Five Nights in Five Bars, a x-men: the movie fanfic

STORY SUMMARY: Five different bars, five different nights with Echo, Gambit, and Pyro. And Magneto.

STORY NOTES: This is a follow-up to my longer story Born at the Right Time, which takes place during an AU X1 and X2. You should probably read that before you read this, but in case for some reason you really don't want to but still want to read this, Born at the Right Time establishes Gambit as a member of the Brotherhood, along with my original character, Echo. Echo is basically an ex-hipster musician who can strengthen the powers of other mutants and joined up with the Brotherhood after William Stryker took an interest in her.

Also I completely disregarded Lady Deathstryke's comics backstory since a) it's never mentioned at all in the movie, and b) her comics backstory is seriously weird. I also pulled in some of Gambit's comics backstory, but not the time travel and stuff.

ET CETERA: I hope you like it! Please review it if you did, or if you just want to tell me it's lame.

1) karaoke bar

Gambit and Echo are walking uphill in San Francisco. They are ostensibly in town to do some recruiting for the Brotherhood. It's the first time they have been sent out to recruit, and Gambit isn't quite sure how to go about doing it. Echo had gone online and found a list of bars and clubs that are known to be mutant friendly. It's a pretty long list, and they've chosen to start in the Tenderloin, San Francisco's shadiest district. Walking the streets with Echo has made him realize how street smart she is, in a way that's completely opposite from himself. He still automatically looks for easy marks and undercover cops. She looks for threats, and has smoothly sidestepped a few pickpockets so far that night. She does it confidently, without looking like a tourist.

With a huge smile, she leads him to the Pandora Karaoke Bar.

"Cher, you think there are gonna be a lot of mutants in here?"

She shrugs. "At least two. Come on. I love karaoke. It's one of my people's greatest traditions."

"Who, mutants?"

"The Japanese."

"Guess it can't hurt," he sighs.

Once inside, she immediately adds her name to the karaoke list.

"What song did you pick?" he asks.

She smiles enigmatically and replies, "Just something to get in touch with my inner mess." He's used to her performances of folk music and classic rock, and he assumes she's picked something by Simon and Garfunkel. They take a seat at a small table and scope out the crowd while a tipsy young lady stumbles through a song Gambit doesn't recognize. No obvious mutants-those tend to hang out at shadier bars than this. But Echo nods toward a young man with an M tattooed on his neck sitting a few tables away. Then her eyes unfocus slightly-she's using her mutant power to see if any other mutants are using their own powers nearby. She shakes her head. "Doesn't mean he isn't one, though," she murmurs. "Just that he's not using it now."

Then the guy running the karaoke machine calls Echo's name. She grins and walks up to the small platform they're using as a stage.

Gambit looks at her appreciatively from afar. She's a small woman, but muscular. She has a wide smile that completely transforms her features. She's wearing black eyeliner, black boots, black fishnets and a short pink dress with a cropped silver jacket. He'd raised an eyebrow when she put on that outfit earlier in the evening, and she'd laughed and said, "You know, this is pretty much how I dressed all the time in the mid-90s. I wanted to be Courtney Love soo bad."

"Who is Courtney Love?" he'd asked, and she'd replied, "A mess." Then she'd cocked her head and asked if he really didn't know who she was. Then she'd asked if he knew who Kurt Cobain was. Then she'd said, well, she knew what they'd be listening to in the car when they left town. In the kinds of places Gambit had hung out before joining the Brotherhood, there was usually music playing, but it was just background noise, or to cover the sound of fighting. In the kinds of places Echo used to hang out, music was the foreground.

"Hey everybody, how's it going?" she asks, as the opening chords to her song play.

A few audience members yell incoherently. He's a little taken aback when Echo starts growling the opening to the song:

Oh make me over

I'm all I want to be

A walking study

In demonology

Hey,so glad you could make it

Yeah,now you really made it

Hey, so glad you could make it now

He's never heard her sound so angry. He watches her pace across the stage, a woman on fire. She howls the chorus and snarls select words of the verses.

Watching her perform for the first time, on a stage and not just in the living room of a Brotherhood safehouse, he thinks he's seeing the real Echo. Somehow, it makes their relationship make more sense. He's tried not to scrutinize it too much-he knows he loves her, and that's really enough-but she isn't his usual type. Not that she isn't pretty, but he's dated some knockouts. He'd found her vulnerability when she first came to the Brotherhood to be charming, though he hadn't wanted to base a whole relationship on being the knight to her damsel in distress. He loves her cleverness and her sweetness. Now, watching her take this dark little karaoke bar by storm, he realizes that she might be even more charismatic than he is. He wants to take her back to their hotel and fuck her.

