Mail Call
Jade - First: Maybe. Second: Sorry, she has children in the future but they hate her so....Third: He'll be happy...eventually. And he does have two children in the future.
TuxedoNinja - Thank you. I really appreciate the encouragement.
MagnusXXN - Thanks and maybes. ;-)
ChrmdbytheCajun - Thank you. You know I don't seem to have a lot of Jean fans reading these stories. LOL.
Girlonthem00n - Thank you. I hope to spring some surprises.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ok, if people have been reading Mail Call, they will notice that I have mentioned children. There is a good reason for this. I play RPG's. My significant other and I liked the Heroes Reborn and Kingdom Come mini-series so much, we put together a world populated by the next genteration of heroes and their retired and dead parents. We both created quite a few characters and developed a history of what happened with several teams and which heroes were alive...etc.... Anyway, Jamie is one of my favorites and I wrote The Right Thing as a story about how his parents (Betsy and Remy) got together for various reasons. When it was so popular that I ended up doing this sequel I decided to basically start writing the various histories of the next generation of X-men together in one story. That's why I mention the children because many of them were heavily affected by events in their pasts. I am not planning on taking this story through the two decades until the children are adults. However, I do plan to add an epilogue at the end of this story listing the various children and their parents. If people are still interested and would like to know more about the children or how the children came about and what happened to the various parents, I will begin writing stories along those lines. Due to this, I'm afraid several of you will be disappointed with the fates of some of the characters in my stories. Unfortunately they are set. Jean, particularly will be living for a long time, but she is going to have massive problems with her children.
Hope this made sense. By the way, if I get enough requests, I will write up and post the list of the children early.
Now for what all of you actually clicked on this for:
****************************
Chapter 6
Erik led Rogue into a luxurious room. Deep pile carpet spread across the floor and the furniture was antique but in excellent condition. There were no window but a large blaze in the intricately worked stone fireplace offset the gloominess. Taking a seat on one of the elegant couches, Rogue was gripped with nervousness, wondering if what she was doing was right. If the other X-men found out where she was...
Well, she did not really have to think about that. They had not been paying a lot of attention to her lately. Remy and Betsy particularly had been ignoring her and Warren was never even home anymore. No one had known what he was up to but the mystery had been solved with his announcement tonight. That had been a suprise. Of course, Remy going to be a father had been an even larger surprise.
The older mutant offered her tea but Rogue shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself as he sat on the other end of the couch. "Tell me, Rogue, what has happened to send you to me for comfort?"
"It's alot o' things. I don't even know where ta start."
His blue eyes softened as they took in her obvious distress. "Start whereever you like. We have time."
"Ya know Ah was...Ah guess you would call it datin', Remy...um...Gambit." Erik nodded, silently waiting for her to continue. "Well, things got real bad after the trial ya set up an' Ah left him ta die."
The white-haired man shrugged, "A fitting price for a race traitor to pay."
"Yeah, well, he showed up alive again, at the mansion." Erik's face showed his surprise, he had honestly not known about that and Rogue nodded to emphasize her words. "Was a surprise to all o' us too. Noone knows how he got outta the Artic. Anyway, he got the X-men ta let him stay even when I tried to stop them. Worse, it turned out that he was basically under mind control when the massacre happened which changes what Ah did from punishment to murder. The others ain't said anything 'bout it yet, but it's only a matter a time an' now, he's gonna have a kid. He got with another woman only three months ago and is gonna have a family. It's not fair, Eric, all Ah ever wanted was a family, y'know, a husband, kids, parents and in-laws all comin' over for Christmas. Now he's gettin' it before me."
Eric laid a hand over hers in comfort. "Who is to say this relationship will last? From what you have told me and from what I know of Gambit, I doubt he was serious. Personally I worried about you when you were with him because I did not consider it a good relationship for you. It is better this way. Now you are free to find a man who will love and support you, be there for you no matter what. You will have a family and you will be an excellent mother. I know it."
Rogue smiled up at him gratefully. "Y'know, life's funny, mah team mates make me miserable and mah enemy makes me fell better."
Eric took both her hands in his as he stared into your eyes. "You have never been my enemy.
**********************************
It was after midnight when Remy silently slipped out of the bed. He tucked the blankets tightly around Betsy and pushed a pillow into her arms to prevent her from noticing his absence and waking up. Between his eyes and long experience of working in the dark, he was able to silently dress without lights, slipping on his trench coat and carrying his boots with him as he quietly exited the room. Once he was in the hallway, he put on his boots and began to prowl the dark halls, knowing his target was out here somewhere.
