STORY SUMMARY: This is a sequel to my story Born at the Right Time, in which Gambit and Echo (an original character) are taken prisoner by the Friends of Humanity and rescued by the X-Men. A story of love, loyalty, and glee club.
STORY NOTES: Like I said, this is a sequel to my story Born at the Right Time (http:/www. fanfiction. net /s/6812069/1/Born_at_the_Right_Time ), which is set more or less concurrently with X1 and X2. It also draws on the events of Five Nights in Five Bars, a shorter story I wrote about Echo and Gambit. If for some reason you want to read this but none of the previous stories, well, I won't stop you, but you might find it confusing. I suppose all you'd really need to know is that Gambit and Echo are Brotherhood members, and Echo's abilities are empathy and the ability to magnify the powers of other mutants, and she had been held by Stryker.
It also draws on the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the first two X-Men movies, but not The Last Stand. (Because eff The Last Stand.) I also pulled in pieces of Gambit's comics backstory, but not some of the weirder stuff. If you don't know comics, no worries.
Much like Born at the Right Time, this story is pretty shameless in its pursuit of hurt/comfort. Grad school is stressful, I just want to write thousands of words about cuddling with Remy LeBeau, okay?
Rated M for sexy times in later chapters (between consenting adults).
COPYRIGHT NOTES: Like, duh, the X-Men and the Brotherhood all belong to Marvel and Fox. And Stan Lee.
Echo and Gambit are curled up in the couch in the apartment they're sharing in East Atlanta. They're watching The Pelican Brief, which makes Gambit homesick for New Orleans and riles up Echo's environmentalist streak. The movie ends and they remain on the couch watching the DVD menu loop for a few minutes before Echo untangles herself from Gambit enough to grab the remote off the coffee table.
"Times like this I really wish I were telekinetic," she grumbles.
"We'd be quite the team if you were," Gambit muses. "Not that we're not quite a team already," he adds quickly. She pulls herself up onto his lap and smiles.
"Nice save," she says, and kisses him. The kissing progresses and they almost don't hear the sounds in the hallway. Almost.
Skittish Echo notices first and pulls away. "Did you hear that?"
"Nothing to hear, cher," Gambit replies, tugging her gently back toward him.
"No, listen. I-I think someone's in the hallway."
"Other people live here too, you know." But he removes his collapsible staff from his pocket and snaps it open, just in case. Then someone kicks their door open. Gambit had perhaps been ready for a fight, but neither of them were prepared to be immediately hit with tranquilizer darts.
Echo wakes up in a dark, damp room. Someone is kicking her in the face.
"Looks like this pretty little mutie finally woke up," a harsh voice jeers.
She thinks of things she wants to say: Who are you? and Where am I? and What do you want with me? and Please stop, but she's pretty sure none of those will get any kind of answer from this man. She tries to twist away from him and look around. She realizes that it's not that the room is dark, it's that she's blindfolded. She reaches out tentatively with her power to see if she can sense Remy, but she can't find anyone. More blows come and she hears a whimpering sound. It takes her another minute to realize it's coming from her. She tries to shield her face with her arms. She tries to think. She can't fight this. Not for the first time, she wishes she had a more useful mutant power.
"Where's your Brotherhood now, bitch?" someone asks. She thinks it's a different voice than before but she can't be sure. Her face is wet. Is she crying? She's crying and bleeding. Where is the Brotherhood? she wonders. Is that what this is? Some kind of play to get at Magneto? And where's Remy?
She takes a deep breath and corrals all of her strength. She focuses on trying to find a man she's only met once, but who she thinks might be willing and able to help her. If she can find him. She pushes out with her power farther than she ever has before. She feels lightheaded and knows she is about to faint, but she's not sure if it's from her power or from the beating she's receiving. She keeps searching as long as she possibly can and gasps when she finds him. She focuses as hard as she can on Charles Xavier and sends him a mental letter of terror. From him she feels gentle surprise and reassurance. Then her world goes black again.
