AN: XOXheartAmy wanted Remy to make a 'body condom' comment.
New characters appearing in this chapter: Rusty and Sally are both comic-canon. Flea is movie-canon - he's the kid in X2 that Pete shows his cartoon of Rogue and Bobby kissing to. Wikipedia is my friend.
Because there's been some inquiry: In the comicverse at full power Remy is "Omega class" or what they're calling "class five" in the movieverse. Remy went to Sinister to be downgraded when he couldn't control his abilities. As the movieverse decided that Remy spent two years being experimented on by Stryker, I decided to skip the Sinister thing and with it, cut out the whole Morlock Massacre issue, which is a little difficult to keep in the movieverse anyway seeing as how Leech and the character they named Callisto were both morlocks and Arclight was a marauder - yet they had Callisto and Arclight on the same side. Go figure.
Chapter 53: And So It Begins
Kendall toddled into the dining hall while pushing a toy in front of her that played a melody as the roller rotated over the ground. Storm was not far behind.
"Kendall, dear," Storm said. "Time to put the toy down and have breakfast."
"No," Kendall replied.
"She's a little too fond of that word, if you ask me," Logan muttered.
"Yes," Storm said firmly to her daughter and deftly removed the handle from Kendall's grip so she could lift her into her high chair.
Kendall immediately leaned over the high chair, reaching for her toy. Fortunately, she was distracted from tears by food.
Meanwhile, at the next table over, Kitty was delightedly telling everyone how the baby kicked her last night.
"That wasn't very polite," Gambit joked. "You need to teach that baby some manners."
"Oh shush you," Kitty dismissed him.
"Remy had an exciting night last night too," Rogue said with a smirk. "Just how did it go in the DR anyway?"
"Hank told me that Scott turned Space Invaders into a sim and—" Gambit began eagerly.
"Scott played Space Invaders?" Bobby asked. "Scott? Seriously? Wow, and here I was thinking ol' stick-up-the-ass didn't know how to have fun."
"I think he used it as a training exercise," Gambit replied.
"Oh, well that explains it then," Bobby snickered.
"I beat his high score," Gambit went on smugly, "by about six million. Twice, 'cause I played it again this morning. It was glorious."
"And just how were you taking down the invaders?" Rogue asked knowingly. "Cards or eyes?"
"Eyes," Gambit replied. "Now, if I can just stop blowing things up without meaning to, I'll be happy."
"Are you slipping again?" Jubilee asked. "And what do you mean you used your eyes?"
Gambit was about to reply, when he had a better idea. He glanced at Bobby's bowl of cereal and blew up one of the flakes. Bobby yelped as half his breakfast splashed on him and the table. Gambit snickered.
"Dude!" Jubilee exclaimed. "That's cool."
"That's insane," Bobby said, shaking his head. "Also, don't do that again."
"It's nice to see you're a lot happier about it this morning," Rogue said to Gambit.
"I was won over by Space Invaders," Gambit joked. "I may become an addict."
Rogue giggled.
"So, have you been blowing stuff up just by looking accident by accident then?" Kitty asked.
"Oui," Gambit replied solemnly. "But knowing's half the battle right?"
"Right," Kitty agreed.
"And speaking of knowing things," Gambit went on cheerfully, looking between Jubilee and Bobby. "Roguey and I were hoping you two might join us for a night out."
"We were?" Rogue asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Gambit said mischievously. "Like a double date."
Bobby choked on his breakfast. Jubilee shot Rogue an alarmed look and Rogue shook her head slightly in response.
"I did not think you two were dating," Pete said with a frown.
"Oh, no we're not," Jubilee said hurriedly. "I mean, why would I want to date Bobby? Besides, just broke up with Ralph, okay, so not interested in dating again right now."
"Actually I've always thought you two would make a cute couple," Kitty said. "But yeah, that was... How long ago was that?"
"Three weeks, give or take," Jubilee replied. "So, uhh, I don't really think it counts as a double date if one couple isn't even dating."
Gambit just smirked in reply. He was tempted to say something about drunken sex and see what reaction he got, but their nervy responses so far was enough confirmation for him. He'd been suspicious about their behaviour towards each other ever since he'd seen them arrive home from the party.
