Title: The Gathering Night
Author: May Chang
Genre: slash, action, AU(fantasy)
Pairings: Havok x Polaris, Wolverine x Mystique, Rogue + Cyclops, Northstar + Iceman, past Gambit x Storm
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: "X-Men" is the property of Marvel.
Author's Note: This mini-chapter was suppose to be posted with the last chapter, but for some reason wouldn't let me upload it. :fume:

This is just an interlude of what happened with Bobby and Jean-Paul, and how Ororo just happened to be there at the Institute (plus it gives me time to figure out where to go from here. :p ) Thank you all for reading the fic thus far:D


Interlude I
"Get out of here!" Bobby snapped at Remy as he watched the intruder get up slowly.

"What? No!" Remy retorted. "This is my problem, Bobby! You don't need to get into this!"

"Yeah, well, tough luck," Bobby said and shoved Remy away before he created an icy wall between them. He ignored Remy shouts at him as he faced down the other sorcerer. "Hey, hey, hey! There is no need to go around and trashing this place! I happen to live here, you know!"

"Get out of my way," the intruder growled out. "He must die."

"Okay, sure, Remy can be a little annoying, but that doesn't constitute into killing him," Bobby replied, dropping the temperature in the area. He could see the intruder's breath as ice began to form everywhere. "How about you just take a nice deep breath, calm down a bit and realize maybe you could be wrong?"

"You dare?" the intruder shouted and Bobby was suddenly punched in the jaw. Staggering a bit, Bobby was battered with fists from the man. A part of his mind was glad that he was in ice-form at the moment; he really didn't want to have all those bruises the next day. "The Speaker hears the command of our lady the Phoenix Queen! You who defy the one true goddess and her prophet shall not live!" Bobby was able to tackle the intruder into the wall behind him and encase him from the neck down in ice. Staggering back against the other wall, he watched as the man struggled to get out.

"You know, I am so glad this is a dead end," Bobby said. "I don't think I'm up to another round of getting my ass kicked." The intruder gave no response; Bobby didn't think he would anyway. Tilting his head slightly, Bobby couldn't hear anything on the other side of his ice wall.

"I don't hear anything out there," he mused, "and you're on ice. I think I'm safe for the moment." He de-iced and sat down on the floor with a sigh.

"You know, I really wasn't expecting to have to fight with people yet," Bobby said in a conversational tone. "I mean, I've been trained to help people, but I've never really thought I'd have to fight other sorcerers like you. Of course it helps when you're spouting shit about the Phoenix Queen and all that. I don't know about you but all the religious crap isn't for me since it doesn't constitute as real. I mean, have you actually really seen a god or a goddess? There's only four that we know of, and one of them is dead and the other one is locked up somewhere. So that leaves the Storm Goddess and the Gray Lord and I have yet to see either of them."

"Do you always talk this much?" the man asked acidly.

"Just to people who need to get the stick out of their asses," Bobby replied cheerfully. "So that's usually Sc-Cyclops and Havok- Cyclop's more of a pole and Havok is a tree because he keeps thinking that I'm going to steal Polaris away from him, which is total bullshit since I still don't really know if I like men or women more at this point - oh, and sometimes Wolverine when he's around, because his social skills is like totally shot - hey, he hangs around with Ms. Da--er, Mystique all the time and she's not what you call the greatest conversationalist ever - oh, wait, he's not much of one to begin with and--"

"Oh just shut up!" the man interrupted. Maybe it was just Bobby but he seemed a little bit amused. Studying his face a bit, Bobby deemed that it was just stress and the man was just annoyed at him.

"You know, we still need to introduce ourselves. You can call me Iceman, 'cause, you know, I work with ice," Bobby said with a smile. The man was silent, glowering at Bobby from beneath his black hair. "Hey, I don't deserve the silent treatment! Well, maybe I do since we're enemies." He got up and walked over to the intruder who just looked at him warily. Bobby didn't know why but he reached out and lifted the hair away from the man's ear and was greeted with a pointed ear. He noticed the man freezing at his touch, his mouth opening slightly in surprise before Bobby dropped his hand and backed away.

