Years since Rogue's powers returned: 37-38

Chapter 54: I'm Not Going to Sit Around Moping, I'm Gonna Par-tay!

William stood at the little piano Gambit had bought for him for his second birthday not that long ago, which was just the right size for him. The piano was specially made for toddlers with soft keys for them to press and looked and sounded just like a normal piano. William reached out and his hand came down on three of the keys at once.

"You know, I'm glad he likes that so much," Vanessa commented to Gambit over her morning's reading. "But at the same time, I hate that he likes it so much."

Gambit chuckled. "All part of exploring, ma chère. Finding out what sounds pleasant and what doesn't."

"Yeah, yeah. That doesn't mean I have to enjoy listening to it," Vanessa replied, wincing again as William pressed more keys in a very unmusical manner.

Gambit grinned at the look on her face and turned his attention back to William. He never thought he would ever turn music teacher; his own musical talent was limited to singing. But he had trained his own ear for accents and other distinguishing sounds the hard way. He figured that music was a much more acceptable (and significantly less abusive) option.

"Why don't you play Mama a song, Will?" Gambit asked his son brightly. "What about, umm," he glanced at the little song book, "Mary Had a Little Lamb?"

"Play!" William replied.

"That's right, we're going to play a song," Gambit said, and eyed the guide and the little song book.

He was thankful for these as he wouldn't have known where all the right notes were, or even what they were, without them. Gambit took William's hands in his and guided them to the correct keys. As they pressed each key in turn and Gambit sang the words, he couldn't help but wonder if he was doing this right, or if his ignorance about parenting and music was just shooting him in the foot. He had no idea.

And when the song finished and William decided to bang on the keys at random again, Gambit wondered if it was too early to try and teach him to play specific songs. But seeing the happy smiling face on his son was reason enough to keep trying even if William never learned to play piano properly. At the end of the day, Gambit loved to spend time with his little boy, no matter how tiring it got sometimes.


Rogue looked around her Danger Room with a critical eye. There were trees in every direction, a bonfire in the middle, people everywhere dressed in medieval outlaw clothing. A little band of musicians with period-appropriate instruments were playing off to one side. She closed her eyes as a breeze washed across her face and she felt the heat from the bonfire. Barefoot, she could even feel the dirt and sticks and fallen leaves beneath her feet.

"Well," she said to herself. "I'd say this is finally finished."

She felt like this was one of her best ballroom simulations yet. All of her other ones were inside, but this one was outside and getting in details like differences in temperature and having fun with weather made so much of a difference. She'd dabbled in outdoor simulations before, but it had been so long since she'd last actually been "outside" that she wasn't really all that sure anymore if what she remembered outside being like was anything at all like what she was programming.

"What do you think, James," she asked, opening her eyes again, and then on a whim: "Care to dance?"

There was a pause, which Rogue didn't really expect, and then a new hologram appeared before her. He was just a few inches taller, with shoulder-length black hair and a hint of stubble. He was dressed in the same kind of clothing as the other people and was also barefoot. Rogue grinned as he bowed before her.

"I would be delighted," James replied, his voice coming through the lips of his holographic avatar rather than the general speakers like it usually did.

Rogue's grin broadened as she bowed back and then accepted his arm to dance.


Bobby looked out on the Mediterranean Sea with a familiar feeling of anxiety in his belly. Word had been coming in about En Sabah Nur's troop positions, a difficult thing to truly gauge as mutant powers came in so many different strengths and inclinations. It also failed to take into account what technology they had at their disposal; so much in this day and age could be done from long range and by stealth and/or speed.

The way Bobby saw things, they were surrounded. In addition to Russia, En Sabah Nur also had control of Finland, Sweden, and Norway; Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine; as well as all of Asia and Africa. The currently free countries in Europe were surrounded from the North, South, and East.

Bobby didn't mind admitting to himself that he was bloody terrified.

To make matters worse, they didn't know where all of the so-named "Horsemen of the Apocalypse" were. Until Sixth Element had surrendered, En Sabah Nur's loyal lieutenants were always with him. Now they seemed to be scattered. En Sabah Nur himself was in Turkey, Famine has been seen in Morocco, and War had been confirmed at Norway. No one knew where Pestilence or Death were.