He notes, a little jealously, that she makes eye contact with M tattoo guy as she snarls,

Can you stand up, or will you just fall down?

He applauds along with the rest of the bar when she gives a little curtsey and steps off stage. Then he watches her smile at the M tattoo guy. She nods at him, and he follows her to the bar. He keeps a close watch on them without looking like he's keeping a close watch. They are talking intensely, but the conversation seems friendly. After ten minutes of conversation, she leads her new friend back over to Gambit.

"Gambit, this is Quill. Quill, Gambit."

"I am pleased to meet you," Gambit says formally. He extends a hand. Quill takes it and squeezes, hard. He looks at Gambit aggressively, sizing him up. Gambit isn't sure what Quill's powers are, but he's pretty confident that he could win if it comes to a fight. But that's not why they're there.

"Easy, mon ami. We are all friends here, non?"

"Why don't we get out of here and go someplace... quieter?" Echo suggests. She puts a hand on one of Quill's in a pacifying gesture.

"Yeah. All right," Quill says. They go to a hotel lobby-not the lobby of the hotel they're staying at, just in case he turns out to be a snitch.

Quill leaves that night a tentative convert to the ideals of the Brotherhood. Gambit tells him that the Brotherhood is looking for operatives across the country who will keep their eyes and ears open in the mutant community and report back to them about anything out of the ordinary. Echo gives him a card with an untraceable voice mail number and a web address where he can anonymously send messages to the Brotherhood. Quill carefully pockets it.

"It was nice to meet you," Echo says with the utmost sincerity.

Quill nods. "You too." They walk out of the lobby and back out into the night. After Quill is out of sight, Echo smiles at Gambit. "That went pretty well, I thought."

"Cher, you were incroyable."

"Yeah, I can be pretty persuasive."

"Oui? I bet you could persuade me to do a few things right now, if you wanted." She smiles and links her elbow in his.

"Let's go find out," she says.

(Lyrics from "Celebrity Skin" by Hole.)

2) gay bar

Echo and Pyro are driving through Massachusetts. They've been driving across country for the last few days. They're a good team, because cheerful Echo is nearly impervious to Pyro's surly moods. Pyro is driving, under Echo's occasional supervision, and she's plugged her iPod into the car's stereo in an attempt to broaden Pyro's musical horizons. She'd nearly lost it when Pyro told her he'd never heard of Nirvana.

"Pyro. These are the anthems of the disaffected youth. Absolutely required listening. God, what were they teaching you at that school of yours?"

Pyro was forced to admit that he does like Nirvana, and they had listened to them all through Georgia and the Carolinas. And he had gotten a pass from Echo for his ignorance after she realized that he'd only been a toddler when Cobain killed himself.

But now they're listening to Echo's "Party Jamz" playlist in an attempt to add some energy to the car. Too many days on the road have led to slightly lowered spirits.

Now she's singing along with Electic Six:

I wanna take you to a gay bar

I wanna take you to a gay bar,

I wanna take you to a gay bar, gay bar, gay bar

She drums on the dashboard and Pyro laughs. "This is a weird song."

"You should see the video. It's hilarious, there are a bunch of gay versions of Abe Lincoln."

"Huh. So, do you go to a lot of gay bars?"

"Oh, gosh, millions of them. Lesbians love me, you know. Have you ever been to a gay bar?"

"Well. No, I haven't been to a gay bar. I haven't been to that many straight bars, either."

She frowns. "Oh, I guess not. But," she says, brightening, "Now you have a fake ID!"

"So, what... are you saying that you want to take me to a gay bar? Gay bar, gay bar?" he asks.

"I'm pretty confident that it would be awesome."

"Are you saying you think I'm gay?"

"No, I'm just saying I think gay bars are awesome."

"Echo..."

"Yes?"

"Fine, I'll go to a gay bar with you."

"Good. Now. How fast are you going?"

"Eighty," Pyro lies.

"Of course. Eighty. Just make sure you stay around that or under if you don't want a ticket. And don't roll your eyes at me," she says preemptively.

"Echo?"

"Yes?"

"Do you miss Gambit?"

She shrugs. "We haven't been gone that long."

"So..."

"Well, yes, a little. I don't really like to sleep by myself."

"I'll sleep with you," he says. "I mean! Not like that. Not that I don't think you're pretty. Just, um. I know you have nightmares sometimes."

"Thank you, Pyro," she says, biting back a laugh.

"Echo?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something, uh, personal?"

"Sure."

"How old were you when you lost your virginity?"

"I was eighteen. Had to wait until I was out from under my parents' hypervigilant eyes."

"And... did you always know that you liked guys?"

"No. I don't just like guys."

