Disclaimer: See, there's this thing about fanfiction. It means that I don't own jack. I'm just a fan. Marvel owns all the yumminess that is Wolverine and Gambit, and most everybody else too. All original characters are mine however, and yes I would object to anyone else borrowing them without my consent. I know, it's a double standard, but there ya go.
Summary: There's a new mutant in town… and I'd say she's not a Mary Jane, but that always looks pitiful, and I'm not even real sure what a Mary Jane is. But I like her, so I'm writing her story. Hopefully, someone else will like her too.
Pairings: Isn't that like giving away a secret? Of course the OFC will be involved. And not with Scott, cause I don't like him. You'll need to read to find out the rest.
A/N: I used to watch the animated X-Men back when I was in high school, but that's been a while back now. And I have, of course, watched X-Men the Movie. I've never read any of the comics, though, so my understanding of some things might not be what it should be. If it's distracting to you, I'm sorry. Feel free to point things out, and I'll fix and/or work around it the best I can.
A/N 2: Wanna see what she looks like? You can meet her here:
Dare Me
Chapter One
"How de hell does Gambit get hims'lf into these situations?" The thief practically drooled at the flesh parading around in front of him. He turned to face Wolverine, who stood perfectly still in melee, searching. "Is da femme here?"
"She's here," Wolverine nodded, turning towards Jean and Cyclops. "Same smell that was all over the house at the address the Professor gave us."
"How can you tell?" Cyclops choked out as he waved a hand in front of his face, trying to dispel the gasoline fumes. As usual, his teammate ignored him. "Jean, can you…?"
Jean reached out softly, trying to feel out the mutant Professor Xavier had sent them for. It was unclear why her powers were showing such a spike when they weren't newly manifested, and nobody wanted to walk into the situation unprepared. Suddenly she jerked her head back and gasped.
"What is it?" Cyclops asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"A lot like running into a brick wall," Jean muttered, rubbing her forehead.
"De femme mus' no like 'paths, eh?" Gambit smiled. "Gambit un'erstan' dat feeling well. No offense meant, o' course, Jeannie."
"Of course," Jean said wryly. "Guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way." The group slowly made their way into the crowd that had gathered around the desert road. Jean rolled her eyes as the men that were with her spent as much time ogling either the cars or the women that seemed to decorate them as they did searching for their assignment. She watched curiously as Gambit stretched a hand out to run it mere centimeters over the hood of one car, then over the torso of the girl leaning against it.
Wolverine growled as a burly guy brushed past him, then followed the man towards the center of the gathering. Automatically the other three followed him, until they pushed their way into the clearing. In the center was a smaller group of people, acting almost as if they were holding court. Money was being exchanged, as well as handshakes and manly back-pats. As the smaller sea of people moved, Wolverine's head snapped up and Gambit muttered a soft "Merde!" Both men stood as if in a trance, until Jean touched both of their shoulders.
"Think I figured out what's with the power spike that got the Professor's attention," Wolverine ground out.
"What?" Cyclops asked, looking around warily. He still hadn't managed to put his finger on the mutant they were searching for.
"She's in heat."
"Merde," Gambit whispered again.
"She's in…?" Cyclops shook his head. "Great. Just what the team needs. Another animal." Wolverine's smile showed just enough fang to make sure the leader knew that he didn't like the implication.
"Must be near the end of her cycle," Wolverine said. "It's not uncontrollable, or anything. But definitely there."
"Gambit t'ink he needs a cold shower."
"Shuddup, Cajun."
Just then the girl's gaze raised, severing contact with the man she'd been doing business with and landing on the group of four X-Men. After a short pause she nodded at them, then turned back to the people surrounding her. Wolverine snorted softly as she presented the back of her spikey black hair to them. He watched as one of the men closest to her laid a hand on her honey colored shoulder while taking someone else's money. The mutant's body shifted, leather pants gleamed, tank top that seemed to show off more skin everytime she moved. She was small, he noticed. Her head only came chin high on most of the people around her. On her right was another, younger girl and the big guy that had pushed by the X-men earlier.
"What the hell was that?" Cyclops questioned.
"Acknowledgment," Wolverine explained. "She knows we're here, knows what we are. She'll allow us to hang around till she figures out why we're here."
"Allow us?" Jean snorted derisively
"It's her turf here, Red. 'Less of course you wanna fight her for it." Wolverine raised an eyebrow at her.
Commotion broke out for Jean could reply. The black-haired girl threw her head back and yelled, "Let's run!" Immediately the crowd surrounding her joined her. The cars moved to line the empty road, until only four were lined up on the highway. Her's was on the inside, gleaming black and red. She turned and found the X-Men again, watching them carefully for a minute, then slipped into her car.
The race was over almost as soon as it was begun. "Da femme jus' playin' wit dem," Gambit muttered as he watched her car shoot out into the lead at the last moment. Wolverine nodded his agreement as Cyclops' head twisted violently to follow the movement of the cars.
"I need one of those," was the leader's only comment.
The crowd pulled in on itself, centering around the winning car. The losers were teased, jokes tossed around as easily as the money they had lost. Once she had collected her dues, the mutant turned and started making her way towards the X-Men. Instinctively Jean reached out to touch her mind again, trying to make it gentle and unobtrusive.
It didn't work.
A low growl ripped through the crowd. The mutant's head tilted sideways, her upper lip curled up into a snarl as she stared at Jean. The smaller group that Wolverine had identified as her pack moved to her back, pulling up close to her. They uniformly crossed their arms over the chests, facing down the intruders. She was deceptively slow as she stalked toward the other four mutants, toward Jean.
"Look down, Red," Wolverine growled.
"Wha…?" she looked at him, confused.
"Submit, you idiot woman. You've stepped on toes, and unless you want a confrontation that's bound to end ugly, you need to back down." Wolverine had already moved in front of Jean with Gambit and Cyclops at his sides. Their intent was clear. They didn't want to fight, but they'd protect Jean.
