Chapter 14

Location: Just outside the gigantic gates of the X-mansion.

"Where the hell is this nincompoop?" Bobby uttered out loud. It was 5:30 in the morning. Bobby couldn't remember the last time he had woken up that early.

In fact, have I EVER woken up this early? For crying out loud 5:30 am is my Bedtime!

The Ice man stretched his back and let out a loud yawn. It was still dark outside, chilly but that did not bother him, he was after all made of Ice, he chuckled at the Irony. One thing was for sure, Drake did not want to be here. His eyes wandered sleepily across his surroundings.

The teens were pretty much in the same mood as he was, the exception of the rule went to both Kitty and Jubilee…the two girls were reeking of excitement and were chatting and giggling in abandon.

At 5 freaking 30 in the morning!

Bobby sighed and shook his head regretting instantly that he had not fought harder against the Professor's decision to have him participating in what he felt was just a silly joke.

For a moment he found himself, focusing a bit too long on Kitty. Next thing he knew he was admiring the way her lips parted as she was talking to Jubilee and he had begun imagining how they would feel pressed to his.

Soft...sweet…and feisty…

Bobby shook the thought off his head, God I need sleep! The longer I stay here the more confused I get!

He felt a strong grip on his left shoulder which had some what caught him off guard.

His expression eased off instantly upon noticing that it was Warren, "What the hell are you doing up so early?" he asked surprised. Warren was the last person he had expected to see.

The Angel only shrugged, "Early night, therefore early morning…no thanks to you." He solemnly replied.

Jean and Scott were present as well; they had called in the teens and were splitting them in groups.

Bobby moaned when he over-heard that he would be with Gambit in one group. His day could not get any worse.

"Ahh Remy…finally you are awake. We were getting worried." Jean stepped forward walking towards the incoming Gambit.

"Eh, very sorry bout that, cherie. My woman kept me up," he grinned from ear to ear turning to face Booby, "Thought we agreed you goan wake Remy up."

Bobby quickly took a step back, "Meee?"

"Uh hum." The Cajun answered this lightly as he was swiftly lighting himself a cigarette.

There was some snickering in the background. It was obvious that the rest of the class had come to hear their little interchange, he had to think of a come back, fast

"Like what am I? Your mother?" he retorted.

Remy took a long drag on his cigarette, "Mais non…" he exhaled his smoke out, "Last Ah rememba you a lot better lookin' than ma maman…bless ha soul. You too…sexy!" he suppressed a smile, trying to keep a straight face.

"This is not fuckin' funny Gambit!" Bobby cursed amidst the roaring laughter of the students.

"Ah Bobby," Remy patted him gently on the back, "Eht's nothing too diffi-cuult…too early to be pissed off, n'est pas?"

Warren noticed Bobby's rising irritation he decided immediately to butt in before things got a little out of hand. He knew his friend very well, Bobby Drake was not a morning person, "He's right, Drake, take a chill pill and enjoy the morning…uhm…dew?"

"Yeah… you are right." The Iceman muttered bitterly, "He sure is cheerful."

There was a momentary silence between the man of ice and his winged friend as they silently watched the sly rebel sway confidently towards Jean and Scott.

"Well…I'm guessing his night was…pleasant" Angel finally managed to say.

Bobby raised his brows, Warren's tone sustained a slight resentment to it.

"Does that bother you?" he turned to face his friend, his manner serious, all sleep vanquished from his expression.

There was an abash look on Warren's face which could be attributed to the fact that Bobby's serious manner took him by surprise.

"Of course it doesn't bother me!" Warren half screamed, catching the attention of some of the teens who were now focusing on the duo.

"Then why comment? Why say what you just said? Why be defensive? Why?" Bobby asked mischievously, his eyes darting across the terrains, uneasiness was catching up with him, he normally hardly ever complained about being the center of attention, but today he felt a bit off, he just did not want to be here, surrounded by a bunch of teens.

"Quit it, Drake!" was his friend's sharp reply after which he turned his back and walked away from him.

"And…where the hell do you think you're going?" Bobby yelled back at him not caring about the disgruntled looks Kitty and her gang of classmates were giving him.

Angel came to a brief halt without looking back he shrugged his shoulders, "Bed." He stated short and brief.

"What???"

Slowly he turned to face his friend, "I am going back to bed, Bobby. It's what reasonable people do…they sleep…rest…and wake up feeling greater than ever." A broad smile appeared on his face as he watched his friend's face turn a shade red.