"Director Drake?" a voice called from behind him. "It's begun."


Roberto "Sunspot" de Costa stepped forward as Pestilence and Death approached him and the Palácio do Planalto. What he was about to do made him sick, but he was not so caught up in his own country's politics to ignore what was going on in the rest of the world. Apocalypse and his Horsemen had dominated too much of the world. It would be foolish to resist.

"On behalf of the people of Brazil," Sunspot said in Portuguese as one of his underlings translated into Arabic, hoping that was the right language to use, "I would like to welcome you to our country and pledge our allegiance to Pharaoh En Sabah Nur and the New Egyptian Empire."

Death smirked as Pestilence swaggered up to him.

"Wise man," she said, also in Portuguese. "Your pledge is accepted. We just have a few matters of state we need to sort out."

"Of course," Sunspot replied. "Please, allow me to escort you to your new palace."


Logan lit his cigar while perched on top of a thick brick fence. He took a moment to indulge himself, then blew out the smoke.

"Whaddya want, Gumbo?" he asked.

A sly smile crossed Gambit's lips. "I wanna sell you something. Well, the X.S.E. really."

Logan glanced at Gambit. "Sell us something, huh? And what might that be?"

"The schematics on a little prototype Mystique stole from what was Sixth Element territory at the time," Gambit replied. "A long range, stealth missile intended to deliver some kind of biological weapon."

Logan narrowed his eyes. "Thieves Guild talking, huh?"

"Of course."

"Hmph. What took you so long? Sixth Element surrendered their territory to Apocalypse well over a year ago now."

"Translating. Technical documentation can be so tricky," Gambit replied nonchalantly.

There was also the fact that there had been some serious discussion over the best way to deal with the information they'd acquired. The fact that they wanted a buyer went without saying, but the Guild (or more specifically, the Guild investment club) had to measure that up against their preference for the X.S.E. to remain in power. The Thieves were quite confident in their ability to remain free and profitable even if Apocalypse was in power, but they couldn't deny that living under the X.S.E. would grant them greater freedom. They also had to assume that Apocalypse already had the schematics since the original lab was now in his territory.

"We will, of course, provide both the original and the translation," Gambit went on.

Logan grunted and puffed on his cigar. Things remained silent between them for a few minutes.

"You sure it was Mystique?" Logan asked finally.

"Saw her with my own two eyes," Gambit replied, paused, and then added: "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Mystique could only do humanoids, right?"

"Right."

"Not any more," Gambit said. "Saw her transform from a fire extinguisher."

Logan frowned. "You sure it was really her and not some other shapeshifter?"

He couldn't help but be concerned about Mystique, someone who had been affiliated with Asteroid M, getting involved in the war on Earth. Was she acting alone, or was Asteroid M attempting to throw in their own two cents?

"Hmm, suppose the possibility exists it could have been someone else," Gambit conceded. "But Rogue did say that Mystique's powers had increased since the Cure wore off, so..."

Logan grunted irritably. "How much you asking for the schematics?"


Tabitha joined Gambit at his table in the Guild's bar in New Orleans. He glanced up at her from his bottle of beer.

"Hey," she said as she sat down. "How's things?"

"Yeah, not too bad," Gambit replied, offering her a smile. "I wasn't sure whether to expect you here or not. I guess you were offered full membership?"

"Yeah." Tabitha nodded.

"So, what do you think?"

Tabitha glanced down at her martini. "I have no idea. It sounds a little...out there. I mean, the Elixir of Life? Really? Sounds like something out of a story. I don't know if I can even believe it's real."

"Yeah, I can understand that," Gambit said knowingly. "But there are ways to confirm."

"Like what? Seeing if I can find pictures of members in old photos?" Tabitha asked with obvious scorn. "Photo shopped much? For all I know this is just some scam to fleece money out of members."

Gambit chuckled. "Could be. But there's a few things you're missing. Like, why aren't there any members who look older than about 50?"

"You kill them."

"If it's a scam, how come the future victims haven't noticed their disappearances?" Gambit asked, and when Tabitha frowned, considering that, Gambit continued on before she could decide on a reply. "Additionally, I think you'll find that everyone you talk to is going to have a long history. Anyone over a hundred is going to have a stack of 'back in my day' stories. And they will happily tell you all about them, if you ask."

