleep?” He whispered. “Can’t leave me t’be tortured on my own – you gotta share it too.”

A small smile flashed on her face, and she leaned closer in the plastic chair at the long table they sat at. “You’re evil.”

“Oui.” He said simply, squeezing her hand.

He let go of her hand to slide his arm around the back of her chair, and sighed with relief as the man finished his life’s history, to a smattering of applause. “How many more?” He whispered.

“Ah think there’s supposed to be one more,” Rogue said.

“Hopefully he’s not another socially awkward sixty year-ol’ virgin like de last few,” Remy said, and Rogue had to smother a giggle in the side of his neck.

He automatically, like it had become second nature, slid a hand quickly across hers before the magenta glow of his powers manifested in the dark hall.

The biology professor stood up as the man left the stage, and took up his microphone. “Alright you guys, thanks for your attention – we’ve got one more speaker, and he’s a bit of a surprise. I wasn’t sure until this morning if he’d be able to come and speak to you. He’s become rather well known in the fields of Evolutionary Biology and Evolutionary Genetics in recent years, and I’m sure most of you have heard of him.”

“Please give a warm welcome to Doctor Nathaniel Essex.”

There were a number of exclamations of surprise through the hall, and then a resounding applause broke out. Remy straightened up in his seat, his interest piqued. “Guess I got m’wish,” he muttered to Rogue.

A tall, slender man walked out onto the lit center platform of the room, and raised his hand, smiling, and nodding in thanks to the greeting. He had long jet-black hair held back in a ponytail, and rather pale skin, and his features were sharp, angular; a black goatee also adorned his face, giving him a sort of mix in looks between a hippie and a bit of a stereotypical mad scientist.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice low and rich, with a hint of a British accent. “I’m glad I could make it here today – I enjoy talking to young men and women like yourselves, and hope my presentation today helps you decide what you’d like to do with your lives.”

“I grew up in a small town – not much bigger than this one,” he said, gesturing around, “called Wadhurst, over in England.”

“My father was a barber, and my mother was a school-teacher, and they wanted me to become an engineer. Now, I found engineering to be interesting, and so I went along with it, and went off to Nottingham University.”

“I’d already planned out all of my years, what courses I would take, to become a mechanical engineer. In my first year, I had to take a prerequisite biology class, much like this one. Our teacher was an intriguing man, very enthusiastic about his vocation.”

“Our first assignment was to read a book over the first month of class – Charles Darwin’s On The Origin Of Species. As I began to read it, I became fascinated with it – in fact, I think I had completed the book by the end of the next day, and went on to read his other books.”

“I found his works and theories to be quite interesting – to imagine he figured all of that out simply by careful observation and investigation years before we even knew genes existed, and managed to turn out mostly correct on all of it.”

“Toward the end of the class, our teacher explained the ways in which all that we had slowly learned during the course could be and were applied in the present. Our flu vaccines, engineered based upon the predicted evolution of the major viruses causing the flu. Engineering of bacteria to do wondrous things.”

“That one class changed all of my plans for college, and I transferred over to the Biology department, and began my studies in Evolutionary Biology. I received my Bachelor’s degree in three years, and continued another year to achieve a Master’s in Genetics.”

“I came to the States after that, and proceeded to work on a doctorate in Evolutionary Genetics, once it became clear it would be a strong field to be in as mutants began to appear throughout the world. I quite liked it here, and as of last year I am a US Citizen.”

“And all of this, simply because of a single book, written in the 1800s. I hope each of you finds a similar inspiration that leads you down the path to your future with something that you enjoy. It needn’t be Biology, although I love to see new young ones enter the field – whatever it is you find you enjoy, go for it, and don’t let anything stop you.”

“Now, your teacher asked that I describe some of my work. I hope I won’t bore you with it, and I’ll try to keep it brief. Aside from my work on the various popular science books I’ve published, and my debates with my esteemed colleagues – in fact I believe this town is home to one of them, Professor Charles Xavier, with whom I’ve had the my most intriguing debates – the majority of my work is with mutant and baseline human genetics, although I have dabbled in the genetics of Neanderthals several times in the past.”

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

“Mm, this is good, Remy,” Rogue said as she tasted her spoonful of mint-fudge ice cream. “Try some.” She scooped another spoonful, and moved it over for him to have a taste.

They’d each chosen a different flavor, and were sharing their cups at a small table in the back of the ice cream parlor.

Remy nodded, and offered her a spoonful of his triple chocolate ice cream.

Rogue smiled, and slowly took the spoonful into her mouth. “Ah could eat ice cream all day,” she said dreamily.

She looked down at her own cup, twirling her spoon absently in it. “Ah’m glad yah came, Remy. This’s th’best part, but thank yah for sittin’ through that with me.”

“Y’welcome,” Remy said, his hand moving out to clasp her free one. “It was alright. ‘Least dere were two people dat were interestin’. Essex did sorta give me a weird feelin’ though, afterward, when he found out we knew de Professor. I think he knows we’re mutants,” Remy said, lowering his voice.

After the class had ended, Essex had walked over to where they sat, and introduced himself personally, explaining the teacher had informed him they were Charles’ students.

He’d looked over them with an almost clinical interest, as if he was looking at a set of lab rats. He’d given a look to Remy that made him feel like Essex was mentally examining and dissecting his brain. He definitely knew something – perhaps Xavier had told him the truth about him being a mutant?

Or it could just be the bit of mad scientist in most scientists that made it seem that way. He decided he’d mention Essex to Xavier and see where it went from there.

Rogue chewed on her lower lip, and nodded slightly. “Maybe he knows. At least he didn’t put us to sleep.”

Remy nodded. “Liked his message – find what you want to do an’ do it.” He squeezed her hand. “You still want t’be a nurse?”

Rogue sighed slightly, and nodded. “Yeah. Ah know it’ll be a lot of work, but Ah like it, what little Ah’ve done with Annie. Yah think Ah should?”

Remy smiled. “Oui, if it’s what you want, you got my support, Chére. I’ll be dere de whole way.”

Rogue blushed slightly, recalling her recent thoughts of their relationship. “Yah sure?” She asked, and the slight tremble in her voice gave away her thoughts of Remy leaving her like Bobby had.

“I’m sure. I’m here ‘till you tell me to get lost. An’ I hope dat’s never.”

She smiled shyly. “Ah hope so too.”

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

Remy snapped awake from his sleep later that night when a small hand gave his arm a shake. He squinted at the clock which read a little after one in the morning, and then at the shadowy room, and found Sarah standing next to his bed. He sat up, alarmed, when he saw glistening tears on her cheeks.

“Petite? What is it –what’s wrong? You have a nightmare?” he asked, sitting up.

She shook her head. “Remy, my legs really hurt, and I can’t fall asleep because they hurt so bad.”

“C’mere,” he said, and she moved gingerly to sit on the bed next to him. “Where’s it hurt?”

“Both legs, behind my knees, an’ on my shins, an’ even up here,” she said, patting her thigh. “Feels worse than when my bone growths are gettin’ bigger.”

He moved his hand lightly across her shin, and frowned. “I’m sure it’s nothing, petite. Too much runnin’ outside today. But we can go talk t’Annie if y’want.”