"You mean you're bi?"

"Yeah," she says casually. "I mean, I lost my virginity to a girl."

"Oh. Really?"

"Yeah. Rachael, my college roommate." She sighs. "I had it for her so bad."

"What happened?"

"She was a little bit more experienced than me and quickly picked up on my crush, and she asked me out. And... well. I lost my virginity," she says with a smile.

"How old were you the first time, you know, with a guy?"

"Oh, um, it was, let's see. Rachael and I broke up my sophomore year... okay, I was twenty the first time I had sex with a guy. And, um, it was awful."

"But you're not gay?"

"I'd call myself queer. I'm still attracted to women. But obviously I'm with a man now." She smiles. "I think most people's first sexual experiences are at least a little bit awful. It's not enough to turn someone off of a whole gender. Usually."

He pauses. "Do you think I'm gay? Is that why you started talking about gay bars and stuff?"

"I started talking about gay bars because the song came on. But, hey, look. I remember how fucking difficult it was to be seventeen years old. I can't imagine how hard being seventeen years old and on the run from the law as a mutant liberator would be. So... if you ever want to talk about anything. Let me know. And I'm sorry if I sound like a mom."

He shrugs. "My mom never said much of anything to me."

"I'm sorry, Pyro."

"Don't be sorry," he says, vehemently. "She's just a human. It doesn't matter what she thinks."

"You know," she says, conversationally, "my dad was an asshole. And a human. But it took me a long, long time to stop wanting him to be proud of me. Slow down, Pyro."

The car slows perceptibly.

"God, Echo, you think you know everything, don't you?"

"No, baby, I don't. I just want to be your friend, okay?"

There's a long pause. "Okay."

"Do you want to stop for dinner?"

"Okay."

"You can pick." It's her small peace offering.

He takes the next exit and stops at a family owned Mexican place. Fiesta Mexicana. It's his small peace offering; Echo loves Mexican.

They both get margaritas. The waiter cards them, but doesn't look twice at their IDs.

"Can I tell you something?" she asks.

"Would it stop you if I said no?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Sure, I'm listening."

"When I was 20, I had an abortion. So if I'd had that kid... he or she would be about your age. A little younger. And since I spend so much time with you... I guess I can't help but feel kind of maternal. But I don't want to... to patronize you."

He exhales. "You know... you'd make a pretty good mom, I bet."

She gives a small smile. "Maybe now I would. When I was 20, I wouldn't have been."

He shrugs. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"I think... I do want to go to a gay bar. Because I think I'm gay. Or bi."

She smiles and takes his hand. "Gay bars have the best music, you know. And good moms love their kids no matter what."

Embarrassed, he looks down at his empty margarita glass.

"Thanks, Nori."

"Of course. And, John?"

"Yeah?"

"You have to give me the car keys if you're getting another drink."

He rolls his eyes and hands them over.

(Lyrics from "Gay Bar" by Electric Six.)

3) hotel bar

Gambit, Echo, and Pyro are sitting at the bar in the lobby of a nicer hotel than they usually stay at. Magneto's with them too, and he has finer tastes. It still surprises Echo how easy it is for them to blend in with normal humans. As long as Gambit puts in his contacts and Magneto leaves his cape at home, no one really notices them.

They're not really talking, just drinking and reflecting on tomorrow's mission, when something catches Echo's eye. She turns to see a bride and groom posing in front of the fountain in the lobby. She gives a half-smile. They're young, white, and pretty.

"I bet that girl's dress cost $2000, easy," she says.

"You saying you want a new dress, cherie?" Gambit asks. "I could get you one. Maybe not white, though. And maybe a little shorter."

She laughs. "Not really my style. Nah, I was just thinking about my last life. Right after college I kept myself afloat thanks to the Rich People Wedding industry. I couldn't believe how much money they would spend on just one day."

"What, you were a wedding planner?" Pyro asks, incredulously.

She shakes her head. "I played violin in a string quartet. And I was pretty good at arranging music so a lot of times I'd get a bonus for arranging some new Celine Dion song or some shit for strings. Plus, I made friends with some caterers. Sometimes I worked as a bartender after playing. Depending on where the wedding was held and stuff. But this was before all those Bridezilla shows and stuff, which is tragic, because I would have loved to bitch about those ladies on reality TV." She sips her white wine and tips her head to the side, remembering.

"Were you ever married?" Pyro asks.

"Me? No, no."

"Did you ever want to get married?"

"No. Well. The man I maybe would have married, we talked about it for a long time and decided that traditional marriage was offensive to us because it isn't available to our queer friends. But," she says, pushing up her left sleeve, "We did get matching tattoos."

"So now you're stuck with the tattoo."

