Chapter 10: Getting Better All the Time (Gambit)
Gambit expects some kind of plea or threat from Stryker, but he remembers the intense pain he'd felt from Xavier's attack and realizes he hadn't been in a position to speak, either.
Gambit may have killed a few people in his time, but he's never considered himself a sadist. However, he is really enjoying watching Stryker squirm. He's debating whether or not to set Nori in the snow so he can hit Stryker with something, but before he can decide, the chains wrapped around Stryker begin to tighten around his neck. Magneto sends him to a piece of broken wall and drives the chains straight through.
"You shall die, Stryker, along with all traces of your facility. I believe there are five or six more minutes until that dam bursts. I hope you enjoy your final moments," Magneto says, coldly.
"See you in hell, mon ami," Gambit says.
They board the helicopter, and before they take off Magneto and Mystique notice Pyro, the boy from Xavier's school, watching them from a few dozen feet away. They invite him on board, and the boy nods and climbs in.
He stands and watches out the window until Alkali Lake is out of view. Then he sits down across from Gambit, and makes glancing eye contact with him as if asking permission. Gambit nods.
Pyro tries to act like a sullen, cool teenager, but Gambit can tell he's scared. He wants to welcome the boy, but he's a little preoccupied. Nori is lying on the helicopter's bench seat, with her head in his lap. He murmurs to her, sometimes in English, sometimes in Creole. She doesn't respond to either.
She's been away from him for longer than he's been with her. But he's spent six months consumed with the idea of finding her. Although he always maintained that he was looking for her, a deep secret part of him had written her off for dead. He can't stop touching her: her hair, her face, her hands, just making sure that she is really there.
He and Nori sit next to Pyro while Mystique and Magneto pilot their new helicopter.
Then, an hour into the flight, Nori's eyelashes flutter and she looks up at him with the same deep brown eyes he remembers. "Remy?" she asks.
He grins broadly. "Ma cher," he says. "I'm here."
"Is this real?"
He strokes her hair. "Of course it is."
"He... he told me you were dead."
"He wishes I was dead."
"So this is real?"
"It's real."
"Prove it."
"What?"
"Gambit, if this is real, prove it," she says urgently.
He frowns. This is not the reunion he's been anticipating. He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a playing card, which he charges slightly.
"Did you feel that?"
She looks at him, warily. "Do it again."
He does, and this time he feels her power focus on him. He loses control of the charge and it explodes in his hand.
"You're hurt," she says.
"No, cherie, I'm just fine."
"Is it safe now?"
"I think so," he says. She begins to shiver violently.
Gambit looks across the helicopter. "Pyro, mon ami, could you see if there is a blanket or something around here?"
"Sure." Pyro returns with an emergency kit from the back wall. It has a shiny silver emergency blanket, which Gambit wraps Nori in. It crinkles.
"Thank you," he says.
"No problem," a shaken Pyro says. When he went over to deliver the blanket, he'd gotten a good look into Nori's face, which admittedly looks a little crazy at the moment. He can't blame her. He knows what Stryker is capable of. She'll bounce back, he assures himself. She'd been the sanest member of the Brotherhood, as far as he was concerned.
"So tired, Remy," she breathes.
"You just sleep, cherie, and I'll be right here when you wake up."
"Love you," she says, barely audibly.
"Love you too," he whispers. She falls asleep and Gambit watches her breathe. Her shivering has lessened, though not stopped.
"So is she, like, your girlfriend?" Pyro asks.
"Yeah," Gambit says, with a crooked grin. "But we have had kind of a long distance relationship for awhile now."
"She was with Stryker?"
"For a long time. Too long," he says sadly.
"Is she gonna be okay?"
"I hope so, mon ami. I think so. She is strong, but Stryker... he can change people."
"Were you ever in Stryker's base?"
"A long time ago, I... it was a long time ago."
He looks down at Nori's sleeping face and is silent for a moment. She has a black eye, which positively infuriates him.
"So, Pyro, what brings you to the Brotherhood?"
Pyro shrugs. "I was sick of the bullshit at Xavier's. Sick of humans betraying me."
Gambit nods, absently. "I'm sorry I am not better company right now."
"Hey, it's cool," Pyro says. "You guys got a lot of catching up to do."
"We're not catching much of anything right now."
"Her name is Echo, right?"
He nods.
"And she's in the Brotherhood too?"
"Yeah."
"What's she do?"
"She can magnify the powers of other mutants. And she's an empath."
"Echo. I get it. Empath... does that mean she can read minds?"
"Nah. Lucky for me, non?" He winks. He knows Nori would elbow him if she were awake. "She just kind of, projects her emotions on people. But only when you use your powers."
"Huh." Pyro says. "So she can make people feel different things?"
"Not... exactly. It's hard to explain. You'll feel it when she is stronger, mon ami. It is more like, I don't know, more like watching a TV show and knowing how the character on the show feels. And sometimes you feel sad just because you like the character and the character is sad. But you know... you know it is separate from your own emotions."
