*Usual Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters, nor do I make any money off this musing.*

~Five Evenings Later~

Betsy pulled the chair closer to the screen. "I can't believe you're doing this, Logan. I thought you were joking."

The older man didn't look up from the keyboard as he typed in his personal access codes into the computer. "Well, I'm not joking as you can tell. Remy needs someone to confide in that doesn't already have a beef with him and his past, preferably a woman that's a mutant and already in the master files."

She giggled. "So we're really going girlfriend shopping for Remy. This is so surreal."

"Never mind if it seems surreal. Gumbo might be doing a little better in the shielding department when it comes to his empathic power, but he's also still spending his nights down in the Med-Lab under Blue's supervision. He ain't sleeping well worth shit."

Betsy sighed. "It's interesting what McCoy discovered that first evening. That his power seems to shut down once Remy's fully asleep. Then he has almost perfect shields. At least he can rest without distraction... once he's finally asleep that is."

Logan nodded, eyes on the monitor in front of him. "The catch is, the only way he's sleeping is with heavy duty medication that's addictive given enough time. I don't care to sit that boy through a nasty case of detox. He squalls loud enough without help. Dealing with a strung out Gambit might drive everyone here into a life of crime."

Psylocke stood up from her seat. "Well, have fun rummaging and staring at good looking women."

Logan glanced up. "I figured you'd want to throw in yer opinion on my choices. Where are you headin' in a rush?"

"I have a date. Warren and I are going out."

"Ah. Workin' on repairing yer boyfriend faction tonight?"

She brushed her hair out of her face. "I wish you wouldn't put it like that. No, I'm not repairing anything tonight. Warren and I planned for this several months ago, we have tickets to a new Broadway show and then it's dinner without Jubilee's chatter at the table. I think it will do both of us some good to get out of the mansion and have a normal evening."

Logan shrugged and turned his eyes back to the monitor. "Call it what you want. Have a good night, don't do anythin' I wouldn't do."

~Elsewhere in the Mansion~

Jean offered a smile across the table. "You've made excellent progress on the shielding, Remy. Now that we know you have a great shield when you sleep, it's only a matter of holding onto that mindset while awake. Right now you're lasting about five hours from waking up before developing a few leaks."

Remy didn't look up from his hands. "Few leaks, non? So dat what it called when a body starts the waterworks during one of those damned ASPCA commercials on the idiot box."

Jean didn't laugh though the urge was almost overwhelming. Instead she closed the notebook in front of her that she'd been taking notes in during their conversations. "You're not the only one that reacts to those horrific commercials. I personally can't stand them. Now I did get a memo from Hank earlier that I'd like to talk about with you before you escape this room."

"Que?"

She tried to catch his eyes, but his gaze was once again focused on his fingernails. It had not taken Jean long to realize that Remy considered eye contact a danger. Her sinking suspicion was that his preferred haircut started out as a way to hide his unusual eyes from the world around him. There it was again, that earnest desire to hide from everything that could leave an emotional mark.

"Hank is telling me that you no longer wish to spend your nights in the Med-Lab. He is however not entirely sure that you should be under the influence of your sleep medication in your own room. Is there a problem that we don't know about?"

He young man sighed and stopped staring at his hands long enough to give her face a quick once-over. "Gambit don't like hospital rooms. Sleep better in his own bed." He grinned. "Hank t'ink I gotta wake up too soon for my tastes too. Damned early bird speech he gives when I want to lay 'round in the morning."

Jean silently reopened her notebook and reached for a pen. "Why don't you like hospital rooms, Remy?"

He snorted. "Gambit once worked for Sinister, cherie. Dat freak like to poke an' prod his employees. Let's leave it at dat, alright?"

She was unable to hide the startled look on her face. Remy had been on one of those operating tables in Sinister's grasp? It was a disturbing thought she'd never considered. It was commonly believed that Remy had worked for Sinister only for the money after being kicked out of New Orleans by the Thieves' Guild. Had there been more to it? The smoldering glare coming across the table convinced her that tonight was not the night to open that particular can of worms so Jean settled for writing down a few notes as a reminder to cover this later.

"I can... understand then your desire to sleep elsewhere, but that does not make me happy. Hank is not going to let you continue to take the medications for sleep if you are in the main part of the mansion, and honestly I'm not up to counseling half the students here if you wake up in the middle of the night projecting emotions."

He grinned. "Got a solution to dat. No meds, an' put dat dampener thing back on my room. If Gambit has a restless night, no one pays for it but him. Fair deal?"

Jean thought about it for more than a few moments. "Are you concerned about ending up addicted to the sleep medications?" He shrugged but she couldn't miss the faint touch of cold fear that wafted over her mind. "I assure you, Hank would not let it get to that point."

"Why risk it? Done got rid of a monkey before. Not wanting to dance to dat tune again."

"Alright, we'll try it your way. But that means you stay put, in your room." She held up her hand to keep him silent. "No sneaking out through a window. No wandering around the mansion after hours. If the dampener is going to work, you have to remain in it's radius." Jean offered up her own grin. "So that means you'd better get your smoke break before you go to bed, as there's not going to be any rooftop breaks to tide you over for the night."

He smiled his trademarked grin. "Sounds like a fair deal, Jean."

~Later~

Ororo sat at the kitchen table, savoring her cup of Jasmine tea. It had been a relatively quiet day for once around the mansion and she was enjoying it. The bitter winds outside had given way to soft snow from the skies and the Weather Goddess always found great cheer in the first snow of winter. She'd kept silent when one of the younger students from a more southern climate insisted that others join her in a snowball fight, not wanting to embarrass the poor child with her laughter at the sight of Iceman running around with students while being the living target for incoming balls of snow.