She nodded slightly, and buried her head against his chest. “Can we? It’s pretty late though.”

“Sure, petite, Annie won’t mind.” He said, grabbing her hand. “She’s a few doors down, ‘can you walk okay?”

She nodded, and stood up with him, and followed him out the door. He walked down the hall, and stopped three doors down, and knocked softly. He waited close to a minute and knocked softly again, and moments later Annie opened the door, a sleepy expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

“Sorry for wakin’ you up, but Sarah’s legs are hurtin’ her, an’ she can’t get t’sleep. Was hopin’ y’could check her out quick t’make sure it’s nothin’ serious.”

“Uh- yeah, sure,” she said, pressing the heel of her hand to her forehead for a moment. “Let’s go down to my office and I’ll give you a look,” she said, giving Sarah a smile, which she returned.

They went down by way of the elevator, and Annie had Sarah sit on one of the examining tables. She asked her a series of questions about the pain, its intensity, and exactly where it hurt. Then she proceeded to carefully feel along Sarah’s legs with her hands, trying to find any obvious fractures in bones or pulled muscles, and checked to make sure her joints were not swollen.

Finally she smiled, and sat back on the wheeled chair next to Sarah. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, Sarah. You’ve got what we call ‘growing pains’. You’re right around the age where you start getting the last big growth spurts, and I think you’ve started yours.”

“Your bones and everything start growing, and sometimes it takes a while for all the muscles and tendons to catch up, and since you’re an active kid, they get stressed even more from your running and horseback riding, and begin to ache at night.”

Sarah reached up and brushed back a strand of her hair that had fallen and stuck to the drying tear track on her cheek. “So I’m okay?”

Annie smiled and stood up, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You’re fine. Just getting taller. I’ll get you some Advil for the pain so you can sleep. This might last a few days, but it will be over with soon enough.”

Annie moved over to the locked cabinet in which she kept the various medicines she found herself giving out to her patients, the most common being her ibuprofen.

Annie pulled out a small bottle, and handed it to Remy. “One tablet, every four to six hours while she had pain.” She said, only releasing her grip on it when he nodded.

“You go take that, and get some sleep, alright Sarah?”

Sarah nodded, and smiled slightly. “Thanks Annie.”

“You’re welcome.” Annie replied, and moved over to her office to switch out the lights as they left.

Remy and Sarah stopped briefly for a glass of cold water in the kitchen so she could take an Advil, and then made their way back up to their rooms.

Sarah looked up at Remy as they stood by her door. “Can you sit with me ‘till I fall asleep?”

Remy nodded. “Yeah, Sarah.”

He followed her into the room, and after she’d slipped under the covers, he sat on the bed next to her, and began to stroke her forehead soothingly. “Glad you’re alrigh’, petite.”

She smiled. “Me too. Thanks for takin’ care of me.”

A moment of silence passed, and she spoke again. “Remy?”

“Yeah petite?”

“I’m glad it was you that saved me from the tunnels. If it was anyone else I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now,” she said with a shy smile.

Remy’s heart clenched. “I’m glad it was too. You’ve changed m’life, petite. I’d prob’ly still be an’ ol’ thief, an’ I’d never’ve met you or Rogue.”

She smiled, turning her head to kiss his cheek, and then closed her eyes. The pain seemed to already be leaving her mind, as within several minutes she’d fallen asleep.

Remy slowly sat up, careful not to wake her, and brushed his hand over her forehead one last time, looking guiltily down at her face. He’d mentioned it to Rogue, and she’d reassured him, but he really needed to tell her the truth about the tunnels.

His guilt over not telling her everything was growing day by day, and it was reaching a point where he could no longer bear it. He set his jaw – this weekend, he decided. Neither would have classes, and there would be plenty of time for him to sit down in a quiet place with her and tell her everything.

“Bonne nuit, petite. Je suis navré. ” He said softly, tucking the blankets around her body better, before slowly moving out of the room and back to his own.

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

“Are you ready for this?” Kitty asked as Dani placed one of her long legs out in front of her and beginning a series of stretches.

Dani smiled nervously. “Yeah, I think so. First training session with the rest you guys instead of just Logan – I get the feeling that he is going to make it hard for us.”

“That’s a given,” Kitty said with a smile, zipping up the front of her leather X-Men suit, before grabbing a small scrunchie and pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

“You doin’ alright?” Dani asked, looking over to her.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I….” She trailed off and sighed. “Bobby told you, didn’t he.”

Dani gave her a tentative smile. “Actually he told Sam, and I pried it out of him. I’m sorry, but Jubes wasn’t talking and that’s what really got me worried about you. It’s.. how are you handling it?”

Kitty leaned her elbows against her knees, shaking her head. “God he’s a bigger mouth than Jubes,” she muttered, but she didn’t really blame him – she’d hurt him and hadn’t handled the breakup well in her opinion.

She looked up to where Dani stood stretching. “I’m... I’m dealing. My parents… they’ve already signed the divorce papers, so there’s not much to be done about it. I’m doing a lot better than I was when I found out though. Sorry I didn’t tell you, I just… back home in high school if that sort of thing got out, everyone would be whispering about you and giving you looks, and I didn’t want that. I just needed time.”

Dani nodded, and straightened up slightly before bending down to pat Kitty’s knee. “I understand. You ever wanna talk, I’m a good listener.”

Kitty nodded and stood up. “I know. I’ll keep that in mind. But… we better head down – Logan’ll crank up the difficulty if anyone is late.”

Dani’s eyes widened. “Let’s get down there then.”

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

Logan’s lips curled into a snarl as he leapt down onto two unsuspecting men, smashing their heads together with a large amount of force and rendering them unconscious. He turned back and gestured for the others to follow him down the narrow alleyway.

They’d been split into three different groups – Ororo, Logan, and Remy being team leaders – and they’d drawn from a hat to determine their team. It was something Logan felt they’d likely do for a while, to bring everyone up to speed and get them used to serving on a team with everyone else.

Bobby slid down the side of the building on a patch of ice he’d created, and Colossus and Jubilee moved around from behind the corner to join him.

Logan had designed the setting to resemble a town he’d seen flashes of in his memory episodes. He was pretty sure it was in Germany from the architecture, and fairly sure it had been around for centuries given the myriad stone structures. It made him think of some sort of open-air castle.

Charles had, of course, changed areas, a boarded up door here, a flooded hallway there, but Logan knew the place rather well having designed the program.

Each team had been tasked with retrieving a separate microchip – in the scenario they were under heavy guard in three locations in the city and were a part of a new weapons system being developed by a foreign terrorist group that had hired the mercenary guard.

Logan, in the lead, reached a street corner, and crouched down, peeking his head around. He pulled it back and heard the ping of a ricocheting gunshot against the stone where his head had been.

“We found it. There’s at least ten of ‘em, and we have to move fast.” He said in a hurried whisper to the others.

“Jubes, blind ‘em good, Pete and I will take out the rest – Bobby, you slip around back and up into the tower.”

The three nodded, all quiet.

“Now!” Logan said, and in moments Jubilee was diving around the corner, rolling along the ground. Blindingly bright fireworks erupted from her fingers, and Logan found himself having to blink away spots himself.