Bishop always patrolled the halls late into the night and it was not long before Remy saw his shadowed form in the foyer checking to make sure the doors were still locked. Reaching into his coat pocket palming several cards before shadowing the dark mutant into the kitchen.
Bishop walked through the kitchen to the back door and lay a hand on the handle before saying, "You wanna talk 'bout this in here or outside?"
Remy's eyes opened in surprise for a second but he quickly brought himself under control. "Pretty good, homme, not alot people know when Remy followin' when Remy don' want dem to."
Looking over his shoulder, he met the other mutants red gaze. "You taught me well. Now, outside or here?"
Remy considered for a few moments then said, "Outside in de woods. Too many ears 'round here."
Bishop nodded and opened the door, leading the way into the woods. The two of them walked silently for long time before coming to a very isolated clearing. Remy noticed as Bishop turned to face him that the raven haired mutant still held his gun. He found no offense in this because he was still holding the cards he had palmed earlier at the ready.
The two men stared at each other across the clearing, taking each other's measure, silently challanging and answering. Finally, Remy broke the silence. "What's your interest in Betsy 'nd de chile?"
The question was direct and demanding. Bishop was not surprised. The Witness had been just as direct when wanting information although never as direct when giving out information. "I'm not sure I know what you mean." Verbal sparring was another thing he had learned from his adopted father. It would be interesting to see if this younger version was as skilled in it.
"You suddenly payin' attention when you never did before, it make Remy real curious." His eyes narrowed dangerously.
Bishop shrugged before answering, "Maybe I'm just worried because she is with child. She is the first to be in this condition. Perhaps this is my normal behavior."
Remy's eyes narrowed further. "You t'ink you clever, playing dese word games wit' me. Maybe you are. But Betsy and de chile ain't a game so Remy not playin'. You hurt dem 'nd Remy swear dere ain't nowhere, nowhen, you can run to dat he won't find ya 'nd hurt ya back. Understand me, pup?" familiar term, familiar phrase, hit Bishop deeply. Standing there with threat and demand gleaming in his eyes Remy had never resembled the man who had raised Bishop more. He felt like a child again and could only nod in response, words frozen in his throat.
Remy kept their gazes locked for several more minutes, making sure Bishop knew he was not kidding. Then, without a word, the lean Cajun turned around and strode back to the mansion, leaving Bishop to deal with what had just happened.
After the man had disappeared into the darkness, Bishop sat down on a nearby flat rock, staring up at the stars. This era seemed strange to him in so many ways but nothing was more strange to him than Remy LeBeau. The man had raised him, had treated him like a true son. One would think that Bishop would actually understand the Cajun, his motivations, his history. He did not, not in his time, the future, not in this time. The Witness had always been cold in many ways, seeming cruel, especially when Bishop had joined the XSE, the mutant police. Bishop could remember the day he had made that decision, had come into the LeBeau's presence in his brand new uniform.
The old man's eyes had narrowed as he took in the sight then, with a sneer, he had inquired, "Didn' t'ink it was Halloween yet, pup. You celebratin' early?"
Bishop had been full of self-righteousness, of the desire to fix all the worlds problems. He would make all the crooked straight, the wrong right. How arrogant he must have sounded as he anwered his father's taunt, "No, I'm going to actually do something to make the world a better place instead of feeding on its misery like some leech."
"Dat de way you see it, pup? You gonna be de saviour, de high 'nd mighty ange', gonna shed your past 'nd dat'll make it all better? Dat what you want? De way you want it?"
At the time, the words had made Bishop bristle with rage, hearing only more taunts and he had retaliated. Oh, had he retaliated. He shown his full contempt toward the man, accusing him of choosing to make the world worse when he could have made it better. The Witness had never responded. He had simply stood there expressionlessly as Bishop vented his anger and frustration until the young man had worn himself out. Only then did the man speak and he had only said, "You know de way out," before turning on his heel and leaving.
Looking back at the conversation, Bishop wondered if the taunts had only been in his mind. Had his father been asking for reassurance, asking for acceptance, acknowledgement of his place as the only father Bishop had ever known? The large man remembered back further, studying the chocolate skin of his clasped hands. That fight, discussion, whatever it was, had been the culmination of the problems they had had during his teenage years.