"Well," Jubilee said later at the gazebo, "Rogue insists she never told Remy anything."
"I can't believe you told Rogue in the first place," Bobby replied crossly with his arms folded across his chest.
"Hey, I'm a girl," Jubilee snapped, pointing a finger at him. "Girls talk about these things. I'd just broken up with my boyfriend and slept with you all in the same night! I had to talk to someone!"
"Whatever, all I know is that we had Remy asking us to go on a double date. I didn't tell him, so if you didn't and Rogue didn't, who did? He wasn't even at the party," Bobby replied.
"Well, I don't know. Do I look like a freaking telepath to you?" Jubilee demanded. "Okay, and for that matter, Sam was there, and Angelica, and Roberto, and Tabby, and who the hell knows who else was at the freaking party. For all we know everyone at the school knows."
"And you would know all about spreading gossip," Bobby retorted.
"What do you care anyway? You've gone through more girlfriends than Remy goes through playing cards," Jubilee said disgustedly, glaring at him.
"Not that many—"
"I'm surprised anyone even falls for you."
"And I'm surprised Ralph put up with you for as long as he did."
"Yeah? Well, I'm surprised that Rogue dated you for two years," Jubilee retorted sharply. "Oh wait, no I'm not. She must have been desperate, what with the whole 'no touching' thing."
"Screw you."
"You already have. Hell, I'm surprised you haven't been blabbing."
"What, is that what you take me for?" Bobby demanded. "Drunken mistake or not, I wouldn't do that to you. I can't believe I even have to spell that out to you. Geez, fine I admit I've had a few girlfriends, but that doesn't automatically make me an 'another notch on the belt' guy. And hey, why am I even defending myself in the first place? As I recall you came to me."
"Hey, my boyfriend just dumped me," Jubilee practically screamed at him, "for another guy. Seriously, how am I supposed to react to that, Bobby? Another guy. My ex-boyfriend decided during some point in our relationship that he was gay. How the freaking hell am I supposed to respond to that? Was it me? Is it something I did? Am I not woman enough or something? I—"
Jubilee had to cut herself off then and looked away from Bobby, not wanting him to see the tears welling up in her eyes.
"Actually, I'm guessing you probably weren't man enough," Bobby replied mildly. "Personally, I think that's a good thing. I like you way better as a woman."
There was an odd sort of silence, and then Jubilee finally said: "Thank you, Bobby."
"Hey, uhh," Bobby said, a little uncomfortably, "what else are friends for?"
"Is that what we are?" Jubilee asked, still not looking at him. "Y'know, even thought we slept together?"
Bobby sighed and sat down on the edge of the table.
"I don't know," he admitted. "I've been trying to figure how what I think of this whole thing for weeks and I just don't have any answers, Jubes. We've been friends for, what? Seven or eight years? And okay, I'll admit I might have had a bit of a crush on you in the beginning but, I thought I was past that and then this happened—and damn, Jubes, I'm sorry. I know we were both drunk and all, but I guess I'm kinda disappointed to think I didn't have some self control. Not that I didn't want to sleep with you, I mean, not that I wouldn't ever be interested, not that I'm saying that I am or that there's any reason why I wouldn't want to sleep with you, I mean you are a very attractive woman and everything but that doesn't necessarily mean that I, umm... and I'm just digging myself into a hole here."
Jubilee laughed softly and finally turned back to face him.
"I get what you're saying," she said. "That night was not a night we would have slept together if we were sober."
"Right. It would have been completely inappropriate."
"Absolutely, I mean, who breaks up with someone and immediately sleeps with someone else? Sober, that is."
"Exactly. It's crass and stuff."
"Yeah, so, we should probably just forget the whole thing," Jubilee said with a nod.
"Sure, just put everything behind us," Bobby agreed.
There was silence as they looked at each other. Jubilee chewed her bottom lip as Bobby got up off the table, but once their eyes met again it only too a moment before their lips were meeting as well.
In its usual fashion, the end of the school year arrived quickly and half the population of Xaviers departed for home or other locations for the summer break. With Kitty expecting, she and Pete decided to stay at home this year. Betsy accepted another modelling job much to the delight of her agent and once again, Warren opted to go with her (for the scenery). Sam, Angelica and Paige headed to the Guthrie farm in Kentucky.