"You've got ears like Nightcrawler," Bobby said leaning back against the wall. "Of course, I don't think it'd be nice to call you an elf. Faerie would be kind of harsh too, you know. You don't have to give me your real name, you know. Give me someth--"

"Northstar," the man said. "Now shut up." His voice had wavered a bit and Bobby couldn't help but feel a bit concerned.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "You'll probably catch a cold from the ice, but like I said before, I really don't want to get my ass kicked again so letting you go isn't in the near future." The man didn't respond and Bobby didn't have a chance to ask anything else as the windows suddenly shattered and a female sorcerer came through. Bobby didn't even have a chance to go into ice-form before he was thrown into the icy wall. He sat up, shaking his head to stop the ringing in his ears before he looked up again.

While he was down, the woman had freed Northstar and now the two were escaping through the window. Getting up, Bobby watched as the woman flew out the window and Northstar following. The man suddenly stopped and looked back at Bobby and, for a moment, Bobby felt a connection before he was out the window. Bobby iced up and ran up to the window only to find that no one was there.

He couldn't help but wonder what that feeling was as he melted away the ice.


The wind smelled of blood and Ororo frowned from atop of the temple. She closed her eyes and let the wind flow around her, trying to sense where the scent of blood was coming from. Blood and smoke wafted up towards her from they south and Ororo opened her eyes, taking off into the sky to see. There was indeed smoke coming from that direction and Ororo frown as she realized that it was the direction of the Institute.

Magnus and Gambit were there.

Worry sent her flying towards the Institute and within moments she was there, eyes wide in shock at the scene before her. Armed men were flooding the gates, attempting to get inside of the Institute. Sorcerers fought valiantly against them and Ororo watched as one of the sorcerers encased the men at the gates in ice. She watched as Magnus ran men through with their own swords; she watched as Gambit threw himself in the battle, explosions knocking men off their feet and wielding his staff like a warrior.

She was angry all of a sudden, angry at the gall of these men who attacked a haven for children with powers, angry at them for following an evil goddess. The clouds rolled in, showing her anger to them before she blasted the earth below with a bolt of lightning. Shrieks of fear and the stench of burnt hair and skin rose up to her and Storm couldn't help but feel justify for her actions.

"How dare you?" Ororo called out, her voice angry. "I dare you attack a school for children!" She sent down another bolt of lightning, and watched in satisfaction when they all turned and ran. A woman called out to Gambit, a threat in her voice before she disappeared in the mob of fleeing soldiers. Two sorcerers flew up and a bright flash of light flared, causing her to shut her eyes. When she regained her sight, the enemies were gone.

She landed down on the ground and nodded to the young man with a visor over his eyes. She would have turned to talk to Magnus when a young woman from inside bellowed out his name, panic in her voice. Watching as he and others took off, she was soon left alone with Gambit.

"We should go," she said, looking at him.

"Of course, Stormy." She shot him an annoyed look and he just smiled in response.

They came into the conversation about Xavier losing his ability to walk and Ororo was overcome with sorrow. It was when he spoke about the battle with the Shadow King that Ororo felt troubled. She remembered the demon, one who fought constantly with Death in the past for control over the demons. When Death was lost in the battle, the Shadow King had thought himself victoriously and tried to control the demons. The demons turned on him and he was quickly exiled from the shadows. Ororo had no idea what had happened to him until now.

"That is most troubling," she murmured, her voice tight. "I had not expected him to come here." She saw Remy look at her and she crossed her arms as she looked back.

"They were looking for you," she said quietly. "Why?"

"Information," he replied after a moment's pause, looking strangely confused. Ororo couldn't help but frown at the answer and his body language. He suddenly took her hand and leaned forward, brushing his cheek against hers.

"You shouldn't frown, Ororo. It doesn't suit you," he whispered into her ears.

"You shouldn't frown, my beloved," he said with a smile. He reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "It doesn't suit you."

She went still, surprise racing through her as she watched him straightened up. He suddenly frowned at her with a worried expression.

"Stormy? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, nodding slowly. "Yes, I'm fine, Gambit." He gave her a questioning look before he turned his attention back to the event in the study. She in turned study him from the corner of her eye and wondered.