Of course, it had started even earlier than that. When Remy had found them, cold, alone, he had been their hero. Bishop and Shard would not have survived another week, maybe not even another night, if the lean Cajun had not taken them in, sheltered them, protected them. LeBeau had been their...his hero. He had wanted to be just like the Cajun, seeing him as perfect. It had been a shock when he had found out the man was not as good and perfect as Bishop had always assumed. It had been painful to find out that LeBeau was thief, that he ruled an entire clan of thieves. Actually, he had run more than that. The Witness had his own little army, businesses, the ears and the short hairs of many politicians. Bishop had been offended by this. Right was right and wrong was wrong. There was not grey area and LeBeau never claimed to be right.
Bishop had thought he understood the world at 16, knew that it was LeBeau's choice to stay involved in all the unsavory businesses. He knew that it was LeBeau's fault that crime still ruled the street, that people still got away with persecuting mutants. After all, his father was a strong man, knew everyone. If he had wanted to, he could have toppled the other criminals, turning them over to XSE, couldn't he?
Bishop was no longer quite so sure. As part of XSE, he had been exposed to the corruption throughout the system. Fitzroy was a prime example. The spoiled little killer had protection from on high. His father was a Coucil Member, rendering the mass murderer untouchable. The crime on the streets continued unabated. As soon as he and his team defeated one threat, removed one criminal two, three, even more sprung up in their place. It was a losing cycle and his hands were tied by the rules and regulations, the concern and fear of giving the flat scans more reasons to hate humans. Looking back on his past with adult eyes, he began to reevaluate, to search for better answers to his questions, and wishing he could speak to his father again, this time as a respectful son. Maybe that was why he had never received his answers. He had been disrespectful and had considered his father a liar. Would he have even believed the answers?
Most of all, right now though, Bishop was hit by his memory of the pain that lived in those red on black eyes. When he was younger, he had wondered about it. Shard and him had spent many hours trying to decide what had happened. They had asked him several times but he had never explained but it had been there, as had been the fierce determination he had seen there tonight. When others had threatened them as children, LeBeau had faced the threats with the same fierce determination, the silent threat, as he had shown Bishop today. But the older LeBeau had also had a deep pain in those eyes when he had fought to protect Bishop a pain deeper and more profound than Bishop had seen in this younger version. It made Bishop wonder about it once again and fear he now knew the answer.
Jade - First: Maybe. Second: Sorry, she has children in the future but they hate her so....Third: He'll be happy...eventually. And he does have two children in the future.
TuxedoNinja - Thank you. I really appreciate the encouragement.
MagnusXXN - Thanks and maybes. ;-)
ChrmdbytheCajun - Thank you. You know I don't seem to have a lot of Jean fans reading these stories. LOL.
Girlonthem00n - Thank you. I hope to spring some surprises.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ok, if people have been reading Mail Call, they will notice that I have mentioned children. There is a good reason for this. I play RPG's. My significant other and I liked the Heroes Reborn and Kingdom Come mini-series so much, we put together a world populated by the next genteration of heroes and their retired and dead parents. We both created quite a few characters and developed a history of what happened with several teams and which heroes were alive...etc.... Anyway, Jamie is one of my favorites and I wrote The Right Thing as a story about how his parents (Betsy and Remy) got together for various reasons. When it was so popular that I ended up doing this sequel I decided to basically start writing the various histories of the next generation of X-men together in one story. That's why I mention the children because many of them were heavily affected by events in their pasts. I am not planning on taking this story through the two decades until the children are adults. However, I do plan to add an epilogue at the end of this story listing the various children and their parents. If people are still interested and would like to know more about the children or how the children came about and what happened to the various parents, I will begin writing stories along those lines. Due to this, I'm afraid several of you will be disappointed with the fates of some of the characters in my stories. Unfortunately they are set. Jean, particularly will be living for a long time, but she is going to have massive problems with her children.
Hope this made sense. By the way, if I get enough requests, I will write up and post the list of the children early.
Now for what all of you actually clicked on this for:
****************************
Chapter 6
Erik led Rogue into a luxurious room. Deep pile carpet spread across the floor and the furniture was antique but in excellent condition. There were no window but a large blaze in the intricately worked stone fireplace offset the gloominess. Taking a seat on one of the elegant couches, Rogue was gripped with nervousness, wondering if what she was doing was right. If the other X-men found out where she was...
Well, she did not really have to think about that. They had not been paying a lot of attention to her lately. Remy and Betsy particularly had been ignoring her and Warren was never even home anymore. No one had known what he was up to but the mystery had been solved with his announcement tonight. That had been a suprise. Of course, Remy going to be a father had been an even larger surprise.
