Storm watched the joint team working together in the Danger room. They were ready. There was enough trust between the X-Men and Rogue's team that they could work together to handle situations. It was a long way to go until they were truly X-Men and might never be, but they would work, and well.
"You are sure we have to do it this way?" She asked the little girl sitting next to her.
"Yes. They have to be together, or all but two will die. They have to work together, or all but two will die. You cannot do this without them, and they cannot do it without you."
"And who would survive, if we tried to do it separate?"
"You and Rogue." The girl said, "but you will neither one be the same, wounded for life spiritually, physically and mentally."
Storm nodded. The coming battle would be difficult, and they had to handle it together, or none of them would survive unscathed.
"Anything else?"
"A new vision, about the Rogue. She loves two, will have to make a choice, I can't see what she chooses but there are three paths before her."
"Any idea what that means." Although Storm had a pretty good idea. Neither Logan nor Gambit was ever very far from her side.
"No, just that she will choose, and be betrayed. If she chooses wrong, the betrayal will kill her, if she chooses wisely, she will be hurt but unchanged, if she chooses the third choice, I cannot see what happens."
Storm nodded again. Prism was a sweet child, until the visions took hold of her. "Go play now, at least nothing has changed drastically."
"I'll let you know if anything changes in the vision, Storm." The child said, almost too adult for her years. "But I'm going to get some ice-cream." There was the child again, scampering off for a treat.
Hank cleared his throat behind her.
"I know, more visions, more dangers, and now this vision around Rogue." She shook her head. He placed his hands on her shoulders and she leaned her cheek against the back of one of his hands. "I can't believe how much I'm missing the Professor right now."
"As are we all, my love, as are we all."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
She walked out of the danger room behind Kitty laughing. She couldn't believe she could feel this relaxed around people she'd been so angry with five years before. She'd hung back after Gambit left the exercise to talk to Kitty and Jubilee. She didn't know how she was going to tell him she wasn't going back to New Orleans.
As the door closed behind her she noticed Gambit hunched over talking on his phone.
"...Gambit take care of it." He was saying as she walked up and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Who you talkin ta, Sugar?" She asked.
He jumped about a mile in the air then grinned at her. "Gambit jes call Havock an' see how tings goin' back home." He said clicking the phone closed and stuffed it into the pocket of his modified X-Men uniform.
"Everythin' okay?" She asked as he fell into step with her on the way to the locker rooms.
"De had a small encounter wid Mystique, but dat it." He said as he stopped at the men's door.
"Ah'll call later and check on them." She said. Gambit nodded and ducked into the locker room. Something was up. She'd heard from Havock this morning, he'd mentioned the attack by bluebutt, but it hadn't been a small encounter, and there were three people wounded. And what was he planning on 'taking care of? Maybe he was just a worried about them as she was. She smiled, he didn't show it much but he cared about the mutants that worked with them
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Logan turned the water off and stood perfectly still. He could hear the Gumbo talking to someone.
"Bella, it ain' like dat. De Rogue she's Remy's partner. Non, ma peiit fille amour, de Rogue has her own room. Dis place huge, ma belle, now you call off dem frere of your'n, Remy don' need no more battles wid dem." Logan could smell the lies. "Me petit espouse, me amoure, don tink dat, Remy come home to you soon."
Logan wrapped a towel around his waist and leaned on the door of the shower. "Married?"
Gambit jumped. "Shit, you scare de shit out o' Gambit."
"I heard the phone call."
"It no' what you tink." He could see the Gumbo sweating.
"You better start explaining." Logan growled.
"De Bella, she de daughter of de head of de assassin's guild in New Orleans. We been espouse sin' we was de petit chil'. Remy force ta marry de petit belle when Remy jes twelve year ol'."
"Ma..Rogue don't know?" Logan wanted to wring his neck, he was lying to Mar..Rogue
Gambit hung his head, "non"
Logan shook his head. "One week, Gumbo, I'm givin ya one week ta tell her or I will. I told you if you hurt her, I'll kill ya."
"De petit fille don' need to know. Gambit workin on de annulment wid de church but dat take time. De Bella she wan Remy to make it a real espouse, but Remy never lay a han' on de Bella. Rogue all dat Remy see." He could hear and smell the truth, but he knew, after everything she'd been through, Rogue would never forgive either of them for this.