There were shouts of pain and confusion from the mercenaries, and they began firing randomly, but Jubilee had already rolled behind a parked car for cover. Piotr shifted into his metal state, and he and Logan charged around the corner. Piotr’s armored skin sparked as several random rounds ricocheted off of him, and Logan grunted when one slugged him in the arm.

In moments they were upon the mercenaries, Pete knocking them to the ground with heavy blows as Logan threaded through the group, slashing their weapons and taking care of those who had been mostly turned away from Jubilee’s fireworks show and only partially blinded.

Piotr released the shirt of the final mercenary, letting him drop senselessly to the ground. “C’mon out Jubes,” Logan said, as Bobby slid down the stairs of the nearby building, a triumphant look on his face at the microchip grasped in his hand.

The next moment Logan found himself spinning toward a wall, picked up by an invisible force, and nearly blacked out when he slammed face-first into it. He groaned, and struggled to pick himself up, but found himself pulled into the air by the same force.

A figure slowly moved into view down the street, laughing richly. “Really, Logan, did you think it would be that simple?” Magneto asked as he strode toward him.

“Aw hell, Chuck,” Logan muttered.

Xavier had apparently decide the scenario wasn’t challenging enough, and needed enough curveballs thrown in to keep even Logan on his toes.

“Get down!” Logan shouted as the cars, streetlights, and various other metal objects around the street rose into the air around the four X-Men.

***___***

Ororo was having trouble of her own. She dove to the side as a long gout of flame blasted past her face when she dove into a small side alleyway. They’d found the location of their chip, and started to fight the people guarding it, until the simulation threw in John.

It wasn’t the John she’d known from the Institute, either – it was the John she’d seen a glimpse of that night at Alcatraz, hurling flaming cars, in full control of his abilities. The flame near her suddenly morphed into a snake, and coiled up ready to strike. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he could only control the flames while he could see them, and that meant he’d have to come closer to see into her alley.

She gritted her teeth, and then saw Sam rocket through the group of mercenaries still in sight, the orange-yellow glow of his blast field surrounding him as he sped mere feet from the ground. The mercenaries were tossed around like bowling pins, and the fiery snake turned its attention from the alleyway and sped off after Sam.

She brought her hand up to her ear to the comlink, switching to a different channel. “Logan? What’s your status?”

“Little busy right now!” He said, and she heard a loud rending of metal, almost like a car collision.

“We’ll have ours soon, I’ll check in then,” she said – obviously they’d run into a surprise as well.

She switched channels again. “Remy?”

“Ma soeur,” he whispered back, “Got maybe five minutes ‘till we get de chip, but got t’be quiet right now.”

“Good, let me know when you get it,” she said, automatically lowering her voice as if it made a difference on his end.

Ororo glanced back at Sam flying wildly, keeping way from the flame. She was limited in the exercise to only her wind – she couldn’t exactly call up a thunderstorm in the Danger Room without risking frying the electronics – as well as the people in the room – and the same went for rain, which was unfortunately something that would have come in handy right about now.

Kitty suddenly phased through the wall next to her, gasping for breath. “The ones that were following us were down, Storm – what next?”

Ororo’s eyes narrowed, and she heard the distinctive *BAMF* of Kurt’s teleportation. Suddenly he appeared on a car near Sam, and the fire changed direction toward him, and he quickly led it on a wild chase across the open courtyard.

“You take out John,” she finally said. “You’re the only one that can’t be hurt by his flames. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Kitty puffed out a breath, blowing back a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail. “On it,” she said, dashing around the corner.

“Kurt!” Ororo shouted as he teleported on a dumpster near her.

He snapped his head around to look at her as the fire changed direction yet again, presumable after Kitty. Kurt grinned, and teleported over to her. He grabbed her arm, and she felt the squeezing, stomach-turning-inside-out sensation she’d felt at Alkali Lake, and she found herself standing on the roof of the nearby building, waving at a cloud of sulfur-smelling smoke.

“Thanks,” she said. “Let’s go.” She moved to the edge of the roof, gripping it, and swinging her body downward to give her momentum to break through the window beneath her.

She tumbled in, catching herself, and was reminded of her months with Remy without her memories, in which they’d done a number of heists.

A quick blast of wind knocked two surprised guards against the wall hard enough to knock them out, and she walked over to a large leather briefcase, hearing Kurt land behind her.

She opened the latches, and found herself staring at a large computer chip resting in an indentation of the foam interior.

As she grabbed it, there was a glint of light to her left, and she flinched back, just missing a knife thrust by a guard – one of the two she’d thrown against the wall had apparently not been as unconscious as she thought.

A sharp snapping sound, like that of a whip, cracked through the air, and the man was suddenly holding his hand, the knife quivering in the bedpost. Kurt grabbed it, and tossed it out the window before reaching out with a wince to massage his tail – the whip she’d heard.

She gave him a weak smile. “Thanks.”

“Ja. Let’s get this out of here und help the others,” he said, shoving the injured man onto his back.

“Alright,” Ororo breathed, moving to look out the window. She saw Kitty and Sam standing over the unconscious form of John.

Kurt grabbed her arm, and another teleport left her staring somewhat disjointedly at Sam and Kitty in front of her.

“We have the chip,” she said, showing it to the two. “Let’s find Logan – it sounded like they needed the most help.”

***___***

Remy glanced down over the top of the building he was on the roof of, and saw several unsuspecting mercenaries patrolling the streets. He glanced over at the large, blue furred man next to him.

“Y’sure you’re alright wit’ dis? Not bein’ team leader? You been an X-man back when Xavier first started it,” Remy said quietly.

Hank shook his head, glancing at the concentration of men below them. “You seem quite capable, my boy. Perhaps you can teach an old dog like me new tricks. Besides – I’m a doctor, not a team leader.”

Remy groaned and shook his head. “Shoulda known dat line was comin’ from you, McCoy.”

Hank smiled slightly. “Yes, well, I find that even the most serious mission needs some humor. Shall we?” He asked, gesturing at the street below.

“Yeah.” Remy said, and moments later they had both leapt from the two-story building, landing while dealing out blows with bruising force to the mercenaries they’d dropped down behind. A sharp snap to the head with Remy’s bo staff took out the third before he’d even realized what happened.

Remy thumbed his earpiece to his own team’s channel. “You femmes got it scoped out yet? We took care of de stragglers.”

“Yeah,” Rogue’s voice came quietly over the earpiece. “There’s a lot of guards, but Ah think we’ll be able to take them.”

“We’ll be right dere.”

He and Hank sprinted quietly down the road, turning at several corners and thankfully running into no one else until they came to a building Remy had sent the girls to.

Remy slid through the broken doorway, and moved through the house to where Rogue and Dani stood waiting, looking occasionally out the dusty windows. Remy moved up next to them, his fingers brushing against Rogue’s for a moment, and he peered out the window.

“Okay. We go out dat door and hit dem from behind. Chére, you’re our powerhouse, you take de lead. Dani – you’re watchin’ our backs – anyone tries to attack us, you take dem out. Hank an I will go for de briefcase. Got it?”

He smiled grimly as they nodded. “Good. After you, Chére,” he said gesturing at the boarded up door.

