Combusting Hearts

Chapter 8

The next couple of days flew by quickly. During that time, I mainly spent most of my time with Logan and Kurt. Although, I DID get to see Logan and Remy go at it once, but it was only for a couple of minutes. It would have been interesting to watch though, but Scott of all people broke it up before they could do anything. Although this time, was not one such time that Scott was going to brake it up.

At the moment, we were all outside, Kurt, Logan, Gambit, and me. We were in an open area out in the courtyards away from everyone else. Logan and Gambit stood there, staring each other down. Gambit had his long coat on, and his bo staff in his hand. Logan on the other hand, had his claws out ready to strike.

"You ready to get your butt kicked Cajun?" Logan asked.

"I don' know, shouldn' you be askin' yourself that?" Gambit countered, laughing at him. Logan just growled in annoyance.

"Alright bub, let's have at it," Logan said, running forward at Gambit. Gambit just leapt out of the way of Logan's claws.

"Come on Wolverine, you can do better d'an that," Gambit teased, pulling out one of his cards and throwing it at him. It exploded in his face, sending him flying back.

"Logan!" I shouted, getting ready to run for him, but Kurt held me back with his tail.

"Do not vorry fraulein, he vill be fine," Kurt reassured me, and he was right. Moments later, Logan was standing back up, cracking his neck. He looked over at me and winked, letting me know not to worry. I felt so embarrassed because I keep forgetting about his ability to heal.

"Have ya had enough yet Wolverine?" Gambit asked after about 10 minutes of 'playing', only to be met with an angry fist in his gut. He doubled over in pain, gasping for air.

"Have ya had enough yet Cajun?" Logan asked as he laughed. Gambit didn't like this much. He quickly grabbed his bo staff and smacked Logan in the head with it. Logan fell back a bit, holding head for a moment. As a result of Remy's choice of action, he didn't have his bo staff for much longer, and it went sailing through the air in my direction. Seeing this, I got up and ran, catching it since I knew that Gambit would not want his beloved bo staff to be damaged.

"Thanks cheri," he called. I just nodded, giving him a small smile and went back over beside Kurt.

Kurt just sat there, watching everything, and quietly flicking me with his tail. He continued doing this for a good 5 minutes.

"Stop that," I said, swatting at it. He smiled at me with his pointed teeth, grinning a bit. I shoved him, only to be caught by his tail. "Hey, let go Kurt!" I cried, laughing.

Logan and Gambit watched this for a few minutes, finding it rather entertaining. It allowed them a short break, although, Remy seemed to be the one in most need of it.

"Logan!" Kurt called out, "Vould you like to help?" Kurt asked, looking down at me.

My eyes went wide.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" I yelled, knowing what he was planning. To my dismay, Logan looked over at me with a smirk on his face. "Logan, don't you DARE!" I shouted, watching him come closer as Kurt held my wrists with his tail. I pulled, and pulled, but it didn't do any good. "R-Remy! Help!?" I cried as Logan got closer to me, nearly cornering me against Kurt.

Before I knew it, Logan and Kurt were tickling me relentlessly.

"S-stop!" I sputtered, squirming immensely. They didn't stop though. They continued to tickle me, even when it was getting hard to breathe. When it got to that point, I reached my hand out toward Gambit, eyes pleading for help. It was a look that Gambit couldn't miss, and so he ran over quickly, grabbing his bo staff, and hit them both in the back of the head making them release me.

"Cheri's gotta breathe," he stated, getting them to stop. They stood there watching as I gasped for air, filling my lungs with its cooling touch. I was so happy to finally have a proper amount of air going down my throat. All I could do was pant as I lay there on the ground, my hands glowing a bit. Kurt took a step back upon seeing this, not wanting to get hurt, but Gambit on the other hand, he took a step forward.

"Vhat are you doing?" Kurt asked, trying to pull him away, but Gambit wouldn't have that.

"Let me go," he demanded, pulling away from him.

Logan and Kurt were shocked as they watched him do what I had seen him do a handful of times already. He absorbed my power into his as he took my hands. This was beginning to become a routine between the two of us it seemed.

"What are you doing Cajun?" Logan growled, pulling him away from me.

"Hey, get off," Gambit told him, pulling away from him roughly. "All I do is help her," he said, giving Logan a bit of a hard look.

They watched as I pushed myself up into a sitting position, holding my head for a moment.

"You alright cheri?" Gambit asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine Remy, just a little headache," I reassured him. Logan gave me a strange look when I used Gambit's real name, so I explained. "I call him by his name, just like I do you and Kurt, Logan," I said, looking at everyone. I saw the look that Gambit gave Logan, so I decided to stop things where they were. "Remy," I warned, "Stop it," I said.

