Unlocked

Pyro turned over on the soft mattress and stretched as he woke. About to lull himself back to sleep he was jarred a little to find his bedmate gone. He sat up in the silence and listened for any movement out in the apartment.

Maybe Gambit had gone down to the kitchen, he thought.

He listened harder but heard no movement from the floor below.

Pyro got up and felt around the floor for his pants. He’d tossed them somewhere in his haste to finish their playtime in a more stable location, other than the slippery shower. Locating a rolled cuff of the track pants, he sat on the edge of the bed to pull them on before feeling his way out of the bedroom. Quietly descending the stairs to the lower level, he continued to listen for any noise that would give away Gambit’s location. It was quiet and dark in the living room and he stood there for a moment longer, looking towards the dimly lighted front windows. Suddenly the front door slammed open and in staggered Gambit. He was dressed fully in his uniform and brown trench coat and was clutching his Bo staff.

"Wot the--!" Pyro exclaimed leaping back in surprise.

His hand immediately dove into his pocket to grasp his lighter.

Dropping the staff, Gambit collapsed to his knees. With a harsh cry of pain, he clutched his temples with both hands.

"Git outta my head!" he screamed at his unseen tormentor.

Pyro stood impotently, watching him cowering in the open doorway without a clue as to what to do.

Close the door, something said inside him. So he did.

Pyro reached down and tried to pull the agitated thief to his feet. But, with a savage growl, the man swept up his staff and belted the Aussie in the stomach. When Pyro released him, Gambit struck him squarely across the chest, and knocked him to the floor.

The Australian held one hand up to fend off another attack while he scrambled across the floor on his backside to get out of the way. In the other hand he clutched his Zippo, still very unwilling to torch his teammate.

"Rem!" he shouted using his nickname for the first time that night. "Rem, it's me!"

Storming towards him, the Cajun loomed over him with his staff upraised and ready to strike. Pyro didn't see any comprehension in his clouded eyes, so without any hesitation, he twisted quickly and kicked the thief's legs out from under him. Gambit landed hard on his back and Pyro heard the staff roll off into the darkness. He got down into a crouch beside him.

"Rem," he said tentatively, lifting his fists, ready to beat the potentially insane man senseless.

"Johnny?" he asked in a shaky voice.

"Yea, mate. It's me. Wot's goin' on in yer head?!"

Gambit clutched at his head again.

"Mon Dieu," he moaned, "oh, my head."

"Where've ya been?" Pyro asked reaching down to help him to sit upright.

Gambit allowed him to help this time and after a moment tried to shake away the lingering effects Mesmero still held over him.

"Don' know. Magneto was dere. I… was outside dis house. Dere was two other mutants… He 'ad wings an’…"

Gambit trailed and shrugged. He couldn’t really remember what had happened.

Pyro sat on his haunches and looked at him incredulously. How insane did all of that sound? How could he believe a story like that?

But how could he not believe it after seeing the normally confident almost arrogant Cajun sitting there hunched over dejectedly in the darkness of his living room.

Pyro sighed a little and proceeded to pull Gambit to his feet.

"I… gone all wobbly," he muttered, sounding surprised as he leaned heavily on Pyro's shoulder.

"C'mon. Upstairs we go."

The next evening, at a meeting with Magneto, Pyro learned the entire situation and met the man called Mesmero, who had orchestrated the entire theft of one half of the spider key. Shamed that he had been so thoroughly manipulated by the mutant, Gambit left the meeting once Magneto informed them that they would be going to London to get the other part of the key.

Pyro watched him go, but didn't bother to go after him. For one: he knew that Gambit would have to sort through it on his own. And two: it would have looked quite suspicious to the other men if he suddenly got up and ran to comfort his…

He paused a moment.

What were they to each other again?

Teammates?

Friends?

Boy friends?

Did the act of fucking make you more significant in someone’s life?

He snorted a little and laughed at himself. He was maybe a *little* insane, but he wa stu stupid. Gambit would regard him still as just a teammate and probably nothing more than that. Pyro mentally shrugged and tuned out the rest of the meeting.

It was all he could hope for, anyway.

But, at least they were going to London. He was happy about that. It would be an adventure.