"I get it, I think. Good, I'm sick of Xavier and Jean meddling with me. Can she fight?"
Gambit thinks back to her training sessions and half-smiles. "Not really."
The helicopter lands at a house that Gambit hadn't known about. He's not mad that Mystique didn't tell him about it; he trusts her judgment. And her paranoia.
Mystique leads them through the house. "Pyro, you can pick out a bedroom upstairs. We can get you the things you need soon." He nods and climbs the stairs, glancing at the four of them as he leaves.
"Gambit, there's a little infirmary in the basement. You can take Echo there. Erik? Do you need medical assistance?"
He hesitates, and Mystique glares. "You come to the infirmary, too."
Mystique gives Echo a brief clinical examination. "We can't really tell anything until she wakes up, but it looks like nothing's broken. The bruises will heal. Frankly, I would also guess that there's been some sexual assault, but we'll ask her when she regains consciousness. Gambit, why don't you just take her up to one of the bedrooms, where she can be comfortable?"
He nods. He wishes it were possible to kill Stryker a second time.
"Mystique, are there any other clothes here?"
"No, I didn't have time to stock this house with anything. I'll go out and get some things tomorrow."
Gambit considers. "I just don't want her to wake up in that maudit white jumpsuit." He strips off his coat and his long-sleeved black shirt and dresses Nori in the shirt. It will do, for now. He puts his coat back on over his undershirt.
Mystique is examining Magneto's ribs as he leaves, and he doubts that the exam will end in the infimary. He's glad to see them reunited.
He picks out a bedroom and gently deposits Nori in the bed. He pulls up a chair and sits next to her, holding her hand. Then he thinks of Pyro, alone on his first night in the Brotherhood house. He knows what Nori would do if she were able, and he goes down the hall and finds Pyro's door.
"Hey, Gambit," Pyro says, with just a hint of surprise breaking through his cool affect.
"Hey mon ami, I was wondering if you would like to keep me company while I wait for Nori to wake up?"
Pyro hesitates—if this is charity, he wants to reject it, but if it's an actual request for help, he does want to help—and says, "Sure."
Between Gambit and Pyro, there's a lot of nervous energy in the room. Much of it is directed toward lighter-flicking and card-shuffling.
Gambit asks occasional questions to Pyro, mainly getting one-word answers. Finally, he asks, "You play poker?"
Pyro shrugs. "A little."
"You wanna play now?"
"I don't have any money."
"Don't matter. Just to pass the time. Or, you can start a tab," he says with a grin.
Pyro pulls his chair next to Gambit, and they use the edge of Nori's bed for a table. Pyro glances at him questioningly, but Gambit says, "Ah, she won't mind."
They play for hours, with Gambit occasionally dispensing tips. He holds her hand the whole time. It isn't easy to play cards one-handed, but Gambit has enough experience to make it look cool. As the evening turns into night, Pyro stifles a few yawns, and Gambit hopes the young mutant doesn't go to bed. As is, he can just barely stop thinking things like What if she doesn't wake up? And What if she's totally crazy now? At first he did only ask Pyro to sit with him as a friendly gesture, but he really doesn't want to be alone right now.
Finally, though, she stirs. Remy feels her hand move slightly, and he turns to look at her face. She props herself up on her elbows.
"Hey, LeBeau, deal me in?" He laughs and looks into her eyes. They're clear and bright.
"You sure you're up to poker? You wouldn't rather play some Go Fish?"
"I can tell you I'm not up to strip poker. I'm pretty confident that I'm not wearing any pants right now."
"You're not. We were kind of busy escaping, we didn't have time to stop at the mall. Besides, I think you look good in that outfit."
They hear Pyro shift uneasily on his chair. She glances at him, then back at Remy, a little nervously.
"Oh, it's all right, cherie. This is Pyro. He's in the Brotherhood now."
She sits all the way up, leaning against the wall behind her. Some of the cards fall off the bed. "Hey, Pyro," she says. "I'm Nori. Or Echo." She extends a hand. He leans forward to take it.
"Hey, I'm sorry for... what happened to you."
"Thank you," she says graciously. "Could one of you get me a glass of water, please?"
"I'll go," Pyro volunteers. She gives him a big smile. "Thanks, brother."
"Where are we, Remy?" she asks.
"A new Brotherhood safe house. Mystique set it up. I'm not really sure where it is, but we got an ocean view."
"Where does the Brotherhood's money come from?"
"Honestly, I'm not real sure. We have a lot of different accounts in different places. All that stuff, Magneto and Mystique set it up before I got here."
She nods.
"What happened?"
"You mean yesterday?"
"You can start there, I guess."
Pyro returns with the water, but Gambit doesn't notice until Nori's eyes focus behind him. She smiles at him again. "Thank you, Pyro." She drinks the whole glass in 2 gulps.
"Uh, do you want some more?" Pyro asks.
"If you wouldn't mind," Nori says with a shy smile.
"'Course not," Pyro responds, winning points from Gambit.
"The last thing I really remember is leaving from that rock house," Nori continues. "Everything after that is really fragmented."