"I lost her trust once, I won't do it again, not over you, Gumbo. Tell her or I will." Logan grabbed his jeans and shirt from the bench in front of his locker and stormed back into the showers. He could smell the fear from the Cajun, but didn't care. He might never earn the love he desperately needed from her, but he wasn't going to lose the fragile trust building between them again to protect the competition's ass.
He heard the Cajun leave the locker room and came out, pulling his flannel shirt on over the stained wife-beater he'd worn to work on the cars that morning. Storm was acting strange, and the new kid, the one that saw things, was hanging around a lot. He didn't like precognatives, hell he liked them less than he liked telepaths. He climbed the stairs to his room and grabbed his leather jacket and keys to the bike. He needed a drink.
"YOU'RE WHAT!" He heard Rogue scream down the hall and took off for the garage. The Gumbo was on his own, and Logan wasn't going to hang around and witness his disgrace.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"YOU'RE WHAT!" She screamed. She wanted to kill him, to wipe the sheepish, almost frightened look off his face.
"Married." He said softly.
"How long...?" She started. "Never mind that, Who's you're wife?"
"Chere if you'd jes let Remy 'splain." He said holding his hands out to her in suplication.
"You got two minutes." She said, arms crossed across her chest, foot tapping on the floor.
"You now about Gambit and Jean-Luc? Well Jean-Luc set up de marriage. He married Gambit to Bella Donna Boudreaux. It was an alliance with de Assassins Guil'." He hung his head as he explained, unable to look her in the eye. "Gambit was twel', De Belle, she was only ten. Der' ain' been no marriage to speak of, an' Gambit workin' on de annulment wid de church."
"Then why are ya tellin me now?" She asked.
"It wasn't Havock Gambit was talkin too, it was de Bella. She wan' Gambit to come back to de Big Easy an' keep the terms of the alliance."
"What were the terms?"
"Dat the chil' o' Gambit and De Belle would head bot de Guil." He said.
"So she wants you back in New Orleans?"
"She wan what only Remy can give her, an' what Remy don't wan' ta give her. De bebe."
"She wants to have your child?" She couldn't believe this. She loved him and all this time he'd been lying to her.
He just nodded. "Chere, it you dat Remy amoure, It you dat Remy need. De Belle mean not'in." He looked at her, his heart in his red eyes.
"Remy, you lied ta me. You're married for God's sake. How'm Ah supposed to deal with that."
"It don' matter. Remy gettin' de annulment, den Remy and Rogue can get married." He whispered, reaching to try to take her hands. "Please Chere, Remy tryn' ta fix dis."
"By lyin ta me, ta HER!." She shouted. "You gave your word, you promised her a child, how can you just break that."
"Dat wern't Gambit, dat was Jean-Luc." He started.
"No, Remy you said you were twelve, that means you had ta say the words, you had ta make the promise. YOU made the promise, even if Jean-Luc set it up. Now you just want ta break it. What'll happen if you do?"
"De Assassins won' be too happy, but Remy not worried bout dat much."
"Really, and what happens if they come after me, or a child we have, because you broke your word. Remy you need ta think this through. Not just for you but how this could hurt me."
"Chere, all Remy care about is being able to be WID you."
"Not now - you deal with this - and have Storm put you in a different room till you do. You fix this, Remy. You either keep your word, or fix it do it don' bite us both in the ass."
"Rogue..."
"OUT!" She threw his black trench coat at him. "And don' come back till its fixed"
XXXXXXXXXXX
"It has started." He said as she stroked the bare skin of his chest. She was wrapped in his arms, covered only with the sheet of their bed. He could feel her warm skin against his, the flush of her climax just starting to fade.
"What is?"
"Rogue's dilemma."
He felt her rest her head on his shoulder with a soft sigh. "She's going to have things very rough for the next few months."
"Perhaps not...perhaps less time than that. Things are moving faster than the vision foretold. Something about the Wolverine has sped things up, something about him is pushing this forward." He felt the frown furrow his forehead.
"Is it dangerous, for the other vision?"
"I don't know - not yet, little one. But you and your brother should be ready for the change, ready to make your own moves soon."
"Pietro isn't listening to me, he wants this done and now so he can go after our father."
"He must be patient."
"For him that's nearly impossible."
"He will have his chance at Magneto, as will you, little love. But not until long after this is resolved." He placed his finger under her chin. "For now, we watch this unfold, and enjoy this small amount of peace we've been given." He looked at her as she waited for his lips. She was beautiful, his own piece of heaven, he hated that he couldn't see anything new for her, his love left him blind where she was concerned.