"Oh... I thought about getting it removed after we broke up, actually, but I kept it as a reminder to myself. And the tattoo itself is still meaningful to me, even without that romantic connection."

"Meaningful? It's just a black circle."

"It's an enso," she corrects him. "It's an important Buddhist symbol. Of, enlightenment and the Absolute. Of openness and creativity. And completion."

"A circle means all that?" Pyro asks, skeptically.

"Not just any circle. It should be done with a single brushstroke. So obviously this tattoo is not a true enso. But it is based on one that Lee painted." She looks at it for a few moments longer, then pulls her sleeve back down.

The happy couple are still posing. The groom-to-be has lifted the bride-to-be off her feet and her dress puffs out behind her.

Pyro turns to Gambit. "What about you? Did you ever wanna marry anyone?"

He hesitates. "I did not... exactly want to marry anyone, but I did."

Echo raises her eyebrows at the convoluted phrasing.

"It was an arranged marriage," he continues. "She... was the daughter of the leader of the Assassins Guild. We were supposed to bring the two guilds together. But... we didn't."

"Let's get more drinks," Echo says, her voice brittle.

"So you guys got divorced and it pissed everybody off?" Pyro asks.

"Not... exactly."

"Could you just clarify that?" Echo says.

Gambit sighs. "I suppose that technically we are still married. Perhaps. But I have not seen her for years, and that is the truth."

"Oh shit, drama," Pyro says. "Sorry I asked."

"It is all right, mon ami. I... always meant to say something about it." He looks at Echo, pleadingly.

Echo sighs. She finally succeeds in calling over the bartender and orders three strong whiskey sours. Neither Gambit nor Pyro are particularly fond of the drink, but at the moment, she doesn't care.

"I guess I mainly need to know what the odds are that your assassin wife is going to come after me."

"Very slim, ma mie," he says.

"Don't you ma mie me. I'm planning to be angry about this for at least an hour."

She crosses her arms across her chest. Gambit casts a sidelong glance at her, not sure if she's joking. She almost never gets angry, so he doesn't really know what she acts like when she's mad.

"I mean, it's not like you two were going to get married anyway, right?" Pyro says. "Uh... God, this is awkward."

Echo takes big sips of her drink and taps her fingernails against the bar in a complicated rhythm.

"Well, I'm going to bed," Pyro says.

"Bonsoir," Gambit says.

"Good night," Echo says. Pyro nods and walks out of the bar as quickly as possible without looking conspicuous. The bride and groom are gone from the lobby, but Magneto is striding through it. He nods at Pyro and says "Good night," then walks up to Gambit and Echo. He looks both concerned and angry.

"Is everything all right?" he asks.

Echo shrugs.

"Don't be childish. I was concerned for you. I thought perhaps...but if this is nothing more than a lovers' quarrel, I suggest you two resolve it as soon as possible, before it interferes with tomorrow's mission." He glares at both of them, but tells Gambit in a low tone, "And I suggest you apologize."

"I did," he protests.

He taps his temple, reminding Gambit of his empathic link with Echo. "Try again," he says, and stalks off.

Echo finishes her drink in one long sip. "I'm going upstairs," she tells Gambit. "You can come up in half an hour."

"Cher, I am sorry-"

"Shh," she says. "Tell me in half an hour."

She walks across the lobby to the elevator, her heels clicking.

Gambit looks at his watch and steps outside to smoke.

Thirty-five minutes later, just to be safe, he heads upstairs. He knocks and hears Nori pad to the door and unchain it. She smiles at him as he walks in and he smiles back, warily.

"Hi, Remy. Thank you for waiting."

"I'd wait a long time for you, cher."

She quirks her mouth at that and sits cross-legged on the bed. He pauses and she pats the bed. "Come sit with me," she says. "I have some things to say. First... yes, I admit that it hurt my feelings that you didn't tell me you were still married. And I would like to know more. But since we spend pretty much all our time together, I guess you're probably not still seeing her."

"Cher-"

She holds up a hand. "Sorry, Remy. Let me get this out and then you can talk, okay?"

He nods.

"Anyway, since we can't go back in time, there's not much point in wishing you'd told me earlier. I know now, so, okay. Also... I guess I need to know more, but, I feel intimidated that you were married to an assassin. I feel... I feel really out of my league with the Brotherhood. Everyone else is such a badass. I... I mean, I used to think that the music world was cutthroat. I felt like I was out there, living and dying with my records. But that wasn't really true. Like if nobody bought my CDs, I'd just go back to New York and make a living teaching kids how to play violin. It would be okay. Up until last year, I felt like I was an independent adult and like I could take care of myself. Now I feel like that is not true. It... it isn't easy for me. And I feel like you were born to this world... and..." she sighs. "I guess I'm a little afraid that you'll leave me for some, like, assassin or alpha mutant or something. So I'm sorry if I overreacted. But I love you and, well, I guess it doesn't really matter if you have a wife somewhere."

