xxXxx
Shade woke in her bed. She growled and put a hand to her face. "I gotta stop waking up like this," she groaned.
"I'll say, chère," she turned to see Gambit in his familiar stance with a smirk on his face. "How you feel, petit?"
Shade cocked her head, there was something different about Gambit's eyes. They looked almost sad behind his usual cocky smirk. "I'm fine . . ." she said looking him over suspiciously.
"Dat's good," he said. It seemed as if he wanted to say more. Shade sat up.
"What?"
"Nothing, chère." Shade rolled her eyes. She shifted to the edge of the bed.
"You're lying, boy," she teased. Gambit just smiled sadly. "C'mon. 'Boy' always gets some sort of response out of you. What's wrong."
Gambit sat on the edge of her bed. He took one of her small hands in both of his. "We gotta stop dis, chère."
Shade looked at him confused. "Stop what?"
"I gotta stop coming here. I gotta stop seeing you, belle." Still confused but now saddened, Shade stared blankly at Gambit's large hands engulfing hers, as if the answer was in the lines of his knuckles.
"Why," she asked in a monotone.
Gambit shook his head. "It's for de best, chère. You just gotta trust me." He stood still holding her hand. "I care for you, petit. I really do. But dis has t' stop." He kissed the top of her head and left without another word.
xxXxx
Wolverine sat on the edge of Shade's bed where she lay face down. "I'm so confused. I have no idea what just happened."
Wolverine patted her back being careful of her X. "Sounds like a break up to me, pup." he said, glad to see the Cajun go.
"What's a break up?"
Wolverine sighed. "Where's Kitty to explain this stuff to you?"
"The library, doing homework."
He sighed again. "A break up is when a couple isn't a couple no more."
"We weren't a couple," Shade said confused. Wolverine shook his head. The kid still didn't get human culture, that or she really didn't realize what was going on emotionally between her and the Cajun. The later was just as likely because she still didn't understand emotions.
"Ok, pup." Shade sighed and rolled onto her back. "How's the back?"
She rolled her eyes. "It's fine, Wolvie."
"You gunna be ok, pup?"
"I am ok. Just confused," she lied. Wolverine patted her shoulder and left. Shade didn't fully understand what happened, but it did make her said and hurt. This wasn't the physical pain she was used to. This was a new sort of pain.
xxXxx
Gambit stood with arms crossed in front of Magneto's desk. Magneto paced furious on the other side, Gambit followed him with his red on black eyes. "How could this happen?" Magneto shouted furiously.
Gambit shrugged. "What can I say? Dat Professor has Cerebro, he can find mutants. De ones he finds tend t' stay wit him."
Magneto slammed his fist on his desk. "We need to get her back!"
"Why?" Magneto paused and raised a brow at Gambit's response. Quickly thinking he said, "Do we really need dat femme? Der's other mutants out der." This seemed to pacify Magneto but he was still suspicious. "Besides, is now really de time for a war wit de X-Men?"
Magneto thought about this. "I suppose it may not. Our machine is nearly complete. We'll need a human to test it on."
"Can do," Gambit said giving a two fingered solute before turning and leaving magneto's office. Magneto watched him cautiously.
"Do you really believe that shit?" Sabertooth said emerging from the shadows.
"No, he is hiding something. However he does have a point. Shade can wait until our machine is finished and has been tested."
xxXxx
Shade sat on the edge of the fountain in the Xavier courtyard watching the young mutants play a game of dodge ball. Sitting by the fountain made her think of the one back at Magneto's and of Gambit. It had been nearly three months since she last saw him. And other than the few regular spats with the Brotherhood of Evil, Magneto had been keeping his head down.
She was now pretty settled into life at the institute. The mansion had been repaired and she was back in a room of her own. Shade had gotten into reading books written by a human named Stephen King, needless to say Beast was proud of this progress. The Professor taught her while the kids were in school. She was learning math, writing, biology and history. Xavier's goal was to catch her up on basic knowledge and make her a more adjusted individual. Shade was even learning slang and social behavior from watching and interacting with the students. The only problem with Shade learning social behavior from kids was she acted more like a seventeen year-old rather than twenty-one.
Shade had become very attached and protective of Rogue and Kitty. The small woman found herself to be a big sister much the way Wolverine was a big brother to her. Speak of the Devil, he wandered over and sat next to her on the fountain. "Hey, pup.