John and James Proudmoore headed home as always, Tracy flew back to Ireland so spend time with her family there. Danielle Moonstar and Doug Ramsey also returned to their respective homes.
Jubilee, Bobby, Roberto, Forge and Domino all remained at Xaviers, as did three of the five new graduated who had opted to stay on: Rusty Collins; Sally Blevins, aka Skids; and Julio Richter, aka Rictor. Of the other two graduates, Rahne Sinclair (aka Wolfsbane) had returned to Scotland to visit Moira MacTaggert, and Julian Keller (aka Hellion) had gone home.
Flea, who would be in year twelve when the new school year started, was one of the ones who departed for home. He never made it. Instead Xavier's got a frantic call from his parents, wanting to make sure he had actually left and he wasn't still at the school and hadn't told them. Upon finding out of his abrupt disappearance, Emma made use of Cerebro to find Flea, but although she looked every day, she didn't catch so much of a blip.
"There could be any number of reasons for that," Emma told the others. "He could be shielded or moving around too much for me to pin point him properly. He might also be dead."
"Emma," Storm frowned.
"That third one isn't our preferred option, I'll grant you," Emma replied tersely. "But it is a fact, and may well be preferable to the 'shielded' option. After all, Flea doesn't have a natural shield or anything of that ilk, which would suggest he's being held against his will."
"By Stryfe, you mean," Logan said.
"It is a possibility."
"Can you find the Brotherhood at all?" Storm asked.
"Possibly," Emma confirmed. "Given that Magneto knows how to shield himself from Cerebro and other telepathic intrusion, it's likely his base of operations will not be easy to find."
"They have to come out sometime," Storm pointed out. "And if Flea has been abducted by Stryfe, they may be our best chance of finding him."
Rogue was a little surprised to find a box in her pigeon hole after the mail got sorted that day.
"Huh," Rogue mused as she looked it over. "Wasn't expecting anything."
"No return address either," Gambit observed as he leaned on the table beside her.
Rogue shrugged, ripped off the tape and opened it up. Inside was a book.
"Oh wow!" she exclaimed as she pulled it out. "This is Joanna Allerdyce's latest. It doesn't even hit the shelves until next week."
"Ahh... Pyro must have sent it to you then," Gambit said evenly.
"Yeah, that probably explains why there's no return address," Rogue said and opened up the book. "Omigod! It's autographed! Remy! He got it autographed for me!"
"Dear Roguey," Gambit read over her shoulder. "Love J Allerdyce. Hmph, probably signed it himself."
Rogue giggled.
"Now why would he do that, silly?" she asked. "He went to all the trouble of getting me an advanced copy in the first place, why not get it signed by the author at the same time? Eee, this is so exciting."
Bang!
"Désolé," Gambit said as the tape went up in smoke.
"Hmm," Rogue teased him as she put her new book behind her back. "I think I'll just take this book out of your line of sight."
"Shame he didn't leave a return address," Gambit said evenly. "I know Emma's been trying to track them down."
Rogue turned the box over and shrugged.
"It's been post marked Mississippi," Rogue said. "So I guess they're either there, or Pyro's just being a smart ass. Or maybe Joanna sent it and that's where she lives. I'm going with the smart ass option though."
Pete rotated his neck and shoulders, giving them a good stretch and put his paintbrush down. He often liked to spend time in the spacious, well lit art room and work on his latest project. It wasn't uncommon for other residents of Xaviers to join him in their off hours either. The art room was one of the few classrooms that anyone could go into at any time, although the more expensive materials and equipment were locked away pending appropriate supervision or authority.
Today, however, there was only one other person in the art room with him; the new arrival, Paint. As Pete cleaned up, he happened to glance at where Paint was hunched over the table. In fact, she was leaning so far over her head was touching the tabletop.
"Paint?" Pete inquired gently, walking over to her. "Paint?"
She didn't stir until Pete put his hand on her shoulder and spoke her name again. She mumbled and sat up, looking bleary-eyed.
"Are you all right?" Pete asked.
"Oh, umm, fine," she mumbled. "Just a bit tired."