Remy hesitates. "But you remember being with Stryker?"
She nods.
"Hmm. Guess he wasn't quite finished with you, then."
She looks up at him, alarmed. He rubs her hand. "No, no, don't worry, cherie. He is dead now. But I mean, we met some other mutants from Stryker's lab, and he just wiped their memories clean when he was... you know, when his experiments were complete."
"Oh." She relaxes slightly. Pyro returns with more water.
"Hey, uh, do you guys need anything else? 'Cause I was thinking, otherwise, I might go to bed."
Nori gives him a serene smile. "Of course. Get some rest, Pyro. Thanks for your help."
Gambit nods. "Thanks for keeping me company, mon ami."
"Welcome," Pyro mumbles. He quietly pulls the door shut behind him.
"He seems like a sweet kid," Nori says, sipping the water more slowly now.
Gambit laughs. "I'm not sure most people would describe him that way. But I think he'll be a good fit for the Brotherhood."
"He's so young..."
"He don't have nowhere else to go."
"Where did he come from?"
"He used to be one of Xavier's students. But he quit."
"Remy?"
"Oui?"
"Did Magneto's machine work?"
He's surprised. That was so long ago. "No. The X-Men destroyed it before it reached the UN leaders."
"That's what Stryker told me, but... I didn't know." She stares at her hands for a long time. "He also told me... he said... that the machine didn't work. That it would have killed everyone. Instead of turning them into mutants. Is that..." she trails off.
"I think it is true."
She lets out a long, ragged breath.
"But, like I told you, the machine never touched anyone. Any humans."
"What about... did anyone..."
"Toad and Sabretooth are both missing. They might be dead, but I don't think so. They're both pretty tough, non? It has just been hard to communicate. Perhaps now that Magneto is here they will come back to us."
"Is Magneto okay?"
"Well, he's been with Stryker, too. But he's out now. He's probably down the hall with Mystique."
Her eyes unfocus slightly, then she looks at him and nods. "He's here."
"What about Mystique," he asks, curiously. He's not sure of all the nuance to the way her power works.
She shrugs. "Don't know. I can only feel mutants when they're using their powers. When she's blue Mystique, I can't find her. Magneto's pretty much always using his powers... like even if he's not moving anything, he's got this extra sense he's always using. So I can find him." She stops. "Hey. What about that little girl?"
"What little girl?"
"She was... she was with Xavier and I. She wanted us to help her. She was probably 7 or 8..."
Gambit looks at her hesitantly. Maybe she isn't quite all there.
"Oh," she realizes. "That was't real, was it?"
He relaxes slightly. "Nah, I don't think so."
"Was Xavier really there?"
He nods.
"What happened to him?"
Gambit pauses. "Magneto left him there... but I think that the X-Men probably got him back. They were doing okay when we left."
"What about... my sister?"
"Cherie, you sure you want to talk about all this right now?'
She trembles. "Yeah. I... I need to know."
He squeezes her hand. "Nori, cherie, I don't know for sure what happened to your sister. We saw her when we first got to Alkali, and then we never did."
"You mean she might still be there?"
"Cherie... after we left, the dam burst. It would have flooded the whole base. The whole area. But your sister, I don't know, maybe she made it out." He isn't optimistic, and it carries through in his voice.
He stands up. "Don't leave," she cries out.
"I won't," he reassures her. He walks around the bed and sits behind her, cradling her in his strong arms. She turns against his chest and weeps. He doesn't know what to say, so he just holds her.
There's a knock at the door. "Uh... come in," Gambit calls. Magneto walks in, wearing his black battle outfit and holding a plastic shopping bag. No cape or helmet, though. He looks regal and grouchy. His face softens slightly when he sees Nori.
"I just wanted to inquire about your well-being, Echo," he says.
She turns away from Gambit and takes a few shuddering breaths. "I'm okay."
Magneto looks at her and laughs bitterly. "If this is okay, I would truly hate to see you when you are having a bad day, my dear."
"I mean..." she says. "I've been better. But I'm free."
"Yes, you are. I... take it Gambit is filling you in on events you missed?"
She nods, and her lip trembles.
"Mystique is cooking breakfast. You should eat something. Oh, she also bought you these," he says, handing over the shopping bag. Gambit takes it and opens it so Nori can see. Underwear, sweatpants, a T-shirt.
"We'll get more clothing later," Magneto adds, "But these will do for now."
"Thank you," she whispers.
After Magneto leaves, Gambit says, "Cherie, you don't have to go if you don't feel ready."
She takes a few deep breaths. "No, no, I think I should go see everyone. And I am hungry," she admits. She stands up and puts on the clothing Magneto brought up. There are socks, but no shoes.
"I'll carry you if you want," Gambit offers.
She laughs. It's her real, throaty laugh and he hadn't realized how much he'd missed that sound until just now. "Even though I'm wearing pants now?"
"Even though."
"No, thank you Remy, I think I can walk." She does hold his hand as they walk down the stairs.
NOTE: Title is from "Getting Better" by the Beatles.