"Cherie, is this how you always act when you get mad?" he asks, incredulously.

She shrugs. "It's a conscious effort. Ever since I learned how to meditate, I've gotten a lot better about figuring out the roots of my anger. And besides, I used to make a pretty good living telling everybody about my feelings all the time."

"And you are sure that the root of your anger is not me?"

She punches him lightly. "Come on, I forgave you. Are you trying to make me mad again?"

He smiles. "Guess I should count my blessings. Now, look, cher, you're right. I should have told you sooner that I was married. But... well, honestly, she don't cross my mind that much. It's been almost twenty years. And, for all I know, she might have gotten a divorce from me in absentia."

"What was her name?"

"Belladonna Boudreaux. Like I said, she was the daughter of the leader of the Assassins Guild. Our marriage was meant to unite the Assassins Guild and the Thieves Guild. But instead, her brother challenged me to a duel the day after our wedding. I... won, but I had to leave New Orleans," he says, sadly.

"What the hell?" she says, bewildered. "I mean, that's terrible. That really happened?"

He nods. "Bein' born into alla this has its drawbacks, that is for certain. And, Nori... I don't want you to think I would leave you for some more powerful mutant. I don't care about that. I don't want to date a killer. I want to be with you, cher." He strokes her cheek. "I love you, not your powers. Not your right hook, neither."

She laughs and leans into him. He wraps his arm around her. "I think it is good that you are with the Brotherhood, Nori. You remind me what... what we're fighting for, I suppose."

"You know, this would have been a pretty good talk show episode," she says reflectively. He laughs.

"So, okay, can I ask what is the deal with the Thieves Guild and the Assassins Guild? Are those like unions? Are there other illicit guilds?"

"Not so much like a union... it is more like, we police ourselves to try to keep the police away from us. I don't know too much 'bout other cities, but in New Orleans it's just Thieves and Assassins."

"Are there membership cards?"

He laughs. "What on earth good would a membership card do a thief? Imagine somebody finding that in your wallet."

"Oh, right. Well, what about a secret handshake?"

"That I cannot tell you, ma mie, for it is a secret."

Echo grins at that, then turns around to kiss him. "Love you, baby. If your assassin wife comes back for you, I'll kick her in the shins."

"Glad to hear it, cherie. But she won't."

"Let's get some sleep before tomorrow's adventure," she murmurs.

"We could do that," he acknowledges. "Or..." his hands drift south as he demonstrates an alternate activity.

4) behind bars

Echo is just replacing the gas cap on her car of the moment, a white Toyota Corolla, when the gas station goes up in flames.

"Goddammit, Pyro," she mutters under her breath. This was not part of the plan. She gets in the car, ready to peel away as soon as Pyro gets back, when she notices that the only other car at the gas station is a police car. Shit, she thinks. She reaches under her seat and turns on the police scanner.

"52f at 172 Bridge Street. Officer on the scene. 11-99, 12-12, 11-8."

Oh god, she thinks. She's memorized a lot of scanner codes since she started her life as the Brotherhood's secondary tech girl, and these are all ones she's heard before. Fire. Request for backup. Dangerous mutant. Someone down. Who's down? She wonders. She hears sirens and decides to pull out of there. She'd be of no use to Pyro in whatever showdown he's starting, and maybe she can help him if he does get arrested.

Who is the person down, she wonders. Was it the gas station attendant? Was it Pyro? It's not the cop, if he's calling this in. Were there two officers? She finds herself at the town cemetery and pulls into the parking lot. She listens attentively to the scanner. There's no warning out for her car, which is a plus. The police must not have known to connect her with Pyro. Her stomach drops when she realizes that Pyro's been shot. He's being taken to the emergency room with an armed escort. He's unconscious. She taps the steering wheel and weighs her options. She can't contact Magneto or Gambit until they rendezvous this Sunday, in four days. She definitely can't do anything until she finds out if Pyro will survive. She decides to go scope out the town police station. They'll likely try to hold him there after he leaves the emergency room, until they can arrange transport to a more secure facility. She flips off the scanner and turns on the radio. There's a breaking news report that a dangerous mutant has been captured in their town. Citizens are to avoid all uses of fire, including gas stoves and cigarettes.

Cigarettes! Perfect, Nori thinks.

She drives a few more loops around the town, listening to the scanner and trying to hold it together. They've taken Pyro out of surgery. She cries a little with relief. She plans her next move. He'll be groggy for awhile. Nothing she can do until he wakes up. If they're smart, they'll keep him unconscious until they transfer him. She hops to God that they're not smart.