Tabitha laughed. "I have to say, I hadn't considered that."

"It was something I didn't realise myself until later," Gambit said, grinning. "I mean, I did hear 'back in my day' stories, but it wasn't until I started looking into the history of some of the earlier technologies and stuff that I realised how far back their memories really went. There are just some details about history no text book or website is ever going to be able to reproduce."

"Hmm, I guess that's a good point. I might ask around then," Tabitha said thoughtfully. "Say, can I ask how old you are?"

"Eighty-eight," Gambit replied, picking up his beer.

"Really?" she asked, blinking in surprise.

Gambit took a quick swig of his beer. "Figured I was older?"

"Well, everyone else I've spoken to is well over a hundred," Tabitha replied. "Figured you were too."

"Nope, still have another twelve years to go before I hit triple digits," he said, setting his beer back on the table as three of their fellow Thieves stalked over.

"Gambit," said one with menace in his voice.

"DuBois, Sanders, Thomas," Gambit replied, eyeing each dishevelled Thief in turn. "What can I do for you?"

"You're the reason we're missing out on the Elixir," Sanders said angrily.

"You just had to stop taking Candra's booty calls," Thomas snarled.

"I think," DuBois said, grabbing Gambit by the collar of his jacket, "that we should take his share."

Gambit glanced down at the hold on his shirt as DuBois pulled him out of his chair.

"If you don't mind," Gambit said, "this is a very expensive, custom made coat. You're wrinkling it."

"I'll wrinkle more than your coat—"

DuBois' fist slammed into Gambit's face. Sanders and Thomas were quick to join in. Gambit let them get a few lucky strikes in before fighting back.

Tabitha watched, wide-eyed, while three grown men laid into Gambit, only to be regularly pushed back and knocked to the ground. Thomas grabbed a chair, only for it to collide with Gambit's staff. Sanders' pulled out his staff as well, but Gambit had no problems evading and blocking his blows. The other bar patrons—all Thieves—watched enthusiastically.

"You get 'im, DuBois!"

"Remy! Behind you!"

"You give him what for!"

"Oooh, and Thomas goes down!"

"Hey Sanders! You fight like a girl!" Emil yelled out, only for Tiana to smack him over the head. "Oh, umm, I mean, you fight like a toddler! Remy's kid could beat you in a fight!"

Tabitha felt a tap on her shoulder and was hard pressed to drag her eyes away from the fight to look at the slovenly man beside her.

"Hey," he said slyly, somehow getting his voice through the noise. "You're one of the newbies, right?"

"Uh, yeah..." Tabitha replied slowly, wanting this guy who smelt like he'd been living in the gutter to go away.

"Well, I don't know if you've decided to take the Elixir or not," he said earnestly, "but if not, I was hoping you could maybe recommend me for your share?"

Fortunately, before Tabitha could formulate a reply, Jean-Luc LeBeau stepped into the midst of it.

"What the devil is going on here?" he demanded, his voice booming through the bar.

Silence fell, and DuBois, Sanders, and Thomas quickly stepped back from Gambit. Jean-Luc stalked over to them, fury in his eyes.

"I will not allow in-fighting in the Guild," Jean-Luc said darkly, glaring at the instigators.

"It's his fault," DuBois insisted, pointing accusingly at Gambit, who was idly brushing the dust off his coat. "He left Candra and now we're all paying for it."

There were some murmurs of agreement. Jean-Luc looked around, his eyes drinking everything in, and finally focused on DuBois again.

"Gambit may turn down commissions that come in just like everyone else, if he so chooses," Jean-Luc replied calmly. "Now, perhaps instead of blaming him, you should look at yourself. Do you even know what clean clothes are any more?"

DuBois scowled as some of the spectators snickered.

"You, Sanders, Thomas," Jean-Luc turned and locked eyes with the man by Tabitha, "Poissant."

Poissant cleared his throat uncomfortably and quickly took a few steps back from Tabitha, much to her relief.

"All four of you have barely been scraping by the past sixty years," Jean-Luc said contemptuously. "You live in muck and filth. If you cannot afford the Elixir this time, it is no one's fault but your own. You were the ones who chose to slack off—"

The four began to object, only to be silenced by the raise of Jean-Luc's hand.