“Good luck,” she whispered as she moved past him. She took a few steps back, and then moved forward, slamming her shoulder into the door. The wood splintered, and the door itself was launched across the street, inadvertently taking down two of the mercs that stood unsuspecting in its flight path.

The other’s cried out in surprise and whirled to face their attacker, pulling their guns. Rogue allowed herself to float up several inches off the ground, and furrowed her brow, focusing on the bit of practice she’d managed outside the mansion days before, and in seconds she was plowing through the first group – unknowingly almost exactly like Sam had been.

Remy and Hank dashed out, followed by Dani, and they followed in Rogue’s wake, taking on any who had missed the brunt of her attack. Remy whirled, his bo staff glinting as it arced through the air almost faster than the eye could see, striking several blows to men trying to get up and train their weapons on them.

Dani’s leg swept out next to him, and a man he’d not noticed fell to the ground, clutching his thigh. Remy grinned with pride – she’d used the savate kick he’d taught her, and used it to quite good effect.

“Good kick,” he said, swinging his own foot into the groaning man’s head.

Hank bounded forward and leapt, spinning in an acrobatic somersault before he landed heavily on two men who’d started firing wildly.

“Shit she’s fast,” Remy muttered as he sprinted to catch up with Rogue who was taking several bullet hits as she sped toward the next group.

In minutes the numbers were cut by two thirds, and those surviving had taken up behind cover, firing when they peeked over. Remy pulled out a handful of cards, charged them, and tossed them in a spread at the two cars most of the group had taken shelter behind.

One car exploded, knocking the men several feet back, and the other flipped into the air, and the men had to run to avoid being crushed by it when it tumbled back to the ground.

A sudden flash of movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he whirled to see another force of mercenaries appear around the corner behind them.

“Dani – hit dem!” He shouted.

“Let this work,” she silently prayed, stretching her hands out.

Several manifestations of growling wolves appeared in front of the mercenaries, stalking toward them.

Since they weren’t living humans she couldn’t draw on their fears so she had done what she had when Remy had asked her to the previous weekend.

Xavier had accounted for that fact in the design behind the Danger Room, and it reacted to her manifestation of images by having the mercenaries react as if she had shown them their worst fears.

Several ran screaming, others rolled on the ground, trying to bat away imaginary creatures, and still others simply froze, their guns dropping from their limp hands.

Remy grinned, and turned his attention back to the others. Rogue had been busy, cleaning up the others, and Hank was scaling the outside of the building where the briefcase was held.

“Look out!” Dani suddenly yelled.

He’d been standing near one of the men he’d taken out earlier, and he had stood up, swinging the butt of his gun at Remy.

Remy jerked his head to the side, and swept his leg up in a kick at the man. Remy managed to take a glancing blow, but it still left his vision spinning. His kick connected, snapping the man’s head back and taking him to the ground.

Remy stumbled back, barely keeping his balance, and brought a hand up to his ringing head. He froze when he heard a snarling roar he’d not heard for years – one that he would always remember.

He blinked, trying to clear his vision, and looked in the direction of the noise. A tall, muscled man with a mane of brown hair falling across his shoulders crouched in a ready stance near the building the chip was in. His eyes were nearly black, long claw-like fingernails extended from his hands, and a feral grin showed off his sharp, cat-like teeth.

“Sabretooth,” Remy whispered, his fists clenching at his sides as rage bubbled up inside him.

His vision turned red, and he charged at the feral man, the tip of his bo staff glowing brightly.

“Bastard!” He shouted, and the charge released from his staff as it struck the ground near Sabretooth, blasting the surprised mutant backward.

Sabretooth tumbled into a crouch, and had to leap back as several more exploding swings of the bo staff struck near him, more power in each one.

The last knocked him on his back, and Remy was on him in an instant, slamming heavy blows into his jaw, shouts of rage escaping his lips.

Remy gripped one hand tightly around the heavily bleeding mutant’s neck, closing his airway, and his other hand slammed repeatedly into his face, not caring or really even realizing that it was a hologram and that he was simply beating a padded robot provided by the Danger Room.

Rogue gasped when she heard the first explosion, and Remy’s shout, and had spun around to see Remy viciously attack the man that had been with Magneto at Liberty Island.

“Remy!” She said, running over to him as he beat the hologram senseless. “Remy, stop,” she pleaded, trying to grab his arm, but he jerked it away with a wild snarl, slamming his fist down again.

“Professor,” she begged aloud – Remy was beyond reason, and that frightened her. It was like the times she’d witnessed Logan’s berserker rage – and she didn’t know what to do.

“Session end,” Xavier’s voice snapped over the intercom, and the holographic world around them disappeared.

Remy pounded the now visible robot once more, and she grabbed him around the waist, jerking him away from it – a relatively simple task given her strength.

Remy struggled in her grip, but she kept a firm hold on him. “Shhh…” she whispered into his ear. “He’s gone. It isn’t real, Remy. Please, stop.”

The choked sob that ended her plea seemed to snap him out of it, and he stopped struggling, and stared silently at the robot on the ground. The plastic casing on its head was cracked and dented, nearly caved in – and he panted heavily, his fists still clenched.

Rogue slowly released her hold on him, and started to move around to his front. “Remy, are you alright?”

Remy raised a hand, and looked away. “Not right now, Chére,” he said, his voice emotionless.

He turned away, and strode quickly to the exit of the Danger Room, ignoring the somewhat shocked looks of Dani and the other teens, as well as the grim, knowing looks from Hank and Logan, and especially the pleading glance Ororo sent him.

Rogue stared helplessly after him, and sank to her knees on the floor.

Ororo hurried over next to her, and knelt beside her, placing her arm around her shoulder. “What happened?” Ororo asked in a low voice.

Rogue shook her head. “Ah- Ah don’t know. We were fightin’, an’ then a simulation of Sabretooth showed up t’stop us, and Remy went wild. Ah’ve never seen him like that. It was like he was tryin’ t’kill him.”

Ororo grimaced. “I know I wouldn’t have reacted well,” she said softly, “but I’ve had the displeasure of meeting him. Remy never mentioned him to me, but from his reaction I’d guess he’s had some unpleasant experiences with him.”

“Yeah,” Logan said quietly next to them. “I c’n still smell the rage. Whatever the hairy nutjob did, it did a real number on the kid.”

Ororo helped Rogue to her feet, and they slowly made their way up to the control room, where the others had gone and where the Professor had been supervising the session.

Rogue looked around the room, as if hoping Remy would have stopped there to talk with Xavier.

Xavier seemed to read her mind – or rather, given his powers likely did read that thought – and smiled reassuringly at her. “Remy just left the garage – he’s taking his bike out for a while. He stopped to apologize for ruining the session for everyone, and let me know where he was going so you wouldn’t worry.”

Ororo placed a comforting hand on Rogue’s shoulder. “He’ll be back, he just needs to clear his head.”

Charles gestured at the door to the War Room. “I think we’ll forego the long review of the session today. I’d deliberately kept the teams from contacting people that might cause such a reaction – that’s why Logan’s group got Magneto, Ororo’s group faced John,” he said looking knowingly toward Rogue and Bobby, “and Remy’s group got Sabretooth. I wish I had known…”

He shook his head. “Overall, I was pleased with all of you – especially you three,” Charles said, nodding at Dani, Sam, and Jubilee.