She looked up from the table as Logan walked into the kitchen and rummaged in the fridge for a beer, then sat down at the table with her in companionable silence.

Logan was the one that broke the silence. "Remy's up in his room for the night. I hope the boy can get some sleep."

Her elegant eyebrows arched at this news. "I was under the impression that Remy was staying in the Med-Lab overnight."

He took a deep swig of his beer. "Gumbo's got a problem with hospitals. Can't say I blame him."

Ororo stirred her tea and took another sip. "How goes your girlfriend hunting, Logan?"

The older man looked up from his beer. "Alright, 'Ro, who told on me? Who's been listenin' in at doorways and keyholes?"

She stood up and put her empty tea cup in the sink after rinsing it off. "Jubilee."

"Figgers. She spends too much time trying to out-sneak Gumbo." His scowl faded into a small smile. "I'd set those two up, but Jubilee is way too young and I think that if those two got together they'd rob this mansion blind. Too much current and possible talent in that pairing."

Ororo returned to the table and sat down. "How is the search going?"

"Not so great. I set the original search to women that are mutants, and either they've worked with the X-Men or at least got a positive opinion of us. Problem is, other than Rogue and Belladonna, I don't know what kind o' girl he likes." He shrugged and took another pull from the beer bottle. "That he likes outside of a good romp and vanishing in the night before she wakes up, that is. You've known him the longest, got any suggestions?"

She smiled. "I suggest that you find another way to rescue Remy. He is not one to be content with an arranged relationship. How do you plan to explain to Rogue once she is back that you picked up for her boyfriend a mail order bride?"

Logan had to fight back a growl. "If she's smart, she'll not say a damned thing. I'm tired of that girl leadin' him on, then he gets to go back to his room and take a long cold shower. Rogue ain't seein' the damage she's doing, stringin' him along only to dump him when the hormones get pumping."

Thinking on it for a moment, finally Ororo sighed. "It is true, my little brother is a very physical person and it grieves me to watch him suffer at Rogue's hands. But that is their decision to make, Logan. If you or I were to push on Remy to leave her, his reaction would be the complete opposite. He would only cling tighter to an impossible dream."

Logan finished off his beer and stood up to toss the empty bottle in the trash can. "So no buying rings and things for the Cajun. I can just imagine Jean wanting to plan out the guest list and the reception dinner."

Ororo laughed at the image dancing through her mind. "I think I would pay good money to see that."

"I'm heading to bed. No sense staring at the computer for longer tonight."

"Have a good rest, my friend."

Logan nodded and headed further into the mansion. Padding up the stairs in his bare feet, he paused for a few moments outside Remy's door and listened in. All he could hear was the background music to one of those silly games the Cajun played during his downtime. A deep breath revealed the mellow scent of Jack and Coca Cola. Logan smiled. At least it wasn't drugs he figured, and decided not to mention Remy's little nightcap to Hank in the morning. Instead he went to his own bedroom and settled down for the night.

~Much Later~

Betsy stomped her feet a few times, getting the built up snow off her shoes while Warren took off his coat and hung it on one of the hooks available next to the garage door. "I don't know why you didn't like the play, dear. I thought it was wonderful."

The two tiptoed through the mansion over to Warren's room, keeping the lights out as to not disturb anyone that might've been still up and about at the late hour.

Warren didn't answer until they were in his rooms. "Only a woman would think a bunch of buff guys parading around in their underwear counts as a good production."

She slid out of her clothes and pulled on her nightwear, setting her evening dress in a spare chair against the wall so she wouldn't forget to retrieve it in the morning. "Only a man would be more interested in complaining about half naked men on stage and completely ignore the story. It was a beautiful tale, all of it I could hear over your snorts and sighs."

"Whatever." He flumped down in front of his computer and powered it up.

"What are you doing? I thought we agreed on no tech for the evening." Betsy came up behind him and started rubbing his shoulders, lowering her voice at the same time. "I thought you'd rather focus on you and I..."

He shrugged the hands off and started typing on the keyboard. "I can catch up on my news, get the stock report for the morning, then I'll turn it off. This won't take too long."

"Warren..."

"This will only take a few minutes. You can get something to drink out of the kitchen and by the time you're back I'll be in bed waiting."

She sighed and headed for the door. "Warren, I think I'll head to my room for the night. I wouldn't want to pry you from your mistress."

The lavender haired beauty didn't wait for his response as she closed the door behind her. She doubted he'd even bothered to look up from his precious twenty four hour news. Instead of grousing out loud Betsy wandered to the kitchen. The lights were off and she didn't turn them on. Did she really want anything to drink? She sighed and turned away from the room, considered going to her room for a moment, then took her footsteps in a different direction.

Her foot falls were almost imperceptible on the stairs as she made her way to the third floor. It was her original intention to talk to Logan about her frustrations with Warren, but seeing the dampener hooked up again left her in a moment of pause. That it was back in place and running meant that Remy was in his room for the night, not in the Med-Lab.

Taking a deep breath, Betsy knocked on the closed door, hoping Logan was out for the night and wouldn't hear her. There was no answer. Better go back downstairs, her mind cautioned her. Go to bed and forget about disturbing anyone.

Instead she tried the doorknob. It was unlocked. Glancing down the hall to check if anyone could possibly be watching her, Betsy slipped into the room and closed the door behind her.