"Yes, slack off. Candra used to raise the cost of the Elixir every seven years. You know this. Gambit bought us a few decades of relief, and because you got lazy," Jean-Luc said with just a hint of nastiness in his rebuke, "you were unable to keep up now that she's raised the cost again. Do not blame Gambit for your own incompetence. Use the money that you would have spent on the Elixir and use it to improve yourselves. Invest in new scams and cons."

"Get a hair cut!" one of the Thieves added.

"That includes you, Remy!" said another.

"Nooo," Gambit said, pulling his ponytail around and stroking it playfully. "Not my beautiful hair."

"Ahem," Jean-Luc cut in, and went back to his lecture. "Try pooling your resources and working together to not only raise your standard of living, but to afford the Elixir next time. I should not have to tell you this. You are all long-standing members. Things should not have gotten to this point. Shape up, or ship out. And speaking of shipping out..."

He snapped his fingers and a couple of burly Thieves who were acting as bouncers that night came stalking over.

"Get out of my bar," Jean-Luc said.

There was some mild cheering as the bouncers hauled out the offenders—all four of them, as Jean-Luc wasn't impressed with Poissant either—and tossed them out the front door. Jean-Luc met Gambit's eyes.

"Thank you for going easy on them," he said mildly.

Gambit shrugged. He didn't really want to hurt his Guild mates, let alone ones he felt sorry for.

"I have no reason to impress the ladies anymore," he replied as he said back down at the table.

"Hmph," was Jean-Luc's response, but a faint smile played on his lips as he departed.

"Wow," Tabitha said as bar life went back to normal. "What exactly was that all about?"

Gambit shrugged. "Candra—the one who supplies us with the Elixir—likes me. We've dated on and off for decades but I decided I didn't want to see her anymore. And then not long after, she increased the price of the Elixir. So people are mad at me."

"Oh, okay," Tabitha replied and after a moment's consideration asked: "Anything to do with Vanessa?"

"No, but the two did overlap," Gambit said, and eyed off what was left in his beer bottle. "If I were you, I'd accept the Elixir. I'm pretty sure that if you or the other new guy were to turn it down, there'll be a riot over who gets your share."

Tabitha frowned. "So, why don't you kill them?"

"Huh?"

"Well, Jean-Luc said that people who get addicted to the Elixir are killed," Tabitha pointed out. "They sound pretty addicted to me."

"Heh," Gambit chuckled. "I guess I can see your point, but that's not quite what we mean. The kind of addiction Jean-Luc was talking about was when you start having nasty withdrawal symptoms within a few days of taking the Elixir for the first time. Drinking more only sates you temporarily, you just go into withdrawal again and again. Well, so I'm told. I've never actually seen it myself."

Tabitha frowned and Gambit finished off his beer.

"What those guys were going through," Gambit went on as he put his empty beer bottle back on the table, "was fear of dying. Got so used to living forever, you know?"

"Hmm, living forever. It's both exciting and scary at the same time, I think," she said thoughtfully, and looked around the room. "Can anyone really live forever?"

"I don't know," Gambit replied. "Maybe. Some of us have died, though. Accidents, mostly. The Elixir extends our lives but we're not immune to death."

"You can still get sick and be shot and stuff?"

"Yeah. We don't get sick very often. I guess we all must have pretty robust immune systems after all this time. Who knows how many germs we've been exposed to," Gambit replied with a twinkle in his eye, and gave a nod over to Gavin. "But yeah, accidents do happen. You can't tell, but his arm is missing from about here."

Gambit put his hand around his right arm above the elbow.

"He has a robotic replacement these days," he added. "But yeah, for decades, walking around with one arm. He had to relearn how to do so much stuff."

"Oh wow. That would suck," Tabitha said. "On the other hand, robotic arm. Soooo cool."

Gambit laughed.


The back room of the bar felt a little empty when Gambit, Henri, and Jean-Luc entered with the freshly delivered Elixir of Life. As they went about the ceremony, mixing and pouring the Elixir for everyone, Gambit couldn't help but feel a little guilty. There were more people missing out than what he expected.