“You’ve come a long way, and have shown you are capable of working readily with others. I’d like to officially invite you on as probationary team members.”

The now-former trainees broke into grins, and Dani looked at him with a hint of surprise in her eyes. “But – I thought you said we had to go through tests….”

Charles smiled. “This was your test. I find it often best to not tell when it will be, as it doesn’t give you a chance to prepare, and gives me a true gauge on your abilities and teamwork. And despite Mister LeBeau’s thought that he ruined the exercise, I’d call it a successful run – you all had your microchips, and all of you were close to being able to leave.”

A smile came to Rogue’s face, despite her worries about Remy, and she pulled the three new X-Men into hugs. “Congratulations, yah guys. Welcome t’the team.”

They thanked her, and found themselves surrounded by the others, being congratulated by them as well. Rogue turned to look at the elevator, a worried frown slowly taking the place of her smile. She’d have to find Sarah and let her know, so she wouldn’t worry about Remy, she thought to herself.

Ororo moved next to her and squeezed her arm comfortingly. “He’ll be fine. I’ve seen him like this a few times myself. He doesn’t want you or anyone else to see him like that.” She said, smiling ruefully. “He’ll be back by tonight, and probably feel guilty for brushing you away.”

Rogue closed her eyes for a moment, and sighed slightly. “Thanks,” she said quietly. “Ah think Ah needed t’hear that.” She said, and felt a bit of tension leave her body, and the cheerfulness of the others helped ease her mind.

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

Remy tilted his head back slightly as he took another long sip from the bottle of beer he held. It was his fourth of the six-pack of bottles he’d brought back with him to the mansion.

He’d spent much of the rest of the day out on his motorcycle, and walking aimlessly around the state park he’d taken Rogue to the previous week. He’d returned late, nearly midnight, and had entered quietly. He’d slipped out onto the roof with his six-pack, and been up there since.

His throat tightened when he saw a pair of hands grasp the roof nearby but instead of Rogue, who he’d expected, he saw Jean’s mop of red hair appear over the gutter.

She pulled herself up, and walked slowly over to him. “Wondered who it was up here. I heard you but couldn’t sense you. Mind if I sit with you?” She asked.

“Non, go ahead, Jeannie.”

She carefully lowered herself on the roof and sat next to him.

“Beer?” He asked, grabbing one of the last two bottles and proffering it to her. “It’s a porter, so it’s pretty dark, if y’like ‘em dark.

“Uh… sure,” Jean said, giving him a hesitant smile. “Never tried one before. I’ve only had a few cans of the light stuff when Scott… when we went camping a year back.”

Remy nodded, and she took the bottle. He kept his hand there, and ran a finger around the rim of the bottle cap. It glowed a very faint magenta, and there was sudden pop as the charge he’d placed there bent the crimped metal of the cap, and she popped it off easily.

“Must be handy having your own built in can-opener,” she said.

Remy laughed. “Believe me, it don’ come easy. Went through a dozen or so of dese six packs b’fore I got it down wit’out crackin’ de glass or blowin’ up de bottle.”

Jean brought the bottle up to her lips, and took a large sip. She made a face, and swallowed it down. She shook her head, and handed the bottle back to him. “Better than the light stuff, but I guess I’m just not a beer girl. Gimme a margarita or tequila sunrise over that any day.”

Remy smiled. “Fair ‘nough. Sometimes it can be an acquired taste.” He finished the last mouthful of his other bottle, and then sipped from the one she’d rejected.

Jean curled her legs inward, bringing her knees up to rest her chin on. She glanced over at him curiously. “Hey, d’you know where Logan is?”

Remy’s brow furrowed, and then he remembered what Ororo had told him that morning.

He glanced warily at Jean. “He’s… out. With Stormy.”

A sad smile crossed her face. “Oh. On a date….”

Remy nodded. “Sorry-“

She shook her head. “I’m not mad. I’m… actually kind of glad in a way. I know Logan was waiting for me and everything, but like I told him, I… I’m just not ready. I’m not sure if I ever will be. So… I’m glad, if they’re happy together. Ororo deserves it. Logan too.”

She glanced over at him. “You know, seeing you up here’s made me realize how much of a hermit I’ve become. I think I’ve seen you once, in the weeks I’ve been here, and that was the day I woke up.” She said, with a disbelieving laugh. “It’s good to see you again, Remy.”

Remy grinned. “Good t’see you too, Jeannie. I don’ blame you though. Someone tryin’ to take over my mind? I’d be fightin’ wit’ ev’rythin’ I got and lockin’ myself away too. How… how’s it comin’ wit’ de phoenix thing?”

Jean sighed. “Actually pretty decent the last week or so. I think Charles and I have made a lot of progress. Maybe you’ll start seeing more of me around the mansion,” she said with a small smile.

“Good,” Remy said, grinning. “Sure everyone else’d like dat too.”

Remy drained the rest of the bottle in one long gulp, and tossed it into the cardboard container he’d bought it in. He pulled out the sixth bottle, and popped the cap off with another burst of kinetic charge.

Jean’s eyebrows rose when she looked at the empty bottles. “That’s quite a bit of alcohol.”

Remy shrugged. “Not for me. My body metabolizes it too damn fast. Need at least a six pack of 8 percent to get me close to buzzin’.” He said.

Jean nodded in understanding. “To power your abilities.”

Remy nodded. “Yep. Takes a lot of energy. I’m hungry all de time, too.”

Several minutes of silence passed as Remy slowly savored the last beer, and Jean stared out into the darkness of the mansion grounds.

“So,” Jean began quietly, “you and Rogue, huh?”

Remy grinned. “Yeah, me an’ Rogue. Best girl I ever met. Don’ know what I’d do without her.”

“Well, that’s good, I guess. I… I know she was dating Bobby before. Kind of figured it wouldn’t end up working out – they just didn’t seem right for each other.”

Remy grimaced. “He’s not a bad kid, but I think he needed a wakeup call. Rogue caught him lockin’ lips wit’ Kitty.”

Jean’s eyes widened. “Oh! She can’t have taken that well, with her issues with her powers.”

Remy shook his head. “She almost took de cure. Decided at de last minute dat dere’s more in de world den just Bobby Drake.” He smiled fondly. “Been tough, gettin’ her self esteem higher than it was, ‘specially wit’ dat, but she’s startin’ t’get stronger, more sure of herself. More expressive, wit’ me at least, outta de shell her powers put her in.”

He sighed. “Guess it wasn’ exactly de best move today pushin’ her away an’ leavin’ for most of de day,” he muttered.

At Jean’s curious look, he reluctantly explained. “In de Danger Room today, I lost it. Saw someone from m’past, an’ tried t’kill a hologram. Den I jus’ left – she was tryin’ t’make sure I was alright, but I couldn’ deal wit’ it den.”

Jean nodded, and then placed a hand on his shoulder as she stood up from her spot on the roof. “Yeah, maybe not so good. Sounds like you should clear the air – apologize to her. Maybe she’s still awake….”

Remy stood slowly as well, draining the final sip from the bottle. “Y’right. Might as well not wait. Thanks for listenin’, Jeannie.”

