They're right behind me, she ran and ran until she felt like she would drop. No, she couldn't drop. Not yet, anyway. They needed her. What would they do if she had been caught, too?

Just a little further! You're almost there! She knew she was close. She could feel it. Besides, there was the hotel. She had to get to him. She had to get away from them. She was so, so close!

She ran straight up to the door. She tried the handle, throwing her weight into it. No good, she thought frantically, locked!

Holding the handle, she sighed. There was only one thing she could do, a trick that only she could do out of all of the four girls. Smacking her hand against the door, she could feel the vibrations moving the lock, turning it so that she could enter.

Slipping inside, she relocked the entrance. She pressed her ear up against the door, not daring to breathe until she heard the Sentinels pass.

Clear, she thought, waiting a full ten seconds until she was sure they were gone.

Just as she exhaled, she looked up to find herself staring into a pair of brilliant red eyes.

"So, petite," the man she faced drawled with a heavy Cajun accent, "Thought you'd break into ma maison, huh?" He flipped a deck of cards from one hand to the other, left to right, right to left, over and over again.

She didn't trust herself to speak, but she knew by his eyes, the cards, and the accent that he was the one she had been seeking.

"Question is," the man continued, "why?" He drew out a card, held between two fingers. "I guess you don't know who I am, or else you're just stupid to break in here."

It was a threat. She knew about these people. She had to speak. Finally, she said, "I know who you are."

"Oh really?" he raised one eyebrow in interest, amused by her answer. "So you know about my power and you still broke in, petite?"

"No," she spoke firmly. "I need your help."

"My help?" he repeated. "Tell me, what's your name, hmm, petite?"

"Lily."

"How'd you know about me, or where to find me?"

"I-I've heard of you. You're Rémy LeBeau. Gambit. One of the original X-Men. Right?" Her voice quavered.

He smirked. "What do you need help with, petite?"

She wished he would stop calling her that. She wasn't that short. "I'm a mutant," she admitted. "My friends have been taken, and I need help rescuing them."

Gambit shrugged. "Nuttin' I can do about it, petite," he told her.

"But you were one of the X-Men!" she protested. No! He couldn't reject her! She needed his help! She needed all of the X-Men's help.

"I ain't riskin' my life to help rescue your friends. If they've been taken by the MRD, they've been taken."

"You don't understand, do you?" Lily screamed, mortified as the hot tears spilled out. "My friends? They're dangerous! We're dangerous, together. This is a trap! If they get me, too, you can just say good-bye to everything you know!"

"What do you mean?" he asked, suddenly intrigued.

Lily twirled one blond pigtail awkwardly. "I don't suppose you'd get it, but there're four voices in a chorale."

To her surprise, Gambit nodded. "Soprano, alto, tenor, and bass," he said. At her shocked expression, he added, "Petite, I've had a lot of experience in this world."

"Well," Lily continued, "we're kind of like that. Ruko was taken first. She was tenor, kind of a weaker voice, but she was… well, we were all really close to her. She was like our leader, but not really. It's hard to explain… like, like an older sister, I guess. Emotional support. She was the oldest by a few months."

Gambit nodded, waving his arm for her to go on.

"Then, Gianni was bass. She was like shadows: really mysterious and dark, but you know, at the same time, deep and rich. She was strong, and her voice was beautiful. She was a beautiful person, even if she never thought so. She kind of blamed Ruko's disappearance on herself, and when she went looking for her, the Sentinels took her." At this, Lily paused. "I've known her since I was really little, and she always looked out for me," she said quietly.

The X-Men regarded her for a second before gesturing her to continue her story.

"Harmony was taken just yesterday," Lily whispered. "It happened right in front of me. She was such a strong voice, too, our soprano. She seemed to fly through life without really being there, you know? A free spirit, just like a soprano voice. She always was so cute, and we were all happy when she was happy. If I had to describe her, I'd have to say that she was quirky, but it was her quirks that made her so loveable. It was awful to see her taken down by the Sentinels."

"So you're the alto?" Rémy asked.

"Yeah," Lily responded.

He turned, the tails of his trench coat swinging behind him as he walked away from Lily. Turning back, he asked her, "What's your power, petite?"

"I can't tell you," Lily asserted. "It's too complicated to describe right now."

Gambit nodded and turned away once again.

"Where are you going?" Lily demanded, desperate.

"To get the X-Men. Pack your bags, petite, we're going to save your friends."