The older mutant offered her tea but Rogue shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself as he sat on the other end of the couch. "Tell me, Rogue, what has happened to send you to me for comfort?"
"It's alot o' things. I don't even know where ta start."
His blue eyes softened as they took in her obvious distress. "Start whereever you like. We have time."
"Ya know Ah was...Ah guess you would call it datin', Remy...um...Gambit." Erik nodded, silently waiting for her to continue. "Well, things got real bad after the trial ya set up an' Ah left him ta die."
The white-haired man shrugged, "A fitting price for a race traitor to pay."
"Yeah, well, he showed up alive again, at the mansion." Erik's face showed his surprise, he had honestly not known about that and Rogue nodded to emphasize her words. "Was a surprise to all o' us too. Noone knows how he got outta the Artic. Anyway, he got the X-men ta let him stay even when I tried to stop them. Worse, it turned out that he was basically under mind control when the massacre happened which changes what Ah did from punishment to murder. The others ain't said anything 'bout it yet, but it's only a matter a time an' now, he's gonna have a kid. He got with another woman only three months ago and is gonna have a family. It's not fair, Eric, all Ah ever wanted was a family, y'know, a husband, kids, parents and in-laws all comin' over for Christmas. Now he's gettin' it before me."
Eric laid a hand over hers in comfort. "Who is to say this relationship will last? From what you have told me and from what I know of Gambit, I doubt he was serious. Personally I worried about you when you were with him because I did not consider it a good relationship for you. It is better this way. Now you are free to find a man who will love and support you, be there for you no matter what. You will have a family and you will be an excellent mother. I know it."
Rogue smiled up at him gratefully. "Y'know, life's funny, mah team mates make me miserable and mah enemy makes me fell better."
Eric took both her hands in his as he stared into your eyes. "You have never been my enemy.
**********************************
It was after midnight when Remy silently slipped out of the bed. He tucked the blankets tightly around Betsy and pushed a pillow into her arms to prevent her from noticing his absence and waking up. Between his eyes and long experience of working in the dark, he was able to silently dress without lights, slipping on his trench coat and carrying his boots with him as he quietly exited the room. Once he was in the hallway, he put on his boots and began to prowl the dark halls, knowing his target was out here somewhere.
Bishop always patrolled the halls late into the night and it was not long before Remy saw his shadowed form in the foyer checking to make sure the doors were still locked. Reaching into his coat pocket palming several cards before shadowing the dark mutant into the kitchen.
Bishop walked through the kitchen to the back door and lay a hand on the handle before saying, "You wanna talk 'bout this in here or outside?"
Remy's eyes opened in surprise for a second but he quickly brought himself under control. "Pretty good, homme, not alot people know when Remy followin' when Remy don' want dem to."
Looking over his shoulder, he met the other mutants red gaze. "You taught me well. Now, outside or here?"
Remy considered for a few moments then said, "Outside in de woods. Too many ears 'round here."
Bishop nodded and opened the door, leading the way into the woods. The two of them walked silently for long time before coming to a very isolated clearing. Remy noticed as Bishop turned to face him that the raven haired mutant still held his gun. He found no offense in this because he was still holding the cards he had palmed earlier at the ready.
The two men stared at each other across the clearing, taking each other's measure, silently challanging and answering. Finally, Remy broke the silence. "What's your interest in Betsy 'nd de chile?"
The question was direct and demanding. Bishop was not surprised. The Witness had been just as direct when wanting information although never as direct when giving out information. "I'm not sure I know what you mean." Verbal sparring was another thing he had learned from his adopted father. It would be interesting to see if this younger version was as skilled in it.
"You suddenly payin' attention when you never did before, it make Remy real curious." His eyes narrowed dangerously.
Bishop shrugged before answering, "Maybe I'm just worried because she is with child. She is the first to be in this condition. Perhaps this is my normal behavior."
Remy's eyes narrowed further. "You t'ink you clever, playing dese word games wit' me. Maybe you are. But Betsy and de chile ain't a game so Remy not playin'. You hurt dem 'nd Remy swear dere ain't nowhere, nowhen, you can run to dat he won't find ya 'nd hurt ya back. Understand me, pup?" familiar term, familiar phrase, hit Bishop deeply. Standing there with threat and demand gleaming in his eyes Remy had never resembled the man who had raised Bishop more. He felt like a child again and could only nod in response, words frozen in his throat.