"Hi, Logan." She was still getting used to the idea of calling him Logan. "You gunna give me another lesson?" Logan had been teaching her to ride his motorcycle. So far she was catching on quick and only wrecked it once.
"I don't really feel like hitting another tree," he teased.
Shade rolled her eyes. "I did that once." He chuckled. "You're not going to let me forget that are you?" Wolverine shook his head. "Thought not," she grumbled. They sat there for a while in the sun watching the kids play. Kurt pegged Bobby in the face with a red rubber ball. Bobby threw a snowball back. The grass was a dull yellow-brown and the trees were nearly bare. It hadn't snowed yet but it was mid-November and would soon.
xxXxx
Gambit watched as Magneto tested the man they had shot with their new toy. It was a large gun. I was the size of a machine gun and looked like something out of Star Trek. The man had been hit by a blue beam that was now radiating inside his body. The man was curled in the fetal position on the cement floor. The man had been a human hobo Gambit picked up by the train tracks. He was now cleanly shaven with graying hair cut short. He was in only a grey pair of shorts, exposing his frail yet flabby body. Skin hung the man in waves. He couldn't be older than Magneto yet he looked ancient.
The man lay on the floor shaking. His skin was beginning to flake off to reveal shining brown scales. "Sabertooth, take our guest to the observation room," Magneto commanded. He had been experimenting on dosage to see how much will turn a human into a mutant without killing them. The last six humans had died. All had been much like this man, homeless and on the streets.
Magneto's plan was get this new machine working in time for New Year's when the entire city would be running around in the streets at night celebrating. Then he'd set off a larger version of this gun over Times Square, exposing and turning the vast majority of the city into mutants.
Gambit new the X-Men would show. And he knew there would be a fight. He hadn't seen Shade in four months. He wondered what would happen if they had to fight one another.
xxXxx
Shade sat on the icy railing of her bedroom balcony. Her legs dangled over the edge. She watched the snow drift down and fall in moonlit heaps on the ground. Tomorrow night was something called New Year's. Xavier was taking all the students to New York City to celebrate the beginning of a new year. Shade had read about New York and Times Square. She was a little paranoid about being around so many humans but was excited to see the fireworks and celebrations.
Shade thought about were she had been this time last year. Huddled in a hole she had dug beneath a pine tree's roots and lined in dead pine needles. She'd come so far. She was better off in a shelter surrounded by her kind and well-fed. But sometimes she missed the simplicity of living alone in the forest. She thought doing that again for a while. Travel on her own for a while through the woods. Shade didn't want to leave behind this strange family she had made. But they did fine before she came, they'd be fine after she left.
Deciding to wait to tell Logan until she made up her mind, Shade turned and slide from the railing into her room and crawled into bed. She dreamt not of the forest but of Gambit, of that night in New Orleans.
Shade woke to a knock on her door and Kitty shouting, "GET UP! We're leaving soon!" Shade growled at the door and got up. She put on black jeans and a baggy black shirt that draped around her shoulders. After putting on thick black eyeliner and her black leather boots Shade went to the large living room where everyone was gathering. Xavier was in the middle of stating his rules for the trip.
"… with someone at all times, never go off alone. No using your powers. Meet back at the jet by one a.m. sharp. That gives you all time to watch the fireworks and come straight back to the jet. Check in with Logan, Orror, Henry, or I every few hours. Now make sure everyone is up and ready. We will leave in half an hour."
Once everyone was on the jet they took off. It was crowded but a sort flight. When they landed there, the kids scattered. Groups going off in every direction to explore the city. Shade stuck with Wolverine as they wandered along the city taking in sights. When men would stare at Shade, Wolverine would glare them down until they looked away and kept walking. A man who wobbled on his feet and holding a beer bottle came up to Shade. "Hey, baby. Want me to buy you a drink?" he slurred out.
Shade wrinkled her nose. "You smell awful."
"Don't be mean, baby," he sputtered leaning close to Shade. She leaned away.
Wolverine put a large hand on the man's chest. "Back off, bub," he snarled.
"I just wanna buy the lady a drink."
"I said back off," Wolverine snarled, shoving the man with his one hand. The man stumbled and fell backward into the stream of people who shoved the man back to his feet away from them. The man tossed his bottle into the street and held his hands up at chest level in fists.
"You wanna go, buddy?" he slushed. Wolverine landed one punch to the man's jaw. It sent him flying into the nearest wall and blacking out. The crowd watched then went back about their business as if fights were normal there.