Maybe he should have stayed with Candra a little longer and given them time to get back on their feet before walking away. But if he did that, then he would have ended up cheating on Vanessa. He was definitely not going to cheat on Vanessa, not ever. He felt like he was between a rock and a hard place.

The shot glasses full of the Elixir were handed out. Finally, Jean-Luc addressed the two new people.

"Tabitha, Gordon," Jean-Luc said. "Come forward."

Tabitha nervously stepped forward from the crowd with Gordon beside her. She could feel the eyes of everyone on her.

"You are here because we believe that you have what it takes to be full members of the Thieves Guild," Jean-Luc said, looking them each in the eye in turn. "Only by drinking the Elixir of Life can you become full members. With the Elixir comes long life, but it also has responsibilities. You may not discuss the Elixir with any not of the Guild, or their life is forfeit. You must also contribute to the Tithe. From here on in, if you drink tonight, you must meet your quota every seven years if you ever wish to drink of the Elixir again."

He was saying everything he'd already told them earlier on, but somehow the words felt heavier to Tabitha now that the ceremony was taking place.

"There is one risk," Jean-Luc went on. "For some this is not the Elixir of Life. For some, this is the Elixir of Death. A small few end up addicted after only one taste. They crave more and more, and no amount of the Elixir will sate them. If you become addicted, we will kill you."

Tabitha felt a little uncomfortable with the long silence that followed. She didn't want to die. The fact that the possibility existed scared her. At the same time, she was comforted by Gambit's earlier comment that he'd never seen it happen.

"Tabitha," Jean-Luc said, looking her right in the eye and startling her from her thoughts. "Are you prepared to face the risks and bear the responsibilities as well as the glories of long life?"

Tabitha took a deep breath and recited the words she had been told to say: "Yes, Guildmaster. I am."

Jean-Luc gave her a nod and Gambit carefully handed her one of the shot glasses offering her a fleeting smile. Tabitha accepted, taking the glass with both hands as she'd been told, and smiled faintly back.

"Gordon," Jean-Luc said. "Are you prepared to face the risks and bear the responsibilities as well as the glories of long life?"

"Yes, Guildmaster, I am," Gordon replied.

Henri gave Gordon his shot glass. Jean-Luc then instructed them to stay where they were, and he and his sons got their own glasses. Jean-Luc looked around, his eyes tracking, making sure that each member had a full glass in their hands.

"We shall drink together," he said.

Everyone lifted their glasses to their lips and drank at once. Tabitha was expecting a bitter medicine but was instead surprised to find that it was quite sweet and pleasant. She drank, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with so many eyes on her, and then was forced to hold back a giggle when she saw so many of the Thieves doing things like sticking their tongues in the glasses, determined to get every last drop.

She was able to hold back her giggle, but not her grin. She looked down at her glass, intending on following suit, when Gordon spoke:

"Wow," he said in awe. "This is amazing."

There was a noticeable pause around the room, which Gordon seemed oblivious to. His gaze fell on Tabitha's glass with its last few precious drops in the bottom of the glass.

"Hey," he said attempting to snatch at Tabitha's glass, only for her to jerk it out of his reach simply from reflex, "if you're not going to drink that, I'll have it!"

"Back off, bitch," Tabitha retorted hotly as she backed away from him, not appreciating this jerk getting into her personal space and trying to snatch her glass from her.

Gorden made another attempt to grab the glass from her, only for a couple of the other Thieves to grab him by the arms and pull him back.

"No!" he objected as Tabitha stared at him. "Must have more!"

Jean-Luc set his empty glass aside on the table and nodded to the men holding him as well as to Henri. Henri bowed his head and set his own glass on the table.

"I must!" Gordon yelled as the Thieves carried him out. "Please! I need more! Oh sweet, beautiful nectar of the gods!"

The door shut behind Gordon, Henri, and the other two Thieves. They could still hear his muffed calls for a moment, and then silence. Jean-Luc lowered his head. After a momentary pause, the rest of the Thieves followed suit.

After a respectful time of silence, Jean-Luc walked over to Tabitha and murmured in her ear: "You'd better finish that."

Tabitha jerked her head up, looked at him, then looked at what was left in her glass. She drank it quickly, feeling a little shaken as the weight of what just happened occurred to her.

