"Love is loving things that sometimes you don't like."
–Ajahn Brahm
Chapter Seven: Contrary Words
Upper West Side
The wee hours between midnight and dawn cradled Rogue soundly. Instinctively, her hand kept reaching out for Remy's pillow and finding only purring fluff. The boys missed him, too. And then, as if her dreams beckoned him, she reached out and felt his coarse glove. His comforting weight settled on her, and her legs brushed the holsters still strapped to his thighs. She ran her hands through his hair, expecting to find a mask still in place, too, but apparently he'd thought to remove that before falling into bed.
He didn't bother removing most of his clothes before he took her, too desperate to bother with foreplay. He needed something he couldn't name; something she couldn't touch. But she didn't know what else to give besides passion.
"I knew you'd call Rogers," he said afterwards.
She flushed. "If Ah think you're makin' a mistake, Ah'll stop you. Don't need him to fight my battles."
"Think that's what scares me."
"What?"
"If I'm not hidin' behind lies and you're not hidin' behind them… Then it's just you and me. 'S not anybody else's fault when y' leave me."
"Remy… Ah love you and Ah'm committed. Ah don't know what else to say."
A light smile masked his face. With a joke about pant stains, he left her in their unbearably empty bed, wishing he'd come back to her.
Ithaca
Tad Carter finally reached the day he'd been training for. It was the last day of his life.
Raven – or rather, "Becca" – hadn't been there. Still suspended from the project, she learned of Tad's death via text message. Later, Dr. McCoy called and gave her the standard line: he died a hero's death in the ever-noble quest for knowledge. She knew without being told that he'd probably roasted alive. Maybe his limbs had slowly exploded. Scientists and engineers would've scrambled like mad, searching for a solution that didn't exist; speaking soothing lies he never heard over the sounds of his own screams.
Manhattan
Agent Kymberly Taylor had been trailing Gambit for weeks. Thanks to his "prank", she'd blown the Monaco mission, endured first-degree frostbite on both feet, and suffered the unending humiliation of having to be rescued. If she'd expected Rogue to be reprimanded, she was disappointed. She'd heard through the grapevine that paperwork had been filed to remove her from her field leader position, but Hill stopped it. Now everyday she saw side-ways looks, heard the whispered rumors, and knew everyone knew she'd been taken down a peg for screwing with Gambit.
Well, if he got a free pass, so did she.
Finding him wasn't terribly difficult, but she had to corner him while Rogue wasn't around. And lately she'd been on him like white on rice. Also, she had to attack him in a public place. If it looked like an accident, she'd probably get away with it. SHIELD knew he'd attacked her before; she could always claim self-defense. They might not buy it… But a jury certainly would.
He ducked into a café and sat at a table with a young man.
Simon looked around nervously. "Won't we be-?"
"Stop lookin' suspicious, son. Y' got it?"
"Depends. You have the money?"
Remy leveled his glare and Simon handed him a flash drive.
"I'm gonna verify this. Checks out, you'll have a bonus direct-deposit."
"No, you-"
"Who you think you're talkin' to?" he snarled. "The lot barkin' for this would sooner shoot you than lose a dime. Walk away, son, and be grateful."
He left poor Simon trembling. Being ruthless was sometimes a part of the job, but he had every intention of honoring his end… If the intel was good. The Olympus Project intended to remove mutants from Earth. History indicated that the new real estate would not be prime, and he planned to bring the project to a halt. Raven was involved but she wouldn't reveal a thing. He couldn't infiltrate, either. Best bet was to find someone on the inside willing to talk. The steep bribe had graciously come from the Ambassador, and the worry that Rogue would put the pieces together burned white-hot in his mind. She wasn't stupid. Sometimes she was slow to pick up clues, but once she got moving in the right direction, she couldn't be stopped. His best defense was the truth with selective omissions since she'd gotten so keen on detecting his lies. Contrary to her words, she didn't want to know everything. Once the mask was off, she was bored and then she was gone. She liked a man with mystery and he liked challenging women.
Speaking of difficult women… Agent Taylor was headed his way.
He sunk into the crowd and ducked into a subway entrance. A few minutes later, he checked his six, where she was persistently fixed. He paced the deck impatiently. A train was coming, but wouldn't reach him before she did. He turned to her.