"Aw…cheri," he pouted like a child. I nearly laughed if not for my headache.

"Don't cheri me," I said, lifting my finger, "Behave," I ordered.

"Yeah, behave," Logan said, trying to hide the grin on his face. Gambit turned on him, bringing his bo staff out.

"Gambit, stop it!" I commanded, nearly faltering when I stood up, I fell against Gambit. Though startled at having me suddenly fall against him, he caught me and held me up.

"You ain't alright cheri," Gambit said, catching me in my lie. I sighed quietly, admitting defeat.

"Look…I've been like this since the other day, okay? Can we just drop it?" I asked, trying to stand on my own, but to no avail. He had to catch me again, before I could hit the ground, his bo staff in front of me like a bar, helping keep me up. It gave me something to hold onto as I leaned against him tiredly.

"That's it, Gambit takin' you inside to see Hank and the Professor," he said, picking me up in one single fluid motion. I gave out a startled yelp when he did this, my arms going around his neck instinctively. "Don' worry cheri, I won' drop ya," he reassured me, heading back to the mansion with the others in toe.

"Remy, can you please put me down? This is embarrassing," I whined, looking around as we went down the hall.

"Sorry, no can do cheri," he said, continuing to carry me in his arms as we went.

I swear, I was so embarrassed as we walked past students, I had to hide my face in the collar of his coat. I've never had to have anyone actually carry me before, and it was embarrassing, especially since Gambit was the one doing it. It was even worse though when we ran into Scott.

"What's this, she sick or something? Why is her face all red?" Scott asked, trying to butt his nose into things.

"Outta the way Cyclops," Gambit insisted, making to go around him.

"You know, you guys should really learn to behave," Scott said, "You're setting a bad example for the other students."

Oh Lord have mercy, kill me now. I mean seriously, how retarded and rude can you get? To my utter amusement though, Logan flipped him the bird, before grabbing hold of him by his shirt and shoving him out of the way. We left Scott standing there dumb struck as we went.

"Now, which one is it again?" Gambit asked mainly to himself, trying to find the elevator.

"Over here numb skull," Logan groaned as he opened the elevator, stepping aside to let Gambit enter.

Gambit muttered a few words under his breath, and I flicked him in the ear for it. I could hear Logan suppressing a laugh when he saw this, I ignored it though, and rested my head against Gambit's shoulder. Even though I don't want to admit it, being in Remy's arms is actually kind of comfortable, plus he's warm. Unfortunately, like usual, I also have the worst luck ever.

"Ah, Professor, we were just gonna go lookin' for you in a few minutes," Remy said as he spyied the Professor wheeling out of one of the rooms. He gave Gambit a curious look when he saw him holding me.

"And what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked.

"Well…" Gambit started as he looked down at me, "Don' really know to be honest," he said.

"Let's take a look then," Charles said, moving down toward the medical room, everyone following behind him.

When we got inside, Gambit placed me down on the table. I sat there for a moment, just simply holding my head.

"Elaine, could you please lay down for me dear?" the Professor asked.

I nodded my head, moving to lay down on the table. Once I was comfortable, he came behind me.

"Now, I want you to try and relax, alright Elaine?"

"Okay," I whispered, closing my eyes. I tried my best to relax, though it was a bit hard with my headache, not to mention everyone else in the room watching me. I could feel him going through my mind, sifting through memories as he set there, hands hovering on either side of my head. At some point or another, the thought of my parents came to mind, causing my eyes to water, and my hand to ball up. I was so tempted to pull away, but I remained still. After a few more minutes, he finally pulled away.

"I can only assume that in part, it's a result of your powers developing and manifesting further. They are evolving as you improve your control over them. Also…" he paused, turning to look at Logan and Gambit, "your little charades don't help matters," he pointed out.

I watched as Gambit shifted uncomfortably, his gaze landing on me for a moment, before traveling elsewhere.

"My advice is that you lay down and rest. Although, I would like you to see Hank some time next week, so that he can have a once over, just to be safe," Charles said. He then turned to Kurt. "Kurt, would you mind taking her to her room please? I need to have a talk with Logan and Gambit."

"Of course Professor."

And with that, we were off.

I hope that everyone liked this chapter. I hope I've been able to keep it in the same quality as I have with the others? Things should start getting more interesting in the next few chapters. Please REVIEW? I'd like to see what everyone thinks of this chapter and how I'm doing with writing them. So, if you have any comments at all, please don't be hesitant to tell me. Thanks everyone. :)