Finally, the doors opened again, and Henri and the other two Thieves stepped back inside. Henri gave Jean-Luc a sorrowful nod. Jean-Luc gave a nod of acknowledgement back.

"It is done," Jean-Luc said with a heavy tone. "You may go."


Things were quiet and broody back in the main part of the bar. It had been a long time since they'd last had to kill a prospective full member, and it didn't sit well with any of them. Tabitha was feeling particularly anxious, scared that she too, might prove to be addicted.

"I wouldn't worry," Mercy said from behind.

Tabitha glanced up and looked at Mercy as she sat down beside her. Mercy patted her hand.

"You're not going to get addicted," Mercy said with assurance.

Tabitha looked at her drink. "How can you be sure?"

"Because we've never had two members end up addicted at the same time in the entire history of the Guild," Mercy replied. "One is a rarity. The odds against two happening at the same time are phenomenal."

"But you don't know for sure," Tabitha said. "Not really. I mean, it could still theoretically happen."

"Theoretically," Mercy conceded with a smile. "And that's why we'll keep an eye on you for the next few days. But I'm honestly not worried. You're going to be fine, petite."

"I'm glad one of us is certain," Tabitha said, feeling like she'd made a mistake.

Mercy gave her hand a squeeze as Gambit joined them. Tabitha glanced at him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," Gambit replied. "You okay?"

"No, not really."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. Just finished cleaning up—" he said and when Tabitha gave him a horrified look, he quickly added: "The glasses and stuff for the Elixir."

"Oh," Tabitha said, looking relieved. She really didn't want to think about the state of Gordon's body.

"Heh," Gambit said and gave the bartender a nod as he slid a beer over to him. "Was kinda hoping the party would have started by the time I got here."

"Party?" Tabitha repeated.

"Yeah. Celebrating cheating death," Gambit said with a twinkle in his red and grey eyes. "It's the ultimate con."

Tabitha managed a giggle.

"I think between Gordon and the fact that so many got cut off from the Elixir this time we're all feeling our mortality right now," Mercy said, looking around the bar. "I know I am."

Tabitha finished off her drink and made a decision.

"Well, if these are going to be my last days then screw it," she said, slamming her glass back on the countertop. "I'm not going to sit around moping, I'm gonna par-tay!"


Rogue stood in the middle of her Danger Room.

"Alright, James," she said. "Please create a forcefield dome. The bottom of the dome should touch each of the walls, and the top of the dome should touch the ceiling in the exact centre."

"Yes, Madame," James replied, and the forcefield promptly appeared, with a faint white hologram effect so that Rogue could see it.

Rogue looked around and nodded. "Alright, now fill the space outside the dome with ocean texture. Umm, go through all the water textures we have on file and rotate them at five second intervals."

The space outside the dome promptly filled with holographic colour that appeared to move by the changing of the shading within it. After five seconds it switched colour palates and altered the pattern. It rotated through two more.

"Pause there," Rogue said, eyed the ocean texture critically, then said: "Save as a favourite and continue."

"Aw isn't it cute?" Quentin said inside her head. "Making another ballroom program to share with your boyfriend. Oh, wait, he's not your boyfriend."

Rogue closed her eyes and sighed. Why was it so hard to get some time to herself? "Quentin, shut up and go back to your cell."

"Why should I when I'm already under your direct supervision?" Quentin asked.

"I will squash you like a bug."

"I think you're all talk," he replied. "Why are you going to so much effort anyway? Why, with me, we don't have to worry about air or programming or anything. Why, we can just..."

"Hey!" Rogue objected as Quentin plucked out the vision of the Atlantis simulation she was working on from her mind, and recreated it in the astral plane.

"See?" Quentin said smugly as his mental form walked over to her, smartly dressed in a tuxedo. "Isn't this so much better?"

Rogue eyed Quentin and looked down at the all-too-revealing gown he had imagined for her to wear. He held a hand out to her.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, taking her hand.

For a moment Rogue looked at their joined, bare hands. If felt so real... But no. Touching someone on the astral plane was no different from touching someone through a hazmat suit. She pulled her hand away and the mental scenery dissolved.

"You have two seconds to get out of my head, Quire," she said.

"Why two seconds? Worried if I stay any longer you might not be able to handle my animal magnetism?" Quentin asked. "Come on Rogue. Stop playing pretend with Remy and start playing for real with me."