Xavier had been shocked to receive a telepathic cry for help. He'd quickly placed the mental signature as belonging to Echo, the woman who had been forced to help him operate Stryker's Cerebro. He'd been following her occasional appearances in the news. It seemed she had taken on a role as a spokeswoman for the Brotherhood, though he never heard or saw anything about her participating in any of the Brotherhood's acts of terrorism. From what little he knew about the woman, she didn't seem like the type for that kind of life-but he knew as well as anyone how persuasive Erik could be. And with a power like hers, he was sure that Erik was very interested in persuading her to stay.
He'd pinpointed her location, but could no longer find her. He guesses she had lost consciousness, and hopes she hadn't died. He mentally searches the area near where he had last felt her and finds members of the Friends of Humanity. He sends a telepathic message around the mansion and assembles the X-Men.
He tells them the FOH have at least one young mutant in their custody and seem to be torturing her. He hesitates, then tells them that it's Noriko Oyama.
Scott scowls. "Shouldn't Magneto go save her, then?"
Xavier raises his eyebrows, though he's not surprised. Scott hasn't been himself since Jean died. Or perhaps this is Scott's self-he has always hated Magneto.
Logan, recently returned from another trip to find his past, surprises him by saying, "Let's go get her. She's better than Magneto. And... I owe her."
Scott snorts. "You owe her?"
"I killed her sister," Logan says, blunt and a little ashamed.
This quiets Scott. Hank speaks up and says, "If the FOH have her, time is of the essence. Let us be off."
"I agree," Ororo says.
They suit up and depart in the Blackbird. Xavier hopes he's not sending his team into a trap. But he hadn't detected an overwhelming number of FOH members, and he has confidence in the skills of his X-Men.
They touch down at the coordinates Xavier had supplied. It's a lonely house in rural Georgia, and they land right in the yard. Cyclops makes short work of their security system. In the basement they find Gambit, unconscious and chained to the wall. He's clearly worse for the wear, but based on Hank's quick once-over, he thinks the man will be fine. Wolverine shreds the chain and carries the unconscious man back to the Blackbird. He gasps in horror when Hank trails after him, carrying an almost unrecognizable, bloody mess.
"Jesus," he says.
"Oh my Goddess," says Storm.
"Is she...?" Cyclops asks.
"She's breathing," Beast says, grimly. "Let's get back to New York as quickly as possible."
As Cyclops and Storm pilot them back to Westchester as fast as the Blackbird is capable, Logan and Hank examine their charges.
"Noriko, can you hear me?" Hank asks, giving her a gentle shake. Logan watches with interest. He doubts she'll sit up and say hello, but there was always the chance that she was just sleeping. But she doesn't respond.
"Her head should be elevated," Hank notes. "Logan, would you mind helping me?"
"Sure," Logan says. He hesitates, looking at the mass of blood and bruises. Hank, his blue hands encased in extra-large latex gloves, motions for Logan to come closer. He hands Logan his own pair of gloves. "Hold her head still, like this," he demonstrates to Logan. "Be firm, but don't squeeze." Logan carefully follows instruction. Her hair is sticky. Hank carefully dabs at her injuries with alcohol wipes. He goes through several before her face looks clean, which only makes the bruises and swelling more apparent. Hank clucks his tongue.
He gets a cushion and neck brace from his field medical kit and quickly stabilizes her head. Logan watches as Hank bends over her face. He shines a light in her eyes and frowns. He listens to her breathing. He pokes a small plastic tube into her mouth.
"Is she okay?" Logan asks.
Hank sighs. "The severity of her wounds would indicate some kind of brain trauma is present. Her pupils were both dilated, another sign. I'll need to do a CT scan as soon as possible. It's likely she has other broken bones as well, though the head injuries are certainly the most dire. We won't be able to diagnose those until she regains consciousness-if she regains consciousness, which I think is likely, though not definite. So, to answer your question, I suppose, no, she isn't okay."