Her stomach twists with anxiety. She pulls into the parking lot of a laundromat near the police station. She thinks. She knows what Pyro can do with a single cigarette. Will he need to see the flame? She knows Magneto doesn't have to see metal to know it's there. She hasn't spent as much time practicing with Pyro and his power. Well, she'll give it a try, and if it doesn't work she'll move onto Plan B. She's never had to break someone out from behind bars before.

It's been an hour since she heard Pyro left surgery. She decides to start staking out the police station. She risks parking at the police station parking lot. As long as they can get away in that car, they can steal another one later.

She considers. She has a camera in her backpack. Sometimes she poses as a tourist. But the police station isn't terribly photogenic, and she thinks the police will probably find a lone photographer of the police station to be suspicious. She ducks down in the back of her car and changes into workout clothing. She tucks a lighter and a pack of cigs into her fanny pack. She looks around to make sure that no one is watching. She emerges from the car at a slow jog and loops around to the back of the police station, where she sits on the grass and starts stretching. She stretches out with her powers to see if there are any mutants. She can't find Pyro, but she assumes there's no fire. She can't believe there aren't any guards back here, but it's a small town police station. She lights a cigarette and tries again with her power. She smokes contemplatively and focuses her power. There, at the edge of her consciousness. She walks around to the other corner of the station. Pyro's presence gets stronger. She tries to send him a cautious vibe with her empathy. If he blows up the cig now, she'll get burned. She takes one last drag and sets the still-burning cigarette in the grass near the wall. She steps back, sends Pyro a mental feeling of encouragement, and hopes he gets it.

She guesses he got it, since the flame grows huge. It burns through the wall in a few moments, setting off all kinds of alarms. An officer runs around back.

She looks at him wide-eyed. "I... I just stopped for a smoke, and, and I don't know what happened..."

He pulls a gun on her. "Put your hands behind your head, miss. Now."

Goddammit. She complies. Where is Pyro? Finally, he emerges, dressed in a prison jumpsuit and tossing fireballs. He hits the officer square in the face with one. The smell of burning flesh hits Echo's nose and she gags.

"Come on, you idiot," she says. She tosses him the fanny pack. It's just a cheap Bic lighter, not his Zippo, but it'll do.

"Nice fanny pack," he says. His eyes are glassy and he sounds manic.

They run to the car. In front of the building are three police cars and maybe ten officers. "Take care of them," Echo says, as she peels out.

The road behind them goes up in flames. They drive and drive and abandon the car in a parking lot at Devil's Den Nature Preserve, near the New York border. She wonders why it's called that. It doesn't seem like a place the devil is particularly likely to take up residence. But then, what does she know about the devil?

Pyro has dozed off for a few minutes. She's sure he's exhausted.

The park closes at sunset. They have a few hours. There's only one other car in the lot. It has an empty bicycle rack on it. She picks the lock to the other car. She thinks about carrying Pyro to the car, but she's pretty sure he weighs too much for her, so she gently shakes him.

"Sweetie. You have to get up. We have to leave this car," she says urgently.

He shrugs. "I can just keep burning anybody who tries to follow us."

"No, you can't. You're exhausted. And they're bound to catch up with us eventually. Come on. You can sleep in the back seat of this car."

She guides him to it. Then she opens a suitcase and replaces the licence plates on the car they're about to steal. She tosses Pyro a new outfit. "Put this on. Orange isn't your color."

She feels a twinge for the people they're stealing this car from. How sad, to go on a nice day trip and come back to an empty parking lot. Well, not quite empty. She wants to leave a note explaining the circumstances, but that's hardly inconspicuous. She sighs and drives off.

They stop at a Motel 6. For the second time that day, she ducks down and changes in the car. This time she emerges as a slightly-wrinkled businesswoman. She thinks she maybe smells like smoke, but it might just be her memories.

She books a single room. It has one king sized bed with a hideous comforter, a desk with a Bible, and a TV. It's perfect.

Once again she wakes Pyro up and takes him in their room.

"Pyro, how are you?" she asks anxiously.

"Okay."

"You got shot. How does it feel?"

"Feels like I got shot."

She sighs. "I'll see if I can get you some Tylenol. Maybe tomorrow we can get some new bandages or something."

She pads out to the Ice/Vending room and comes back with two little packets of Tylenol, a bottle of Dr. Pepper, and two bags of Plain Lays.

He takes the Tylenol and downs the Dr. Pepper.

"Pyro, sweetie... why did you do it?"

"My side hurts."

"I know. Why did you burn down the gas station?"