"James, vent," Rogue said out loud.

"Yes, Madame."

Rogue felt her powers kick in and frowned. Something wasn't quite right.

"Thank you," she said after a couple of seconds. "James, please advise Quire's current status?"

"Quire is currently lying on his bed," James replied.

"That's it?"

"Yes. Current medical scans are consistent with his known reactions after an absorption."

Rogue frowned. She still felt like she hadn't absorbed as much from him.

"Very well," she said finally. "Please restart ocean texture rotation from the last saved favourite."

"Yes Madame."

James went back to rotating the ocean textures. Rogue picked out a couple more favourites and began mixing and matching them for the effect she wanted to achieve.

"Pardon me, Madame," James cut in. "But there's been an update in Quire's status: He's conscious."

Rogue stopped in her critical analysis of the ocean textures, her train of thought broken. "It hasn't been that long already has it?"

"No. It has only been forty-seven minutes."

Rogue blinked. "Come again?"

"It has only been forty-seven minutes since the vent to Quire's cell was opened, allowing you to absorb him."

"But that was... I can't... He should be out for hours!" Rogue exclaimed. "Why the hell is he conscious?"

It had only just been in the last two years that she'd finally dropped below two hours for one second's worth of absorption, and even then it had only been by less than a minute. Rogue had absorbed Quentin for a lot longer than one second. He should have been unconscious for at least four to six hours.

"Uncertain," James replied. "Crosschecking data."

"Crosschecking with what?" Rogue asked, trying to wrap her head around the situation. "It's not like this has ever happened before."

Something was wrong and she didn't dare hope that this might be a sign she was having a breakthrough with her powers. She had no reason to believe that any of her practicing had brought her anywhere close to this kind of control.

"Crosschecking with historical absorption data," James clarified, and after a brief pause, "I have a probable explanation. You have previously experimented with a forcefield based hazmat suit."

Rogue snorted. "Fat lot of good that did. Never did get the damn thing airtight, and then the absorption rate from the plants became too low to properly test the..."

Her eyes widened as she looked around at the dome shaped forcefield surrounding her on all sides, except for the floor. Rogue couldn't absorb anything through the floor, of course, which meant that her powers could only reach through the forcefield to absorb Quentin.

"Yes," James confirmed, unaware of Rogue's thoughts. "Although not properly airtight, it does have sufficient restrictive properties to act as a filter."

"James, I need a chair."

A chair promptly appeared behind Rogue as she sat down, trying to make sense of this new development.

"Thank you," she said as she buried her head in her hands.

"You're welcome."

This changed everything. She was pretty sure it changed everything. Why in the world did she not appreciate the fact that the forcefield was acting as a filter earlier? Why had it not occurred to her that it might cut down on coma time?

She shook her head. It was obvious why not. She'd given up on the forcefield suit because she couldn't test it properly, and that was well before Quentin came along. She never would have thought to start experimenting on the prisoners—that was the last thing she wanted to do. Yet given how often she was absorbing Quentin...

"Okay, umm, damn, I need to figure this out," she said. "Save current progress on Atlantis program and close."

"Yes Madame."

"And please find a list of different types of lab animals," Rogue said, standing up and heading for the door. "I've got some research I need to do."


Gambit looked at the multiple cages in the newest room of Rogue's residence. Each cage held a number of mice complete with their bedding, food, toilet, and entertainment requirements. Each cage was also sealed with its own air supply, however, there were a number of cages that had a forcefield panel situated where the mice couldn't get to. The panels varied in size from cage to cage, and some didn't have one at all.

"So, this was the big surprise, huh?" he said as he looked around. "Wow, I have to admit, when we last spoke of lab rats, I didn't expect to see any any time soon."

"They're not rats, they're mice," Rogue replied with a teasing grin.

"Details."

Rogue chuckled and gave him a hug. "I wasn't expecting anything else. But then I found out that I could reduce coma time if I absorbed someone through a forcefield. So yeah, trying to find the most humane and effective way to continue practicing."

Gambit nodded and hugged her back fondly.

"That's awesome, ma chère," he said. "I think this is definitely cause for celebration, no?"

Rogue grinned. "Definitely."