Hank covers her with a blanket and turns to Gambit, who doesn't wake up with a shake either. Hank cleans Gambit's face and reveals a black eye, but nothing so dramatic as Noriko's face.
"Oh, my stars and garters," Hank says.
"What?"
"Look at this," he says, indicating Gambit's hand. It looks wrong somehow, but Logan isn't exactly sure why.
"They've broken every one of his fingers."
"Jesus," Logan says. After a thoughtful pause, he adds, "Is he, uh, okay?"
Hank shrugs. "Again, I can't say definitively until he regains consciousness, but he doesn't appear to have sustained any life-threatening injuries."
When they return to Westchester, Logan helps Hank get a backboard out of the medbay and they take Nori down into the basement. Logan and Scott go back for Gambit while Hank cares for Nori. By the time they come back with Gambit, she's bandaged, in a hospital gown, and hooked into an IV drip of something.
"Ah, Logan. Could you wash your hands and help me with this?" Hank asks. Scott stands awkwardly by and watches as Logan holds Nori's head while Hank smoothly sticks a plastic tube down her throat. It looks unpleasant to Logan, though he supposes it beats dying.
Logan helps Hank X-ray Gambit's fingers and watches as he applies braces to each. He's not sure when he became the defacto nurse around here, but he guesses it was right around the time Jean Grey died. And anyway, he's not squeamish.
Hank begins taking notes on his new patients, now that they're what he calls stable.
Logan sits down in the chair between Nori and Remy and waits. Hank gives him a magazine and a communicator and asks him to call when either of them wakes up.
He sits for hours and neither of them stirs. He's read Newsweek cover to cover. Hank comes down with a plate of dinner and another magazine.
"You can go upstairs if you'd like," Hank tells him.
Logan shakes his head. "I'd like to be there when... when they wake up. They did right by me a few months ago. I'd like to do right by them."
Hank nods and hands him the plate. "I thought you might say that."
Logan didn't think he'd be hungry after staring at Noriko's ruined face for so long, but his heightened metabolism ensures that he is. He eats and tells Hank what he knows about Echo and Gambit. He hadn't told anyone besides Xavier about his trip to Louisiana, or his subsequent trip to Three Mile Island.
Hank lifts his eyebrows. "Stars and garters," he says mildly, "that's quite a story."
Logan shrugs.
"I've seen Noriko on the news," Hank says. "I must confess I was confused as to how she got caught up with Magneto's nonsense."
"She told me she owed Magneto her life, and that she thought she could be a good influence on him," Logan remembers.
"Hmm," Hank says noncomittally. He checks on all the machines hooked up to Noriko and makes a few adjustments. "Well, Logan, I thank you for your assistance. Please call me if you need assistance, or if Remy—or Nori—wake up."
"Later, fuzzball," Logan says.
He dozes lightly in the chair. He wakes up suddenly when he hears movement. He turns his head and sees LeBeau groaning and examining his bandaged hands. He adjusts the light in the room from low to medium.
"Hey, pal. How you feeling?" Logan asks.
"Where'mI?" Remy slurs, his Cajun accent stronger than Logan remembers.
"You're okay. We're in Xavier's basement. Let me call the doctor down."
Remy looks panicked, but Logan quickly calls Hank, who arrives in the medbay looking like a giant blue prepster in khakhis and an Xavier's polo shirt. Hank introduces himself, checks Remy over and announces, "Well, Mr. LeBeau, I tested your blood earlier and found a substantial amount of tranquilizer. It's working through your system somewhat faster than I might have imagined, but you're still somewhat under its effect. I believe in a few hours you should be more or less back to normal."
Remy waves his hands. "Wha'boutthese?"
"Ah, yes. I'm afraid all your fingers have been broken. They are clean breaks and should heal without surgery, but you will have to wear those braces for four to six weeks to ensure proper healing."