"YOU? You can't leave me…HERE???"

"Oh…yes…I can…I'm doing it right now!" Angel smiled and with that he straightened up and walked straight back into the mansion.

Bobby shook his head in disappointment,

"Bobby! Your attention is greatly appreciated over here!" Scott called out, motioning the younger mutant to join the rest of the already rounded up gang.

Bobby dragged himself forcefully and seemingly loathingly to meet up with them.

As he approached, Scott began almost instantly with the orders.

"Right guys, we split up into two groups…Remy, Bobby, Kitty, Psylocke and you two over there are in one group. The rest of you will be with me and Jean."

"Scooottt!" Kitty moaned, "You separated me from Jubilee." She pointed out melodramatically.

"Yes, Kitty, I'm glad you noticed." Scott said rather absentmindedly. "Now…here are two maps. One for my team and the other for…" he paused, his eyes were searching, "You need to appoint a team leader, guys." He finally said.

"That would be moi!" Remy took a step forward, he found the entire charade rather amusing.

"Oh hell naw!" Bobby was quick to protest. "There is no way, he's gonna lead us."

Jean smiled reassuringly, "Bobby it's just a game…however…if you want to lead…"

"De man of ice be 'avin 'is own issues…n'est pas?" There was a look of confusion amongst the crowd, nevertheless the Cajun continued, "Sure 'ave dem critters out der. Bobby known fer not lovin' em too much."

"Shut up!" Bobby struck back, leaving Remy only to shrug his shoulders and take a step back.

"Jus' sayn' da truth, mon amie. Jus sayin' da truth... "

"I wanna be with Jubilee!!!" Kitty whined.

"No you can't be with Jubilee!" Scott scoffed.

"This isn't fair!" Kitty retaliated.

"Life isn't fair!" Bobby was growing irritated.

"No one asked you! This isn't your business!" Kitty darted across to Scott, holding him by the arm before he could protest he felt Jubilee dragging him on the other, both girls pleading to be together in one group.

"As Co-leader of this group…Either you accept the decision Scott has made or you are more than welcome to leave." Bobby said self righteously.

"Mon ami…if Remy might ask…'oo are you talkin' to?"

Bobby looked at him dumbfounded, "uhm…Kitty of course…who else?"

"Well, just that she over there…an' you over here…she dun' hear ya." Remy pointed out .

"I…I didn't notice…" the latter lied.

Remy slapped his hand on his forehead, "Aaah! You scared…of her!"

"I'm not."

"Mais oui, you are!"

"No. I'm not."

"Oui. You are…"

"No"

"Oui"

"Would the TWO OF YOU CUT IT OUT and FOCUS on what matters?" Scott burst out, he was slowly regretting the idea of having the two known renegade mutants with him on this trip.

"Remy see you havin' a tough ass time already..." Gambit said smirking.

"What do you mean? Girls…come on…let go…it's late already and we need to start moving…JEAN!!!" The leader of the X-men was almost helpless, however, Jean hurriedly came to his assistance by quickly reasoning with the girls.

They reluctantly let go, each joining their respective groups.

A circle was formed half of it consisting of Remy's group the other of Scott's.

Scott continued, "Ok, so we got our team members, we got our team leaders and now we have our maps…" he quickly handed one of the maps to Remy, who barely looked at it, only nodded and passed it on to Bobby,

Scott noticed this, which made him slightly angry, but he continued anyways, "Now folks, in the woods certain items are hidden, these items lead to clues and certain tasks to be done, once full-filled you will be more informed on where to go next. Some of the X-men have volunteered to help out with the tasks. They will be located on various stations but be warned they will not say much…only to help out. And believe me they are very much in character."

"You shouldn't be playin' dis 'ere game…" Remy spoke slowly, "You know everythin' already…So ow Remy an 'is team know you ain't goan tell your team?"

"Exactly!!!!" The unified groans of Remy's gang drained into Scott's ears.

"It's A Gaaame, guys! I'm not gonna cheat!" Scott said defensively, looking over at Jean signaling her to speak on his behalf.

"Look, guys the sun is almost up…No more talking… Ok, Northstar, Jubilee, Havoc and Magma...let's go! May the best team win!" Jean clapped her hands together and her team followed obediently.

Bobby stood still glaring at the map he had been given to…he was ashamed to admit but from what he was looking at…it all seemed foreign to him.

Remy lit himself another cigarette, "Ok…soo…on Remy's team we 'ave Kitty…"

"Present!" The former pouting now cheerful looking X-men chirped.