"Hmm," Pete considered, moving his hand to her forehead. "You feel a bit warm to me. Are you certain you're okay?"
"I thought it was just hot in here," Paint replied sleepily.
"Perhaps you should go back to your room and get some sleep. I can have Ev- Nurse Pare check up on you, if you would like?"
"'Kay."
Pete escorted Paint back to her room, just to be on the safe side, then gave Evelyn a call to let her know that she was feverish.
Two days later, Storm looked through the window into Paint's room in the med lab.
"Is it contagious?" Storm asked.
"At this stage I can't be certain," Hank replied. "I need more time to investigate."
Storm nodded.
"Well, for something that attacks the mutant x-gene, I need to know before it's time for school to go back," Storm said firmly. "There's no point in bringing the kids back if they're just going to get sick here."
"If it is contagious, depending on where the infectious period lies, they may already be affected," Hank replied gravely.
Storm pursed her lips together.
"Just how bad is it?" she asked finally.
Hank spread his hands.
"At this point, I have no reason to believe she won't make a full recovery. I am only isolating her at this time because of the effect it's having on her x-gene, and Evelyn—as she hasn't got the gene—will be attending her physically instead of myself to cut down on chances of further infection. That said, I would like for it to be made clear to everyone that if they start feeling any of the symptoms, to see myself or Evelyn immediately."
"Which are?"
"Headache, drowsiness, sore throat, cough," Hank sighed. "Any number of those things could be caused by things other than this... virus... but in this case I would prefer to check everyone and for everyone to be fine, than not to and for it to be too late."
"Of course," Storm replied with a nod.
"I will also speak to Forge and see how he's going on those power dampeners," Hank added.
"Do you think they'll be necessary?" Storm asked cautiously.
"As I said, it's attacking the x-gene," Hank replied. "I'd rather not take any chances."
Gambit looked at Rogue as she stepped out of the bedroom, dressed up from head to toe in her wetsuit, complete with custom made feet and gloves.
"Body condom?" he asked jokingly.
"Very funny, Swamp Rat," Rogue retorted. "We going swimming or not?"
"Oh we're going swimming all right," Gambit replied cheerfully as he slipped his arm around her waist.
It was quite late, but Rogue had been uncomfortable with the idea of swimming during the day while the pool was crowded. The wetsuit covered every part of her skin, bar her face, and in the pool she felt that the odds of getting a hand in the face or something were much higher than in other activities. Reluctantly she had declined all invitations to join them in the pool, of which there were few once everyone figured out why she was declining. Gambit, however, felt that Rogue shouldn't miss out completely, and had finally persuaded her to join him for a late night swim with no one else around.
"So, Roguey," Gambit said as they approached the pool. "Are you actually wearing anything under that?"
"Yeah," Rogue replied jokingly. "I'm wearing a shirt that says 'I'm naked under my wetsuit'."
Gambit laughed and dropped his towel on one of the pool chairs.
"I need to get Forge to program me a funny shirt for my image inducer," he said. "I want it to say 'I'm naked under my image inducer'."
Rogue giggled as she put down her own towel.
"Just to wear around Logan, of course," Gambit went on cheerfully. "Watch him cringe. I think I'd wait until Tabby was out of the room though. She's likely to check to see if it's true."
"Probably," Rogue agreed, sitting on the edge of the pool and dangling her feet into the water.
She pushed off the side and Gambit soon joined her. The two swam around aimlessly, splashing each other, occasionally swimming laps or getting out just so they could jump back in again.
Gambit swam up from behind and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her covered shoulder and Rogue tilted her head away to avoid contact, covering her neck with her other hand to make sure.
"I miss you," he said softly.
"How can you miss me?" Rogue replied. "You see me every day."
"I miss kissing you—"
"You kissed me just then."
"I miss holding you."
"You're holding me now."
"I miss having you in my bed."
Rogue was silent.
"I miss touching your cheek," Gambit went on. "I miss holding your hand. I miss playing tonsil hockey."
Rogue giggled for a moment.
"I miss all that too," she said quietly. "It's not easy for me either."
"I know."
"It's not going to be forever."
"Feels like it."
"Yeah," Rogue replied ruefully. "I know what you mean."