Jean smiled, and stepped back to allow him to stoop down and collect the empty bottles. “It’s no trouble. It’s… I actually forgot how nice it can be to talk to someone besides yourself in your own mind. See you around, Remy.”

“Hope so – good talkin’ again, Jeannie.”

He balanced the bottles in the box, and slowly walked toward his balcony – he’d clean up, brush his teeth, and see if Rogue was still awake. Sarah too, for that matter – he hoped she’d not been too worried either.

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

Ororo smiled over her glass as Logan walked back from the bartender, two new drinks in hand. She had to admit she’d been rather skeptical when his idea for a ‘date’ was to come to Harry’s Bar and Grill in downtown North Salem, which was more bar than grill.

He’d talked her into giving it a try, and she was glad she had. While it wasn’t the most romantic place to go on a date, they’d found a small table in the back of the small dining area that was rather secluded, and she was actually having a lot of fun with Logan.

“Alright, here y’go,” Logan said, setting down another martini in front of her, and twisted his mug of home-brewed beer around in his hands.

“So – how about a game or two of pool?” Logan asked, nodding over to one of the open pool tables.

Ororo glanced over to the scuffed up table, and shrugged. “Sure. But I’ll warn you I’m not really that great.”

Logan grinned. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll go easy on ya.” He said as she stood up next to him.

She raised an eyebrow and elbowed him in the gut, and he led her, laughing, over to the table and picked up the cue stick.

They played through their first game relatively quickly, and while Ororo knocked in some decent shots, Logan ended up winning.

He cajoled her into playing another game. “You’re not ‘fraid of losin’ again, are ya?” He said.

She rather firmly passed him his cue stick once he racked all the balls and rolled the cue ball to the other side of the table. “You break. Loser teaches the other’s classes next week.”

“You’re on,” Logan said. He bent over the table, and sent the cueball down the table, knocking apart the pyramid of billiard balls. One of them made it into the corner pocket.

“Alright, I’m solids.” He said, and moved to shoot again, but just missed making it into a side pocket.

Ororo smiled, and set up to shoot the cue ball. She struck it, and it slammed into a group of four colored balls, each of which flew across the table into separate pockets.

She looked innocently up at Logan who was looking at her with his jaw loosely hanging down, shocked.

“You- you been hustlin’ me?”

Ororo grinned devilishly. “Maybe. Guess that’ll teach you to be so cocky.” She said with a chuckle.

Logan shook his head in amazement as she swiftly cleared the table and sunk the 8-ball in a short manner, without him ever getting another shot. The solid thunk as the 8-ball sunk into the corner pocket she had called signified both the end of the game and the beginning of a coming week of teaching all of her classes.

“You – are devious,” Logan said, scowling playfully at her.

She chuckled richly, and looped her arm through his. “Thank you. I learned how to play, and how to hustle poor dupes like you, from Remy.”

Logan growled. “I’ll hafta make him take the classes then.” He muttered.

Ororo stopped and poked his chest, leaning up to kiss his cheek. “No, you won’t. or I’ll have to tell him how you got hustled.”

Logan groaned, and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Alright, darlin’. It’s gettin’ late. You wanna get outta this place?”

She nodded, and let him leave to pay up his tab. He returned several minutes later, and grabbed her hand. “Back to the mansion?”

“Yeah. But let’s drive around a bit – enjoy the night?”

“Sure,” he said, as they walked out the door of the bar into the cool air of the night.

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

Rogue woke up to a sweet, flowery smell, and realized she had something grasped in her hand. She lifted her head from where she lay on her side, and blinked her eyes open until the outside world came into focus.

She gasped when she realized she was holding a bouquet of purplish-red roses that were resting next to her head on the pillow. She reached into the plastic bag covering the stems, and pulled out the piece of white paper that had been tucked in amongst the dozen roses.

She unfolded it, and saw Remy’s sloppy handwriting scrawled across it, and she realized he’d must have come back after she’d fallen asleep.

‘Désolé, Chére,’ was the simple message on the note.

She clutched the note to her chest, a tear escaping down her cheek. She smiled, and brought the flowers up to her nose, inhaling their scent.

“You’re way too sweet, Remy LeBeau,” she muttered as she set the flowers back down on the bed and stood up to get dressed.

She quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a light t-shirt, and haphazardly made the bed. She grabbed the cup she kept near the bedside in case she wanted a drink of water, and walked to the bathroom to fill it up. She carried it back to the bedroom, set it on the nightstand, and carefully placed the stems of the bouquet into it.

She fixed up her hair, and almost laughed at her own expression, the silly smile that had splayed across her lips.

‘Well someone’s nice and perky for seven in the morning,’ Carol’s amused voice echoed through her head.

“Oh shush. Ah can’t help it mah boyfriend is so romantic.”

Carol laughed. ‘I’m just teasin’ you. He’s quite a catch. Just remember I’ll be here in your head, scolding you if you let him get away.’

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

Rogue finished preparing herself for her Friday, and made her way downstairs. She was about to head to the kitchen, but she heard Sarah’s voice from inside the TV room, and then heard Remy answer her.

She peeked her head into the room and saw the two of them sitting on the couch. Remy was holding up what looked like a set of hand-made flash cards.

He flipped the next one forward for her. “Chlorophyll….” She muttered, frowning in thought. “It’s… it’s the part of a plant that makes it a green color, an’ it helps it make food usin’ sunlight.”

Remy grinned. “You got it, petite.”

Sarah glanced over his shoulder and spotted Rogue in the doorway. “Rogue!” She said cheerfully, “Remy’s helpin’ me get ready for my science test today.”

“That’s great, sweetie,” Rogue said – the final tests for most of the younger students started the week after next, and they were getting through their last sections this week, and that included testing on just the last section which differed from the comprehensive part of the last tests. It reminded her that her own finals were coming up just as quickly.

“Hey, Chére,” Remy said, turning in his seat and looking warily at her, not sure if she was angry with him or not.

“G’mornin’, Remy,” Rogue said with a smile, and leaned down to kiss him soundly on the lips.

“Mornin’,” Remy said a bit breathlessly at the unexpected greeting, and sighed in relief.

He turned to Sarah. “Petite, you’re doin’ great – why don’ you keep practicin’ on your own for a little bit – I gotta talk with’ Rogue. Den I’ll start makin’ us breakfast, hein?”

Sarah nodded, and took the flashcards from him. “Okay, Remy.”

Remy stood, and grabbed Rogue’s hand, and they walked out into the hallway, and to the empty kitchen.

“Yah make those cards for her?” Rogue asked quietly.

Remy smiled. “Oui. Still remember when Tante Mattie used to do dat for me an’ Henri, so I figured it’d help her.”

They entered the deserted kitchen and walked over to one of the tables. Remy pulled out her seat for her, and then sat down next to her. “So… you get de flowers?”

Rogue smiled sweetly. “Yes, that’s what that kiss was for. Thank yah. You didn’ need t’apologize – “

He shook his head and rested a fingertip on her lips. “Non, I did. Y’were jus’ tryin’ to help an’ I gave you de cold shoulder. I’m sorry, Chére.”