"Avoiding me?" She embraced him and with her lips against his ear, said: "Wish you had."
Something flashed in her hand. Without seeing the weapon, his hand closed around her wrist. A 9 mm fought to face his torso: more than enough in such close-quarters. Neither dared cry out, but time was against them. Soon, the train would be here, and they'd be trapped between two masses. The barrel glimpsed his thigh and she took the shot. He buckled. She collapsed and tripped over him, spilling onto the tracks as the train arrived. In a flash of light and blood, she disappeared beneath the wheels.
Ithaca
Dr. McCoy followed Raven into the underground club. Instead of the typical double-take he was accustomed to provoking, he glanced and then glanced again at his surroundings. Berets. Bongos. Beards.
"The fashion of my youth is so old it's new again," he marveled.
She led him to a table and ordered some local brew that made him nauseous. The mediocre band abandoned the stage for the next act: a sole man with a guitar. Again, McCoy did a double-take.
"My stars! Is that-?"
A few young women shh-ed him and Raven warned: "No one speaks when Nate sings!"
Young Nate Grey's talent was leagues above his pitiful venue's. McCoy wasn't a particularly avid music fan, but he could appreciate the spell cast by a live performance in the semi-darkness. The room swelled with female admirers. After five songs, he 'played one more' five more times. They wouldn't let him leave. The finale – for surely this massive musical orgy had been orchestrated – inspired his fans to raise their hands and sway. Madness! Complete and utter madness!
"He's very good, isn't he?" Raven said as he left the stage. A majority of the audience gathered around him.
A man joined them. Dr. McCoy had never been so grateful for masculine company.
"Ah! Mr. Cameron! Please, sit."
"You're late," Raven said.
"Couldn't find it!" he complained. "When I finally did, I was told 'no admittance without a date'! Had to pay some girl forty bucks to get me in!"
"Oh," she giggled. "Sorry, I didn't know…"
"No matter," said McCoy. "Let's proceed, shall we? I apologize for the timing of this conversation, but I believe SHIELD intends to terminate the Olympus Project. Carter's death was… brutal. And apparently unavoidable. The Agency believes every pilot will suffer the same and that price is too steep. No announcement's been made, but it's only a matter of time."
"I survived," said Cameron.
"As did Ms. Daumier. I believe the X-gene gives you two an advantage. Whatever the reason, I intend to continue my work, and I would like you both to stay as well."
"Count me in," he said.
Raven bit her lip. "You want me as a pilot."
"And an engineer."
"My kids…"
"I understand the gravity of your decision, but please consider the implications. We barely comprehend the mechanics of what we're working with. Whatever laws apply are completely foreign to our understanding of nature. We don't know why the laws appear to change when humans are involved; we thought it must've been an error in our observations, but Ray-" he stopped himself. "Rebecca, I'm not a spiritual person like yourself, but if there is a god, we are surely uncovering his mysteries. Homo sapiens have been deemed unworthy to possess this knowledge. Only homo superior can take this next step."
She took a deep breath. "Let me think about it."
"That's all I ask. Now, if you two will excuse me, I must prepare for a congressional hearing."
As he left, she bit her lip and eyed Cameron nervously. The place was different with Dr. McCoy – she'd been excited to share a novel experience with a friend. But now she was alone with Cameron. The drinks seemed too strong; the lights, too low; the stools, too close.
He leaned towards her and said: "I thought you were married."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You knew it'd take me ages to get here and you'd have McCoy to yourself. Are you in love with him? Dunno how I missed it before. You're always with him, always defending him. Your husband found out, didn't he? That's the real reason you stopped coming to work."
She had wanted to push him away but rejection still stung. "If my parents hadn't raised me better, I'd spit in your face!" she snarled and stormed out.
Queens, New York
Dr. Cecilia Reyes was pushed inside an apartment and greeted by the sight of blood. Gambit lay bleeding on the couch, his face white and clammy.
"Hey, doc," he smiled weakly.
"Remy!" she gasped and joined the woman holding his wound.
Bullet wound. Inner thigh. Possibly nicked femoral artery.
"My lucky day," he wheezed. "All these pretty ladies touchin' me."
"Good," said Dr. Reyes. "Keep making stupid jokes. How'd this happen?"
"Just tell me what you need," the man called Fence said.
