Disclaimer: I own nothing, nada, zip. Blaze has and always will own me.

Scene 11

…She looked at him. She saw what he had done. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in a terrible gasp. She knew he'd killed her. Then the explosion struck…

Remy jerked awake with that horrible image in his mind. Sweat dripped from his forehead and he struggled to breathe. Groaning, he rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand as he sat up. Swinging his legs out of bed, he heard the first notes of the dawn chorus start outside his window. He was amazed that he had slept at all. He still felt exhausted. If the guilt was going to kill him, he wished it would just get on with it. Then he could get some rest.

He was back in the Brotherhood house. With Jacobi gone, he had no money for renting an apartment. The Brotherhood boys were wary, staying well clear of him. Remy could see their fear in their faces. They were thinking if he could kill Blaze, he could kill anyone. Gambit did nothing to disillusion them. Going down the stairs he was like Moses parting the Red Sea. Toad and Blob ran one way whilst Avalanche and Quicksilver went the other. Remy walked straight into the kitchen, looking for coffee. He found Wanda.

"Murderer," she spat at him. The hatred was like radiation coming off of her. If looks could kill, Remy would have disintegrated on the spot. Yet Wanda didn't dare attack Gambit. Like the boys, she was scared he would find killing again easy. Besides, Magneto seemed impressed by Gambit's ruthless action. Wanda's father was welcoming his prodigal son back into the fold and the Scarlet Witch wasn't going to argue with Magneto.

Gambit didn't care what Wanda was or wasn't going to do. He turned his back and poured a long, black coffee. Then he put the coffee pot back very deliberately on the countertop. Without saying anything he turned to leave the room. Wanda thought about it, then made a comment as barbed as a porcupine quill to the Cajun's retreating back.

"Blaze loved you," she told him. "She wasn't ready to tell you, but it's still true. I hope you never learn to live with what you did to her."

Gambit felt like he'd been harpooned. He paused, and then pushed the pain away by concentrating on not spilling his coffee. Without dignifying Wanda's words with a reply, he left the house. Shortly afterwards the Brotherhood boys started to emerge from the woodwork like the spineless cockroaches they were. Wanda, disgusted at the world, went back to her room and locked the door.

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Walking through Bayville, Gambit was so caught up with trying to feel nothing that he didn't notice Storm and Magma coming out of a bank. Magma spotted him first and fearlessly shouted at him across the street, "Murderer! You murdered my friend!"

Gambit looked up to see Storm holding the spitting wildcat child back by both arms. Ororo looked seriously tempted to let go and let Gambit deal with the consequences. That she didn't was testament to her self-control and awareness of the members of the public that passed by, staring. Remy felt the sidewalk growing hot under his feet and decided he should be moving along. He nodded to Ororo, a sign of respect. Ororo looked mortally offended, but Remy was moving again and not looking back.

A chill wind took up and a few heavy spots of rain started to fall. Gambit wondered if it was any sign of Ororo's feelings towards him. At least she ain't freezin' me, he thought, or burnin' me. The harpoon struck again, right in the chest. When they'd been dating, Blaze had left him with little burns all the time, accidentally of course. He didn't mind. He'd give anything to go back to that, but what were the chances?

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Bayville High's Principal was Mr Radford, aka Paradox. The lanky black man had a winning smile and a loathing of badly completed paperwork. He sat at his large desk and tutted. The latest accounts for the athletics department were appalling. The price he had been quoted for new kit was completely disproportionate. This, he thought, would keep him busy until Christmas. Then again, he had nowhere better to be…

The door to Paradox's office opened and he looked up, expecting to see his secretary. The figure on the threshold was unexpected but Paradox tried not to look surprised. He flashed his famous smile and put down his pen. With open arms he welcomed his visitor into his abode, "Gambit? To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I heard you were still here," Remy answered, "clingin' onto Bayville like a tick on a dog's belly. T'ought I'd better come see if it was true."

"Somehow I doubt you just dropped in for a chat," Paradox's tone was a warning.

"I seen what you can do," Gambit admitted. "The t'ings you do with other mutants' powers. You sent Kurt to another dimension…"

"I can't raise the dead Remy," Paradox cut to the chase.

"We don't know she's dead," Remy's voice cracked. "We don't know for sure. She jus' vanished. If dere's a chance, jus' a chance, it worth takin' non?"

"No," Paradox shook his head. "I don't know what the consequences might be. I won't do it."

"You'll do it," Gambit told him. "Or I'll go to Officer Hozack an' tell him dat one o' Jacobi's minions got away. I'll tell him you're right here at the school. The FBI will be all over you like a rash an' you'll end up keepin' your boss company in de cells."

"So Zack was working for the FBI all along?" Paradox mused, rubbing his chin and considering his options. "I guess that should have been obvious."

"Don't change the subject," Remy argued. "You wanna keep your cushy principal job or not?"

Paradox responded by pushing back his chair and standing up. He came round the desk, cracking his knuckles. He looked Gambit squarely in the eye and warned him one last time.

"I have no idea what is about to happen. Brace yourself…"

Roll credits… ... ... ... ... ...

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A/N: Well, it's been emotional, but that's the final episode of X-Men Evolution from me n' Blaze. Thanks so much for reading, don't forget to review on your way out… Hugs… Lamby

P.S. Sorry to end on a downer, if anyone really wants me to I could probably come up with a brief 2-parter like my season 3 preview 'Freaks on the inside', but if not I'll leave it as is.