Rogue smiled, and kissed his cheek. “You’re forgiven, sugah. As long as ya’ll tell me what that was about.”

“Kinda already did,” Remy murmured.

She frowned, and then her eyes widened, Sabretooth’s image matching up with the description of the man he’d told her about days before. “Paris?” She asked.

He nodded sadly. “He was de bastard dat killed Ginny, an’ nearly killed Henri. I… I tol’ you I didn’ think I could keep from killin’ him if I saw his face again.”

“Ah’m sorry, Remy,” she said, moving her hand up to grasp his forearm. “Th’professor – none of us knew…” she trailed off.

He shook his head. “S’alright, I know dere was no way of knowin’. Jus’…. Dat was de last person I expected to see again, an’ we’d just talked about it, so it was really fresh in my heart – I flipped. Thanks for snappin’ me out of it.” He swallowed. “How – how d’you guys know him?”

Rogue looked at him hesitantly, and squeezed his arm. “We ran inta him when Ah first came here. In fact, he tossed a tree inta Logan’s truck up in Canada when Ah was hitchin’ a ride with him. Ororo and’ th’others saved us, and brought us here. He was with Magneto, so he was there when Magneto started his machine,” she said, fingering a lock of the white streak in her hair.

“Tried to kill Ororo a few times… the Professor deliberately had our team face him because he wasn’t sure how she’d react…”

Remy’s expression darkened. “Another reason den.” He muttered.

“Stop,” she said, reaching up to touch his chin. “Ah hope ta God we never see him again. Ah don’ want yah with that on your conscience too.”

Remy glanced away, properly abashed. “Sorry.”

Rogue smiled slightly. “Now, Ah understand why yah did it, why yah blew up on him. But why’d yah leave? Ororo said she’s seen yah do it sometimes when she stayed with yah.”

He sighed, and when he glanced up at her she was surprised by the vulnerable look in his eyes. “I didn’ want you to see me like that. Full of rage an’ hate. Scare myself sometimes wit’ it, an’ I didn’ want you scared of me. Dat’d kill me.”

She chewed on her lip for a moment. “Remy… Ah don’t think that’s really fair.”

He looked up at her skeptically. “Oh?”

She nodded. “Yah shouldn’t’ be afraid t’let me see yah like that. It won’ change mah feelin’s for yah. Ah… yah saw me at mah worst, with Carol, saw what mah powers can lead to, not even rememberin’ who Ah was. An’ yah still stuck by me despite that. Next time, trust me t’do that with you.”

Remy sighed heavily, and nodded as she slid the palm of her hand against his cheek. “Alrigh’, Chére. I won’ run again.”

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. “Sorry,” he said again, lightly touching his lips to hers.

“Ah know,” she whispered, her eyes closed as she reveled at his closeness.

A small grin cracked across her face, and she opened her eyes to look into his. “Now, show me you’re really sorry by makin’ me an’ Sarah a big breakfast.”

He chuckled, and tenderly kissed her forehead. “Alrigh’. I take it you ain’t gonna help?”

She shook her head. “Nope, you’re on your own. But… Ah’ll go help Sarah with those flash cards.”

Remy nodded, and stood up. “Alrigh’ den, I’ll let you two know when it’s ready.” He said, and watched her leave the room for a moment before shaking his head.

“Women – so damn confusin’ sometimes,” he grumbled to himself as he pulled out the pancake mix.

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

Kitty reached up and pulled one of the earbuds from her ear when she heard a loud knock at her door. She continued scrolling down her computer screen. “Door’s open,” she called.

She glanced away for a moment to see who it was before focusing on the screen again. “Hey Pete, what’s up.”

“Kitty, you haven’t left your room all day,” he said, and she heard a note of concern in his voice that caused her to slowly pull her attention away from the computer.

She rubbed at her tired eyes, and shook her head. “Sorry, I’ve been busy. What time is it?”

“Seven o’clock. You’ve been up here for twelve hours straight,” he said.

She looked up at him with a startled expression, and turned to glance out the window and saw the setting sun. She’d been aware she had been working on the Purifier hard drives for a few hours, but hadn’t realized time had slipped away so fast.

Piotr handed her a plate, which held a large warm sandwich. “I made you something to eat.” He said. “Don’t worry, it’s all vegetarian – grilled portabella with onions, peppers and tomatoes.”

She smiled and took the plate, and cocked her head in his direction. “Thanks Pete, that was sweet of you.”

He looked slightly embarrassed. “Well, I was worried about you. You didn’t have lunch, and probably wouldn’t have had dinner either.”

She blushed slightly. “You’re probably right. I totally lost track of time. I can be a bit OCD when it comes to this stuff.”

She took a bite of the sandwich, and her eyes widened again. “Mm, this’s really good, Pete.”

Piotr smiled. “Thank you.”

He then nodded at the stack of hard drives resting on her desk. “So how’s it going?”

She groaned as she swallowed another bite. “Slow. There’s so many of them with head crashes, and most of them with even more – damaged PCBs, and disk platters, not to mention the one with the bullet hole,” she said, waving the sandwich in her hand at the offending hard drive.

“I’ve repaired what I could but I don’t have a clean room to replace most of the stuff, so I’ve had to just rip a disk image and go through that, and those have been crap to go through.”

She brought a hand up to cover her mouth and smother a laugh at the glazed-over look in Piotr’s eyes.

He blinked and then blushed again. “Sorry, I understood maybe a quarter of what you just said.”

Kitty nodded. “Sometimes I forget not everyone’s a computer geek like me,” she said over a mouthful of sandwich.

She waved her hand for him to come closer, and she shoved her second desk chair over to him. “I’ll explain it if y’want,” she said.

He moved over and sat on the chair, scooting it in closer to her and to the computer screen. She tossed the last quarter of the sandwich on the plate, and grabbed one of the hard drives.

“So, every hard drive is sort of its own little machine. Tiny moving parts, all needing to be pretty much perfectly aligned to work right. A PCB is a printed circuit board – it’s this really thin set of copper sheets that they etched a bunch of pathways into. It’s sorta the support for the wiring and everything. That’s hard to recover from unless you go to a professional, and I’m not sure we want to take these to one of them.”

“A platter is this flat magnetic disk – if you’ve ever seen pictures it’s that big main disk in the hard drive. That’s where the data is stored. If that gets damaged, you’re not gonna have much luck.”

“Fortunately most of the damage is from a head crash. A head is sorta like those head things on record players, you know?”

Piotr nodded, smiling as she animatedly explained it to him.

“They do the same for the platters, and sometimes in an impact they actually touch them and dig in and wreck the data where they hit. Those I can get stuff from with the imaging stuff I mentioned.”

“Basically it’s like a giant scan of everything on the disk. Takes a while to get everything, and then you have to go through it. Some of these lost their file names, and they’re just going by numbers, so I hafta go through each one manually and figure out what it says and what to name it. And some of them you only get half the stuff and the rest is a garbled mess.”

Piotr nodded in understanding. “So you’ve been going through every file on every hard drive.”