He shrugs, then winces slightly.

"Come on. You got shot and killed at least a few people. Didn't you have a reason? Please tell me you have a reason." She lowers her voice. "You know Magneto's gonna ask, too."

Pyro sighs. "There was a kid in the gas station, trying to buy a candy bar or something. He, um, he turned the candy bar into water. And that cop and that gas station guy were giving him shit about it and I just, I just got mad."

She sits next to him and strokes his hair. "That would make me mad too, baby, but, um, maybe it wasn't the best idea."

"Yeah. Guess not."

She opens one of the bags of chips and eats one. "Want some?"

"Yeah. I'm starving."

He eats both bags of chips and she goes back to the vending machines. She comes back with some beef jerky, granola bars, and mini Oreos.

They eat snacks and watch Empire Records on TV. Pyro falls asleep with his head in Echo's lap. She sits up with him for a long time. She watches Empire Records twice in a row because it's on back-to-back and she can't reach the remote. Finally, she gently extracts herself and changes into pajamas. She comes back and tucks Pyro in, then joins him on the other side of the bed.

"I was afraid you'd leave me," Pyro murmurs.

"I just went to change, sweetie."

"I meant before. Thought you'd leave me in jail."

"'Course not. Why would you think that?"

"You're not really big on the, you know, explosions and stuff."

"No. I'm not. But I know you meant well. And I'm big on you." She strokes his hair. "I was so scared when I heard you got shot. Don't do that again, okay?"

"I'll try."

"Okay. Get some sleep. I'll be here in the morning."

Echo falls asleep thinking that maybe she's okay at this sort of thing after all.

5) mutant bar

There are bars on the windows of the East Atlanta apartment that Echo and Gambit have just settled into. Echo gazes out of them contemplatively.

"Don't worry, cher. They're to keep burglars out, not to keep us in."

"They'd work either way."

"If you don't like 'em, I can take 'em down," he offers.

"Nah, better leave them."

They're in town to investigate a group that's sprung up called the Friends of Humanity. Echo's spent the whole day on her laptop. Gambit doesn't want her to leave the apartment by herself. Normally, she'd protest, but she's frightened. The FOH have already taken responsibility for the torture and murder of a few mutants. They'd claimed that one of them was a member of the Brotherhood, which she hadn't been. She's not obviously a mutant, and she can usually pass through the world without being noticed, but she's pretty sure anybody in the FOH would recognize her from her occasional YouTube videos and her Wanted poster.

Magneto had confided to Gambit that he wasn't sure Echo should go to Atlanta, but her anxiety had been slowly building up during Gambit's last solo mission, and he suspects it would do her good to be with him. A lesser man than Gambit might be jealous of his lady having a near-constant empathic link with another man, but he doesn't mind. It seems to be helpful for both Magneto and Echo. And anyway, if he wants to know what Echo's feeling, he can just look at her face.

Right now, her face looks tense. She's been working too hard, he thinks. "Let's go out, cher," Gambit suggests.

"I don't know..."

"Come on. We'll find a mutant bar. It'll be fun."

She still looks nervous.

"Cherie, the FOH is no match for us. Long as we stick together, we'll be just fine."

"All right," she says. She has trouble saying no to Gambit, even though she doesn't really feel up to going out. She shuts down her laptop and goes to change. She makes sure her angled bangs are in place and puts on some dark pink lipstick.

The mutant bar is dark inside and out. It's the kind of place that doesn't advertise. People find it by word of mouth. The bouncer at the door gives the two of them a quick once-over and nods when Gambit lowers his sunglasses, revealing his red eyes. Her power makes her aware of several mutants nearby, but without knowing who they are she can't tell what their powers are or which mental signature belongs to which person. She tries hard not to focus on them, but it's like trying not to think of an elephant.

Gambit gets up to get them drinks, and she watches him nervously until he comes back with two beers.

"Cheers," she says.

A scowling woman with glowing orange eyes walks up to their table.

"Hey," she says to Echo. "Cut it out. You're making me nervous."

"Oh, sorry!" Echo replies. "I'm trying not to... it's just been a rough few days."

"It's been a rough few days for all of us, and you're making it worse."

Echo takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"What are you so afraid of, anyway? Pretty little thing like you scared of all the ugly mutants in here?"

"No! No, I'm afraid of, of what's outside."

Gambit takes Echo's hand and squeezes it. He's not sure what's happening here. The woman clearly knows about Echo's power, which strangers rarely pick up on. Either this woman is a telepath or somehow extra-sensitive to Echo, or Echo's nervousness is off the charts tonight. He'd thought it would help to get her out of the apartment, but he's clearly misjudged the situation. "Have you heard anything about a group called the Friends of Humanity, perhaps?" he asks the woman.

