Part II: The Tempest

Gambit was wrapped around Belle, her arms around him, clinging to one another as if all the forces of the universe were conspiring to tear them apart. Jean-Luc blamed Remy's overemotional reactions on Tante Mattie's rearing of him, but in Remy's opinion, there were marble busts in the Uffizi that betrayed more emotion than Jean-Luc. Remy was pretty emotional now, and was grateful for the reporter's departure. No one needed to bear witness to the misery Remy was experiencing. His friends, all dead and vanished, and him, still alive somehow. They'd left him behind.

Mystique had arrived, breathless, at the Aerie. Demanding to know where Rogue had gone, how and why she'd vanished. Forge haltingly explained, his voice choking out the words. His fault, for opening the portal...for closing it again and taking the X-Men's souls along with it.

"Murderer!" Mystique screamed as Forge began to walk away. He passed by her, through the doorway to the staircase that would take him to the lower floors. Mystique called after him: "You're a murderer!"

Forge did not contradict her and continued to walk away, so Gambit croaked out: "It was their choice. Don't belittle their sacrifice."

Mystique rounded on him, her fury apparent. Her voice was thick with emotion and hatred when she yelled: "What do you know? You pathetic-worthless-thief. So worthless, even Hell rejected you!"

The police officer's pistol was suddenly in Belle's hand, aimed at Mystique. "I know a thing or two about murder," she said coldly in her low voice. "Allow me to offer you a demonstration of what it looks like."

Gambit put a hand on her wrist, forced her to lower her weapon.

Belle's expression was furious. She screamed at Mystique: "Say it again, you bitch! Tell him he's worthless! It's your life he saved! You owe him a life-debt. All'a you owe him!"

Mystique was marching in their direction where they sat entwined together on the floor. "You just made yourself an enemy," she snarled at Belle.

"Raven," said a whispery voice from the entry to the Aerie. "Please. That is enough."

It was the precog, Destiny. She was bracing herself against the open door. Mystique turned to look at the old woman.

"I do not think I can manage the stairs again," Destiny said feebly.

Raven let out a sound that might have been a half-sob. She pressed her fist to her mouth. Gambit thought Freedom Force to be the X-Men's adversaries. Why was this woman so upset? Mystique finally choked out: "I'll use Forge's comm-link to hail Pyro. Tell him to bring up the V-22."

Destiny lowered her head. Mystique departed, leaving by the same door Forge had vanished through. When Mystique was gone, Destiny slowly approached. Belle was still breathing quite hard, her pent up rage not yet spent. Gambit turned and pressed a kiss into her hair. Destiny lowered herself beside him. Her hand found his shoulder. He regarded her, somewhat confused.

"I am very sorry," Destiny told him. "For your losses. You are right, it was their choice. I would have expected no less from them."

Remy nodded, his throat too tight to allow words. It didn't matter, she couldn't see him anyway.

"Sometimes," Destiny said in a voice made creaky by advanced age, "I find when the visions become overwhelming...it is helpful to write them down."

"But," Belle said. "You can't...you can't even see."

Destiny nodded. "No, I cannot. But...it gives me some...feeling of control. To expunge the visions from my mind and put them to paper."

Remy again nodded his understanding. It seemed as though Destiny had more to say, but she was interrupted when Mystique shouted from the lobby: "Renie! We're leaving!"

Destiny struggled to stand and Remy detangled himself from Belle to hop to his feet. He helped the old woman, propped her upright. "Let us help you," he told the woman as Belle rose as well.

"I can manage," she said and smiled a watery smile. "Thank you. You were raised a kind man."

"That's debatable…" Remy began and Belle nudged him. Remy turned to look down at her. She wrapped her arms around him again.

"Don't talk mean about my husband," she said into his chest.

"Irene!" Mystique called again, impatient.

Destiny had already started away, she was nearly to the door. Remy rested his chin on the top of Belle's head and closed his eyes. There was a sound of a coin dropping into a slot. A lever was pulled. This was followed by the sound of spinning reels in a slot machine. Three number 7s dropped into place in Remy's mind's eye. He felt a jolt, as if stung by one of Storm's static shocks. He drew away from Belle, turned to where Destiny had disappeared.

"Irene?" he called, then started towards the open door.

Out in the atrium, standing on the landing he saw that the glass wall had been blasted away. Outside was a jet/helicopter hybrid, it's rotors thumping, causing the tropical trees within the atrium to whip and sway. Rainwater blasted Remy in the face.

"Irene Adler!" he shouted, his voice swallowed by sound. He rubbed his sleeve over his eyes. Saw the woman, Destiny, guided into the V-22 by Mystique. Gambit ran towards the aircraft. Once Destiny was inside, she was abruptly seated. The aircraft banked away from the Aerie just as Remy neared the window ledge.

"Irene!" he shouted again. Mystique was staring at him with her pitiless gold eyes. She pulled the door hatch shut, sealing both herself and Destiny from view. For a single irrational moment, Remy considered leaping onto the aircraft's wing, but then he cast his gaze downward and saw how very high up he was. The aircraft began to rise up over the Aerie. The rotors turned themselves, and suddenly, the vehicle was jetting away.

Rainwater was stinging his eyes. Ororo, Logan, Betsy, Piotr, Rogue. All gone...dead. Destiny gone too, and with her, any answers he might have had; about who he was, what was done to him in that fated Black Womb experiment. His losses compounded, he felt a horrible pain in his chest. When he turned away from the window it was to see Belle. She must have read the expression on his face because her troubled gaze became one of abject emphatic sadness.

"Remy…" she said and closed the gap between them. Once more in her arms he buried his face in her neck. She held him for several long moments, her hands in his hair, saying comforting jumbled words in creole.

When it seemed he'd got a grip on himself, Belle asked him: "What do you want t'do, me sha?"

He turned his mouth to her ear, whispered into it. She nodded and took him by the hand. They returned to the Aerie workroom. Lay down in long wet grass together. Removed their clothing. Belle straddled his hips and he looked up at her, pale against the backdrop of a clear night sky, yet still caught in a light warm rain inside. It was nice to feel something other than pain, even if it was just for this moment.

Next time: Let's find out what Rogue's been up to, shall we?

Notes: "You're a murderer" is taken directly from Claremont's work, Fall of the Mutants. The rest is my invention.

Thanks readers for following, favoriting, and commenting. Many kudos to you. I love investigating your other favorite stories so I can read them too.

And well, if you don't comment, do you think that's gonna stop me from posting!? You're wrong! Can't stop, won't stop.