"Trés bien...so Kitty, Psylocke, Piotr…an 'o be you?" Remy took a long drag on his cigarette watching the shy individual he had asked come to terms with his question.

"M-m-m-m-ultiple man…" The young mutant said rather shyly.

"Sacre bleu! Tres too long, mon ami…Can't be shoutin' M-m-m-multiple man come 'elp…Remy be dead by then…" His statement caught Bobby's attention and both men burst out laughing.

The rest of the team were clearly unimpressed by their outburst.

"I-i-i-It's the same like…i-i-iceman…." Multiple man shot back, "b-b-b-but you can c-c-call…me…J-J-Jamie."

Remy stood still, the boy was a stutterer, Ah Cajun you dun et dis tahm….

He cleared his throat, "Right Jamie. Mon amie with le map. Where we goan go now ?" he took a longer drag from his cigarette before dropping it on the ground and stomping it dead.

Bobby was scratching his head now, as the others impatiently awaited for his directions, "Point 12…is our first stop."

"Oh Goody! And where is that?" Psylocke sarcastically pointed out. She didn't want to be here, but like everything around her, she was not given the option to back away from this. A museum trip would have been fine with her but being out in the woods with these bunch of losers was clearly going to make things harder.

"Let me handle the map.." she finally said, "I was in the girl's scouts before…"

"Oh wow, you don't look it." Kitty said surprised, she really hadn't expected that from Psylocke.

"Well, I don't look British either…but I am…and you look rather smart, but guess what you are not…" Psylocke retorted stubbornly.

Kitty turned to Remy a furious look on her face, "You are going to let her talk to me that way?"

The latter thought for a moment, "La critique est aisée, mais l'art est difficile...Apologize, Psylocke ! An' after you dun wiv it, please lead d'way. "

Psylocke only half smiled, "Pardon me, I tend to be a tad rude in the mornings…" she took the map from Bobby, calling for everyone to pay close attention to her as she led the way.

Kitty shrugged, "What was that in ENGLISH?" she tried to catch up with Remy.

"Criticism is easy…art is difficult." Piotr was the only one to respond to her question.

"What did that have to do with anyone of us?" Kitty suddenly stopped.

"You can read it both ways Katherine.." Piotr held her by the hand, "We need to catch up with the rest of them…"

"KATHERINE???" No one has called her that in quite a very long time but he dragged her anyways and her protests soon eventually died down.

They all walked out of the mansion diverting into the forest, it was not the most peaceful hike any of them was hoping for as Psylocke's indecision caused slight uproars, Kitty's moaning and constant bickering lead to irritation, and Remy's cigarette smoking caused a fear and protests of eventual wild fires.

"A bunch of jokers!" was the exasperated cry that eventually came out from the hidden spot just outside the mansion's gates. Not too far from the initial gathering of the camping teams.

"He sure has changed a lot…" Replied another voice.

"It don't matter. We follow them…" Their leader said half shrugging, "You can play with them a bit, scare them, or whatever you do best…but remember…it's HIM we want. Him alone. No mess…just him…I don't want any of you leaving a trace…now get on it! I will follow shortly."

The gang smiled and silently cheered in unison. They gathered their gadgets together, the leader watched them carefully.

Guns- high tech ones, blades, bombs…all that for one man…one man only.

He laughed out loud, "I guess when it comes to Remy Etienne LeBeau…that's all we be needing…"

The others nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Indeed boss! Indeed!" the sultry haughty voice of his only female member transcended the morning air, "Don't y'all hurt him though! Don't y'all hurt him! Let's go, boys!" she finally said holding in each hand her favorite weapon, the uzzis.

He shook his head.

She too had been scorned yet like every other woman who had come across the Cajun…she still had a little love left for him…

Bitch!

"You can hurt him as much as you want! Just don't kill him!" He re-instructed.

That'll keep her at bay.

In silence he watched them disappear into the adjacent forest. Grabbing his cell phone he pressed the call button instantly.

After a few seconds he spoke, "Give us 15 minutes…then you can send in the chopper. It's time for a little reunion."

He hung up, playing with his goatee, a sense of pride over came him, he turned to face his most trusted side kick a man who hardly said a word,

"Gris-Gris, why don't we pay the African Queen a lil' visit first?"

Gris-Gris only nodded, he picked up his favorite blade, "Tres bien, François…Twas hopin' you'd say that. Heard she is damn beautiful."

"The finest mission…is always reserved for you…my dear friend. Now, shall we?"