Remy looks at his fingers for a few long moments. "Nori?" he asks.
Hank hesitates. "Miss Oyama is here too."
Remy glances around and notices the other bed nearby. He tries to stand up but wobbles and has to sit back down. In doing so, he puts pressure on his hands and winces.
Logan gently pats Remy's shoulder. "I'll help you see her when your mind's a little bit clearer, okay, buddy?"
Remy seems to register Logan for the first time.
"Logan?"
"Yeah."
Remy looks at him hard. "Not with Stryker?"
"Stryker's dead, remember?"
Remy nods, slowly. Hank hands him a bottle of water. "Try to drink this, Mr. LeBeau. You're dehydrated."
The three of them sit together in the medbay for a little over an hour, when Remy's attempts at communcation begin to return to normal.
"Si vous plait, may I see Nori now? Look, I am fine."
Logan looks to Hank, who nods. Logan walks over and offers Remy a hand, then frowns. The Cajun probably shouldn't hold onto him with broken hands.
"Remy, try to stand up, and then Logan, put your shouder under his shoulder," Hank calls. It isn't really necessary—Remy seems capable of supporting himself, but Logan suspects he might be needed once Remy sees Nori. Before they reach her bed, Logan says, "Buddy, I gotta warn you. She looks rough."
Hank agrees. "There are a lot of facial contusions and swellings. It looks very dramatic."
They stop in front of Nori's bed. Her head is elevated at a 30 degree angle, meaning they see her face first.
Remy slowly sinks to his knees. "Mon dieu," he says. His hands hover over her, looking for a place to touch that isn't bandaged or bruised or holding an IV needle. "Is she...?"
Hank sighs. "She's currently stable. She's suffered a lot of head trauma and appears to have a traumatic brain injury, which we won't be able to diagnose until she regains consciousness. I'm also going to perform a CT scan on her to try to determine which areas of her brain may be damaged."
Remy lightly places one of his broken hands on a small spot of her left wrist that doesn't have anything attached to it. "Nori, ma mie, Je t'aime, wake up please. Do not leave me to be lonesome." His voice is quiet and raw. Logan feels like he's intruding on a private moment and takes a step back.
Remy draws a breath with difficulty. "How long until she wakes up?"
"Brain traumas are unpredictable. I would estimate a week, but it could be less. Or it could be longer. Or the possibility exists that she won't wake up at all." Remy turns then and gives Hank a desperate look. "Mr. LeBeau, I assure you that I'm doing the best I can for her. The human brain is extremely complex and modern medicine simply has not yet mastered its treatment."
Remy nods. "Of course. I... thank you, Dr. McCoy. Can I do anything for her now?"
"Well, Mr. LeBeau, you've suffered some trauma yourself, so make sure you take care of yourself. Keep drinking water. Are you hungry?" Remy shrugs. "We'll get you something to eat. As for Miss Oyama... well, we don't really know how responsive coma patients are. You could talk to her or read to her."
"She's in a coma? I, I thought she was just unconscious."
"Well, she has been unconscious for over six hours and does not respond to stimuli, so technically, she's comatose. But people come out of comas all the time, Mr. LeBeau. It's probably for the best that she's not conscious. It will give her body a chance to heal and let her sleep through the worst of the pain. Also, it will give her intracranial pressure time to decrease on its own."
Remy says, sadly, "I told her I would protect her."
"I'm sure you did the best you could," Hank says.
"Why would they do this to her? She never hurt nobody," Remy says. "If they wanted to beat on someone, it should have been me."
"Guys like them FOH types like to hurt people smaller than themselves," Logan says. "They get off on it." He instantly regrets his choice of words. But Remy nods and sighs. "Animals," he says.
He rubs his hand gently on Nori's wrist. Logan brings Remy a cup of coffee and a bowl of Cheerios, then goes to grab a quick nap in his own bed.