Remy kept their gazes locked for several more minutes, making sure Bishop knew he was not kidding. Then, without a word, the lean Cajun turned around and strode back to the mansion, leaving Bishop to deal with what had just happened.
After the man had disappeared into the darkness, Bishop sat down on a nearby flat rock, staring up at the stars. This era seemed strange to him in so many ways but nothing was more strange to him than Remy LeBeau. The man had raised him, had treated him like a true son. One would think that Bishop would actually understand the Cajun, his motivations, his history. He did not, not in his time, the future, not in this time. The Witness had always been cold in many ways, seeming cruel, especially when Bishop had joined the XSE, the mutant police. Bishop could remember the day he had made that decision, had come into the LeBeau's presence in his brand new uniform.
The old man's eyes had narrowed as he took in the sight then, with a sneer, he had inquired, "Didn' t'ink it was Halloween yet, pup. You celebratin' early?"
Bishop had been full of self-righteousness, of the desire to fix all the worlds problems. He would make all the crooked straight, the wrong right. How arrogant he must have sounded as he anwered his father's taunt, "No, I'm going to actually do something to make the world a better place instead of feeding on its misery like some leech."
"Dat de way you see it, pup? You gonna be de saviour, de high 'nd mighty ange', gonna shed your past 'nd dat'll make it all better? Dat what you want? De way you want it?"
At the time, the words had made Bishop bristle with rage, hearing only more taunts and he had retaliated. Oh, had he retaliated. He shown his full contempt toward the man, accusing him of choosing to make the world worse when he could have made it better. The Witness had never responded. He had simply stood there expressionlessly as Bishop vented his anger and frustration until the young man had worn himself out. Only then did the man speak and he had only said, "You know de way out," before turning on his heel and leaving.
Looking back at the conversation, Bishop wondered if the taunts had only been in his mind. Had his father been asking for reassurance, asking for acceptance, acknowledgement of his place as the only father Bishop had ever known? The large man remembered back further, studying the chocolate skin of his clasped hands. That fight, discussion, whatever it was, had been the culmination of the problems they had had during his teenage years.
Of course, it had started even earlier than that. When Remy had found them, cold, alone, he had been their hero. Bishop and Shard would not have survived another week, maybe not even another night, if the lean Cajun had not taken them in, sheltered them, protected them. LeBeau had been their...his hero. He had wanted to be just like the Cajun, seeing him as perfect. It had been a shock when he had found out the man was not as good and perfect as Bishop had always assumed. It had been painful to find out that LeBeau was thief, that he ruled an entire clan of thieves. Actually, he had run more than that. The Witness had his own little army, businesses, the ears and the short hairs of many politicians. Bishop had been offended by this. Right was right and wrong was wrong. There was not grey area and LeBeau never claimed to be right.
Bishop had thought he understood the world at 16, knew that it was LeBeau's choice to stay involved in all the unsavory businesses. He knew that it was LeBeau's fault that crime still ruled the street, that people still got away with persecuting mutants. After all, his father was a strong man, knew everyone. If he had wanted to, he could have toppled the other criminals, turning them over to XSE, couldn't he?
Bishop was no longer quite so sure. As part of XSE, he had been exposed to the corruption throughout the system. Fitzroy was a prime example. The spoiled little killer had protection from on high. His father was a Coucil Member, rendering the mass murderer untouchable. The crime on the streets continued unabated. As soon as he and his team defeated one threat, removed one criminal two, three, even more sprung up in their place. It was a losing cycle and his hands were tied by the rules and regulations, the concern and fear of giving the flat scans more reasons to hate humans. Looking back on his past with adult eyes, he began to reevaluate, to search for better answers to his questions, and wishing he could speak to his father again, this time as a respectful son. Maybe that was why he had never received his answers. He had been disrespectful and had considered his father a liar. Would he have even believed the answers?
Most of all, right now though, Bishop was hit by his memory of the pain that lived in those red on black eyes. When he was younger, he had wondered about it. Shard and him had spent many hours trying to decide what had happened. They had asked him several times but he had never explained but it had been there, as had been the fierce determination he had seen there tonight. When others had threatened them as children, LeBeau had faced the threats with the same fierce determination, the silent threat, as he had shown Bishop today. But the older LeBeau had also had a deep pain in those eyes when he had fought to protect Bishop a pain deeper and more profound than Bishop had seen in this younger version. It made Bishop wonder about it once again and fear he now knew the answer.