She narrows her orange eyes. "Who wants to know?"

"We do."

The orange-eyed woman takes in the two of them, especially Gambit's eyes. She lowers her voice. "Are you two with the Brotherhood of Mutants?"

Gambit nods. "We are indeed." He runs his thumb in circles over the back of Echo's hand.

The stranger nods. "All right. Why don't you two come meet my friends? They might have something to tell you." She sighs. "And you need to calm down. My friends are right over there and they're not gonna hurtcha," she tells Echo.

"She has been through a lot," Gambit says.

"Haven't we all?" the woman says.

"You're right," Echo says, softly. She carefully steps down from her bar stool to follow Gambit and the stranger. She doesn't come up past the shoulder of either one.

"So, do you do anything besides freak out everyone in your vicinity?" the woman asks Echo.

"It only works on other mutants. A-and it's just whatever emotion I'm feeling. It's not always fear."

"Hmm," the woman says. She turns and grabs Echo by the hair, close to her scalp. "You know, the FOH took my girlfriend," she hisses. "I bet they'd give her back in a trade for you, little Brotherhood girl."

Echo's eyes widen and she tries to pull away from the woman, but she has a tight grip. A few other mutants feel her fear and turn to look, but sensing that it isn't their fight, they look away.

"Get your hands off of her. Now," Gambit says. "I don't want a scene. But I will make one if I have to," he says, a card glowing red in his hand. As soon as he charges the card, he starts tapping into Echo's power. She is terrified, well beyond what the situation calls for. She should know that he can fight off one crazy mutant. He doesn't even know what orange-eye woman's power is, but there are few mutants out there who stand a chance against Gambit.

The woman backs away. "Of course. I was just kidding," she says, but her tone isn't joking. Gambit lets the card return to normal, and Echo hurries over to him.

"Did the FOH really take your girlfriend?" Echo asks, from behind Gambit's arm.

"Yeah. What do you care?"

"We could help find her. If we knew more."

The woman narrows her eyes. "Why?"

"It's kind of what we do," Echo replies.

"All right," the woman says, after a long pause, during which Gambit looks at Echo questioningly. Echo gives him a terse nod. The stranger leads them the rest of the way across the bar and she and a few other mutants size up Echo and Gambit and provide a few leads about the FOH. Mostly, though, everyone's afraid of the FOH but nobody knows much. Gambit thanks them for their time, and they leave the bar with a handful of rumors.

He wraps his arm around her as they look for a taxi.

"Sorry, cher. Guess we should have stayed in."

"It's okay. We got some good information. I'm sorry I freaked people out. I-I just... I just don't know."

"It's okay, petite. You were right to get a bad vibe from that place."

When they get back to their apartment, Gambit tugs her toward their bedroom. She's trembling.

"Everything's going to be just fine, ma mie. We'll fight them. I'll protect you. The Brotherhood will protect you."

"Who's going to protect them?" she asks, gesturing back toward the window.

"We will."

"It's a lot of protecting."

"And you don't think we're up to it? Cherie, I am hurt."

She half-smiles and turns to kiss him.

"I trust you, baby. It just seems like the odds are stacked against us."

He grins. "Just so long as we got even one chip left, we ain't out of the game."

"Tomorrow, let's get some curtains to cover the windows," she says, abruptly. "I don't like those bars."

"Of course, cher."

She starts returning to the living room. "I-I'm too keyed up to sleep right now. I'm going to look online, see if I can find anything about those missing mutants."

Gambit shakes his head. "You think that's gonna help you sleep?"

"Maybe not."

"Let's put in a movie, oui?"

"Okay," she says, passively. He frowns at their movie collection. He knows not to pick a horror film-and they only have a couple of those, anyway. Even in the best of moods, they are not Echo's cup of tea. Children's movies tend to make Echo cry, though he thinks it's more from nostalgia than anything else. Finally he guides her back to the living room and puts in The Shawshank Redemption.

She leans into his chest. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Remy."

He strokes her hair. "You would probably be forced to date a less handsome man."

She laughs. Halfway through the movie she falls asleep, and he carries her to bed. She stirs. "Did Red get out yet?"

"What?"

"Red. Is he still in jail?" He blinks, then remembers the movie.

"Red and Andy both went to Mexico, remember? They both got out."

"Oh, right," she says happily, before falling asleep again. They lie together like spoons, and Gambit thinks about how many people he'd threaten in bars if the FOH ever got their hands on Echo. He shivers and tightens his hold on her before falling asleep himself.

(Sorry if this spoiled The Shawshank Redemption for anyone. But it's like fifteen years old. You had time.)