Kitty grimaced, and rubbed her eyes again. “Yeah. It’s not very fun. Especially when most of it is just a bunch of garbage like payroll, ordering new supplies, lunch plans, e-mails between other people asking what they’re doing over the weekend, that sort of stuff. There is some juicy stuff though, hints of stuff going on higher up – some sort of project started up recently, but I can’t figure out where or what it is. Lots of info on the other Purifier branches in the area though.”

Piotr smiled, and rested his hand briefly on her shoulder. “You’re doing great work, Kitty, just… don’t work yourself ragged like this. Everyone’s worried – I’m worried. I know this helps you forget things back home, but it’s not much if you starve yourself and end up getting sick.”

Kitty nodded, looking away for a moment. “I guess so. Thanks. I’ll… I promise I’ll at least take some breaks, okay?” She asked, reaching up to lay her hand over his where it rested on his shoulder. “Thank you for worrying about me.”

He smiled softly. “Can’t help it. Just… talk to me sometime. This doesn’t have to be the only way you escape thinking about everything else.”

She softly squeezed the fingers of her hand with her own, and then dropped her hand into her lap. “I know,” she said quietly.

“Kitty?” He asked, building up his courage.

“Yeah, Pete.”

“There’s an art expo coming to town next weekend, and I thought I’d go. D’you want to come with me? I know it’s the weekend before finals, but I figure by then we’ll already have fried our brains studying and need a break… I mean, it’s not like-“

Kitty grinned, and broke him off. “Sure. I’ll come,” she said.

Piotr smiled, and nodded, a hint of relief in his expression. “Alright, I’ll reserve us tickets.” He said.

“Cool,” Kitty said.

Piotr stood up, suddenly feeling much better than when he’d entered the room. “I’ll… leave you to your hard drives then. Just make sure you don’t forget to sleep, too.”

Kitty nodded, and picked up the rest of the sandwich again. “Thanks for takin’ care of me, Petey,” she said, teasingly using the nickname his sister used for him, and then grabbed her mouse with her free hand.

He shook his head, seeing her become once again engrossed in the files she was searching through, and he quietly closed the door behind him.

He leaned his back against it, and sighed happily. It wasn’t exactly a date, certainly nothing official and this close to her parent’s divorce, but he’d be spending most of a day with her away from the mansion, so that was something, wasn’t it? He thought happily to himself.

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

“And Humanity’s Last Stand, an openly anti-mutant organization formed in the last year and compared by many people to a Mutant KKK, has generated new outrage, with their announcement of their intent to “Adopt” several miles of highway in Georgia, Tennessee, and Arizona under the “Adopt-A-Highway” program.”

“If the program approves of their application, signs along those stretches of highway would be set up which indicate their group is responsible for cleaning that area. This isn’t the first time an openly anti-genetic or anti-race organization has done something like this – a short lived anti-mutant group called Pure Genes attempted something similar, but shut down before the application was processed.”

“In the past the KKK applied in a number of places, and in some were even approved, and signs were placed on those stretches of highway. So such a thing is not without precedent, and some believe that, at least in Georgia, there is a good chance they will succeed.”

Graydon hit the ‘Mute’ button on the remote control as the story ended, and wrapped his arm around his wife. “Enough news.” He said, grinning.

Mikaela leaned forward to kiss him, when a knock came at the door, and moments later Ron entered. She pouted to Graydon, and sat back with a sigh.

“Make this quick, Ron – what is it,” Graydon said, clearly frustrated himself at the lack of time he’d been able to spend with his wife.

“Yeah, I’ll be quick,” Ron said, a broad grin on his face. “Gray – they did it!”

Creed frowned. “Who did what?”

“The A.I. project – the SENTINELs. They had their field test on Monday. It was a complete success. Apparently the joint chiefs are planning to put it into full production. Our man told me today, he waited to make sure they worked out a few tiny bugs that showed up, but now they’re all ready, and we need to act.”

“It was a success?”

Maldrone nodded. “Completely. They set up mock battle conditions in a town, and the SENTINELS went through and took out every hostile and took only cosmetic damage to their paint. And no one else was harmed, only the ones acting as the enemy.”

“And our man’s ready? He’s sure we can pull this off?”

Maldrone nodded. “I already went over our extraction plans with him, and the base in Michigan is ready for us to move them in once we hijack them. Then it’s just a matter of the modified programming, a bit of testing, and then mass production. By your Inauguration Day, we should have a good thousand ready, best case scenario. All ready for you to bring out to the public.”

Graydon grinned. “That is great news, Ron. Thanks for letting me know – go ahead with the operation to retrieve the SENTINELS. I want this done as soon as possible.”

Ron nodded, and moved toward the door. “I’ll get in contact with the team leader right away.”

As the door shut behind him, Graydon turned to his wife, who he thought looked positively radiant after the news. “Celebrate, shall we?” he murmured, pulling her onto his lap.

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


Remy slowly rubbed down the horse next to Sarah after their short ride. He’d pulled her and Rogue out early in the morning for a quick ride to give Sarah a break from her studies. He’d already planned to pull her aside for his talk later on in the day, so he’d enjoyed the ride while he could.

His phone began to ring, and he reached into his pocket. He was about to grab his regular cell, when he realized the ring was different. He fished deeper, and pulled out the slim phone from S.H.I.E.L.D., and flipped it open.

“This’s Gambit,” he said after ensuring it had set up its encrypted connection correctly.

“Agent Gambit, this is Carter,” she said over the connection. “I know you all were planning on that practice session with the rest of the team tomorrow to get used to each other, but unfortunately something’s come up, and we need all of you. You’re going to have to wing it as a team.”

“Gotcha,” Remy said. “When?”

“Be at the pickup site in half an hour if you can. Sooner if possible.”

“Alright. I’ll tell Rogue, but you better call de others because I’m not near all of dem.”

“Thanks. See you soon, soldier.” Carter said, and the connection clicked off.

“Who was that, Remy?” Sarah asked curiously.

Remy put a hand on her shoulder. You remember dat secret team I tol’ you ‘bout? De one dat’ll help us get de Purifiers?”

She nodded, her eyes wide.

“We just got a mission. We gotta leave in fifteen minutes to drive to meet somewhere.”

He led the horse back out onto the pasture, and removed the bit from her mouth, allowing her to trot off to the other horses. “You be a good girl, hein? Study while I’m gone.”

Sarah nodded, and grabbed his hand as they walked toward the front of the barn where Rogue was – he still had to tell her.

“Alright – be really careful, Remy.”

“I will, petite. See you soon as I get back.


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French Phrases/words:
Je suis navré – I’m extremely sorry (literally: I’m heartbroken)
Désolé - Sorry
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A/N: Well, hope you all liked it. LOL, I couldn’t resist throwing in an “I’m a doctor” line. :D Nor could I resist throwing in Essex or the crack about him and Remy’s brain. :p

So, lots of action, and lots of development (Ah, Piotr and Kitty are working out great whenever I write them – they’re just so darned cute together)– and we see hints of coming (big) events. We’re also slowly counting down to the end of this fic – I’m guessing right now that Chapter 34 or 35 will be the last, and then it’s on to the sequel.

As I said at the start, more frequent updates are now here, so be looking for the next chapter next weekend. Next chap: X-Force mission, Sarah and Remy have a talk, a bit of thievery (not involving Remy this time!), and plenty more! See y’all next time.