Gambit desperately needed a hospital, but she knew it was out of the question. Miraculously, she stopped the bleeding without losing his life, and by the time she left, he was making stupid jokes again.
"Hey, Cece, why y' only come 'round when my pants are off?"
She rolled her eyes and left.
Remy turned to his companions. "Verify the intel on that stick. If it's good, wire the money. Tomorrow's the first and I'm sure his rent's due…"
Darce sighed. While her husband worked, she cleaned the blood and brought him an aspirin and water. "Who did this, boss?"
"SHIELD. Who else is that good? No worries, chere, she ain't gonna trouble us anymore." He swallowed the pills dry. "Get on the phone and find out how low I gotta lay."
"Don't get much lower than Queens!" Fence smiled.
By the night's end, they'd determined that Simon's intel was good and that SHIELD was plenty pissed. Several hospitals with patients matching his description had been put on lock-down, and a $50,000 reward had been offered for information regarding his whereabouts. New York was too hot. SHIELD was already sitting on New Orleans.
He gave Fence a blank check and told them to take that Alaskan cruise they always talked about. No telling when they'd meet again and Gambit couldn't afford to lose his few friends.
"They've probably arrested m' cats," he said.
Before he teleported to a safe house in the Outback, Darce packed him a couple sandwiches.
"I couldn't sleep if I thought you were hungry."
Fence rolled his eyes. "He's gonna pop a stitch and bleed to death before he starves, woman!"
"Shut it, you!" She took Gambit's hands. "I don't know how, but we'll get a message to Rogue."
"No sweat. Typical Thursday for us. Thank y'all for lettin' me bleed all over your furniture. One day I'll make it up t' you."
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
"Nice work," Rogue congratulated her team.
Cable worked out a kink in his shoulder. "Back at ya, Ace. Never seen you move like that."
"Hey," she shrugged. "When you're hot, you're hot."
Ever since she'd stopped taking the antidote, she'd been running circles around everyone else. Sometimes she felt too high strung – like she could almost see through walls and hear thoughts. She didn't think it was necessarily a bad thing, but the doctors disagreed. They wanted her back on the antidote – at a lower dosage. They could find another Guinea pig. She liked her new abilities.
Rogers arrived and asked her to ride back with the others.
"Ah feel fine," she said. "Ah'll fly."
"Rogue." He fixed her with a look.
Her heart sank. Rogers had something dreadful to say, and she knew it was about Gambit.
"What's he done?"
On the helicopter ride, he explained that Gambit and Agent Taylor had gotten into an altercation in a subway station. She'd fired a shot before falling on the tracks. He'd bled profusely before teleporting away and Taylor was dead. Naturally, SHIELD had some questions for her.
The world spun and she couldn't catch her breath. It had been weeks since her last spell! But this was clearly more than stress.
By the time they landed in New York, her whole body was numb. Wade didn't hesitate to say her lips were blue, but SHIELD insisted on getting their answers before she got medical attention. Sometime between the fortieth and fiftieth time they asked where he was hiding, the world went black.
MacTaggert Hospital for the Superhuman
Manhattan
Raven brought Sam and Marie to visit Rogue at the hospital, unaware of the web awaiting her. Deputy Director Hill insisted on speaking to her. SHIELD agents herded the children away. Not wanting to make a scene, she acquiesced.
They threatened to arrest her if she didn't reveal Remy's location. Of course, she didn't know. They terminated her from the Olympus Project and revoked her scholarship, which was conditional based on her work. It didn't matter. She still didn't know where he was. They reminded her that Marie could be deported, sent back to the Canadian foster system, and Sam was only in her custody because SHIELD made it so. They could easily give him to someone else. In tears, she promised them anything.
"I don't know where Gambit is, but I'll find him!"
Hill rolled her eyes. "He'll turn up eventually. We want you to bring someone else." She slid a picture across the table.
"Nil?"
…
To Be Continued…
…
Author's Notes: Ajahn Brahm has a lot of sermons posted on YouTube. He's a fun little character, check him out. Speaking of fun characters, I was sorry to see Tad go… I'm afraid Remy's still not being entirely honest with his wife. The more he lets her in, the more his mental alarms are ringing: "this is bad!" Anyone with his life experiences would feel that way, and in my opinion, it's one of their relationship's biggest challenges.