Wolverine picked up a scent that made his head snap towards the nearest alley. Shade's head followed his and she sniff the air, catching a scent she knew all too well. Gambit. She bolted for the alley entrance but he was already gone.
xxXxx
Gambit had been making his way across the rooftops of downtown New York when his eye caught a familiar shade of blood red hair. He knew it couldn't be Shade, that it was probably someone with dyed hair. But he couldn't help himself from getting a closer look. He leapt his way down the side of a building into the nearest alley using the fire escape.
Using the dense crowd to shield him from view, Gambit watched as Shade and Wolverine walked by and be stopped by a drunk. When the drunk started getting too bold with Shade, Gambit started forward only to retreat again when Wolverine knocked the drunk out. Using the fire escape one again he acrobatically leapt up the building. He paused halfway up to watch sadly as Shade checked the alley.
He watched as the small woman's shoulders slumped. Wolverine wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her back into the thrall of the crowd. "Au revoir, chère," he said softly as she vanished in the sea of people.
xxXxx
A band was playing on a stage with an elaborate light display. Time's Square was jammed with people. Shade could pick out groups of students in the crowd as she leaned against the building furthest from the band. Wolverine stood by her, his thick arms folded across his chest. Xavier was parked to her other side with Ororo standing behind his chair. Hank wore a watch similar to Kurt's so he could help chaperone.
While Beast went on about the history and architecture of Times Square, Shade watched as Wolverine was scanning the buildings. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"If the Cajun is here, the other Acolytes probably are too."
"If they are, do you really think they'd be in plain sight?"
"No. I'm looking for where they could be," he paused. "and trying to catch a scent."
Shade scanned the area. "Anywhere you wanna check?"
He gave a slight nod towards a generic New York building. She weaved her way through the crowd with Wolverine.
xxXxx
Gambit leaned against a window on the top floor. He thought of Shade. He always thought of the mixed-eyed beauty. He could see her in his mind's eye. Her beautiful soft face, her big eyes, one green as moss, the other grey as silver. Her long choppy hair half hanging in her face. Her slender neck and sweeping shoulders. Her fragile looking body with a woman's curves. And her back. Her smooth pale back marred by the thick pink ropes forming a prominent X.
For a moment her thought he imagined the blood-red spot heading through the crowd towards the building he was in. When he picked up a pair of binoculars and saw the beautiful woman with Wolverine he realized it was her. He lost sight of them when they entered the building. He set the binoculars aside. "Anything?" came Pyro's voice behind him.
Gambit shook his head. "Not'ing." He heard Pyro's footsteps retreat from the room. He knew he'd be seeing his petit femme soon. Gambit didn't know if he could fight her.
xxXxx
Shade and Wolverine were making their way up an ongoing flight of stairs. Once at the top, Wolverine kicked in the door and popped his claws ready for a confrontation. "Why kick in the door?" Shade asked with a roll of her eyes. Wolverine only growled in response. The door had opened to a long hallway with several uniform doors spaced evenly down its length. Wolverine listened to the hall and walked toward a door on the end. Shade followed.
Both paused as the door opened and a voice drifted from the opening. Shade heard Pyro's voice complaining about orders before his form emerged from the doorway. "Stupid fuzzy bastard," he grumbled, shutting the door. Shade snarled drawing Pyro's attention. "Oy, you," he shouted and sent two spirals of flames shooting from his wrists. The noise attracted Sabertooth from the room Pyro had emerged from. He snarled at the sight and went straight for Wolverine. Shade ran at Pyro, dodging the flames. Once in range, Shade tackled him.
From behind her came a vicious thud. She glanced back and saw Wolverine stuck immobile to the ceiling by an invisible force. She saw that Magneto had emerged from one of the various rooms. He stood with his hand outstretched to Wolverine. Gambit leaned against a doorframe, arms crossed, a card glowing between two gloved fingers. Shade stiffened at the sight of him. He didn't look over at her, his eyes remained on Magneto and Wolverine.
Shade rose to her feet. Pyro took the chance to leap up. She threw him like a rag doll into the wall when he tried to make a move. Shade formed laws on her hands, her eyes glazed over an oily black, and the shadows in the hall began to writhe. She stalked towards Gambit who finally took notice of her. He stood straight and the card in his hand vanished up his sleeve. His staff rested in one hand. "Chère," Gambit started.
"Shut it, Cajun," she snarled. For a split second it seemed that hurt crossed his face, but it was quickly hidden if it had ever been there. Shade pounced on him then. Her black claws extended to tear into her target.