So, yeah, hi? I'd recommend doing a brief reread ...

This is sort of an update and sort of a stopgap and sort of a reaction checker. See AN at the end.


Storm was mentally and physically exhausted, but too tangled in emotional turmoil to sleep. The sedatives Beast had given her in the uncountable elapsed time hadn't done their job properly; her body was sluggish and heavy, yes, but behind closed eyelids her mind raced in agitated circles.

Strange, how even in the privacy of her mind (as attention-deficit as it was at the moment), she was Storm. Not Ororo, her birth name, the name given to her by parents that she didn't remember but loved none the less for that. The name that had been given to the innocent little baby she had been, in hope of the women she would one day become. The name of ... just a person.

Storm. The name of a mutant. Not even a name, just a plain description of her mutation. Underneath the simple word was everything that she had lived, like a complex and lengthy book with a single printed word on the cover. Storm.

Storm the goddess and Storm the X-Man. Storm the weatherwitch, the windrider, the Morlock leader. Storm, who felt the presence of the Earth every second of every day and worked its weather to her every whim. She was even Storm to her godson, Mjnari. Again, she was even Storm to herself.

Storm, whose unleashed, unchecked powers (free, so free ...) could have destroyed the Savage Lands if it hadn't been for Rogue - Rogue -

Storm the claustrophobic. Storm the fainter. Storm the inconvenience.

Storm the killer.

She had to adhere to her words with Charles. The very thought of what she had done made her feel nauseous. She was utterly unsafe to be a member of the X-men, and yet ...

Take Storm away. Strip Storm away from the woman. Not a goddess or witch, a leader of neither Morlocks nor X-Men. What did she have, outside of her powers and the life she had built around them? Was she Ororo still, underneath it all? Who was Ororo?

She felt hot tears trickle down her cheeks and into her hair. She lay like that as more indefinite time passed, and never thought of an answer to that question.

She didn't know who Ororo was, but she knew all about Storm.

What Storm had done and could do. Always itching at the back of her mind were the all-consuming hurricane of terror, and the lack of space, and then Rogue saying (so casually!) "I s'pose it musta stopped my heart" without a hint of blame - and there should have been blame. Whose fault was it but hers?

Never before had she understood Rogue's desire for a cure, never before had she understood Logan's desire to run forever rather than turn around and face what lay strewn behind him ...

"Stormy? You awake?"

Remy's voice was a shock, but as her eyes flew open she realised that she could speak again. Who knew how much time had flown by on the wind while she had been lying here?

Stormy. A nickname of what was essentially a nickname. From Remy of all people, it felt unbearably distant.

"What's my name, Remy?" Her voice frightened her; it was shrill and desperate. Remy didn't reply immediately. She waited with bated breath.

"Your name's Ororo Munroe, chere."

She let out her breath in a sigh that had far too much of a sob in it, and felt new tears follow the tracks of those previously fallen.

"Yes," she whispered to the ceiling. "Yes, it is." Sleep was finally coming for her now, tugging her awareness gently downwards. Steeling herself, she pushed up against it and turned her head to see Remy. There was something very important she needed to ask him. His eyes met hers, and one side of his mouth drew upwards in a bitter sort of smile.

"Beast says Rogue gonna be fine. I told Rogue you gonna be fine. You two jus' don't listen much."

His tone was familiarly mocking, and she experienced the strange sensation of wanting to smile or roll her eyes or react in some acknowledging way, but the impulse not reaching her mouth.

She had expected him to blame her. To be angry, at least. Not this; the same as ever but with a comfortingly soft note to his voice. She didn't deserve this.

"I killed the one you love," she said, so softly that she wondered whether or not he had heard her. He made a strange guttural tutting sound in the back of his throat and walked to her side. She blinked at him dazedly, dislodging another few tears. He reached cautiously for her hand. When she made no move to avoid the contact, he squeezed her hand and raised it to his lips in a courteous manner most unlike his usual behaviour.

"We can talk later," he said as he stood from where he had briefly crouched. "Get t' sleep … 'Ro."


Jubilee didn't know what she was more surprised about the fact that she had really managed to persuade Gambit to play video games with her, or the fact he was losing. Badly. Like he wasn't even trying. As she saw his fingers fall slack on the controls again, she kicked him as hard as she could in the ankle, right on the little bony bit where the pain always made everyone except Storm and Jean swear out loud. Sure enough, Gambit's eyes snapped back into focus as he yelled a shocked expletive and grabbed his ankle with both hands.

She felt a lot like giggling right now.

"Jubilee, what you do that for?"

She managed to fight back her slightly hysterical giggles into a big grin instead. "I was trying to get you to pay attention!"

"Oui, well done, you did that." He pulled a face and rubbed his ankle. "Anyway, petite, it's too late at night for concentratin'."

"Oh, you spoilsport, it's only one o'clock in the morning!"

Gambit gave her the sort of "Now, think about that," look that she usually only got from the Professor. "Wha-at?" she protested. Ok, so she was a bit tired and hyper, so what? It still wasn't late!

"It's been a long day," he said, as if to himself, and returned his attention to the game. Surprised but pleased (she had so expected a lecture), Jubilee did likewise, and discovered very quickly that Gambit was paying attention now. Damn!

It looked like he was smirking, and every now and again she would turn her head quickly to try and catch him in the act, but whenever she did that all she saw was a look of utmost concentration on his serious face.

They played on until Jubilee's eyes were stinging and she couldn't stop herself screen-watching and getting confused. But that was ok, since Gambit was doing the same thing if the erratic movement of his sprite was any indication. She wondered why he hadn't gone, if he was tired, and then asked herself the much more obvious question that she had ignored so far – why was he here?

"Why are you not with Rogue?" Oh, what? That just … came out. Brain-to-mouth filter, where was it when you needed it?

The last thing she expected was him to actually answer.

"Rogue an' I, we don't see eye to eye right now." Both of them had let their controllers fall loosely onto their laps. "An' I don't want to wander 'round de place too much, might bump into Wolvie again and Xavier wouldn't like de mess dat'd make."

She chuckled in agreement.

"So I went to see Ororo and - "

"Ororo? Oh, oh, Storm, right, yeah, ok." Jubilee felt herself going bright red under the strange look Gambit was giving her. "What?" she demanded again.

"So dat was what she meant," was the cryptic response. Gambit wound the cable around his fingers and wriggled them absentmindedly.

"How was she?" Jubilee asked finally, hating the sudden wobble in her voice.

"All drugged still, but we managed to talk a bit. What d' you know, she completely blames herself." Gambit heaved a sigh. "Rogue blames Rogue and Storm blames Storm, but Rogue thinks Storm should blame Rogue and Storm thinks that Rogue should blame Storm. What a grande mess."

While Jubilee was still trying to figure that out (wouldn't it be so much simpler just to say "they both blame themselves and think the other one should too"? It was a lot shorter for a start!), he stood up and stuffed his hands deep into his pockets. "It gon' be an intrestin' few days, 'tite."

"No kidding," Jubilee muttered to his retreating back.


So. This has been sat in my files for a year now, essentially unchanged. I never updated it because it was supposed to have more to it. I didn't know -what- more, just ... more.

I'm updating it now pretty much just as a signal; my interest in this fic has been rekindled and you may actually see some more chapters. It may stay the same, or I might rewrite it completely or swap it for something else depending on the plot progression.

I hope people are interested in this, though I completely understand if you're not. Please, please do let me know via the magic button below! It was rereading the reviews that sparked off inspiration again, so think of reviewing as a potentially self-benefitting exercise. XD *bollocks*

All opinions welcomed, thank you!

xMx