Four Fire Fire

    She sauntered out of the large bathroom toweling out her hair. Her body was wrapped in a large black towel as she walked into the bedroom where Magneto was waiting for her at a desk. He smiled and turned to face her.

    "Gambrel, have a nice shower?"

    She smiled and threw the towel she was using to dry her hair back into the bathroom.

    He pointed to a small box on the bed. "There are some clothes for you in there, when you're dressed come on down for something to eat." He smiled again and left, closing the thick door behind him.

    She surveyed the room… it was a stone box with one circular window and two doors, one that lead to the hallways that lead to the rest of the house, and one that lead to the bathroom. She ripped open the box and starred at its contents.

    "No bad," she smirked. "Not bad at all."

    She came down the marble steps slowly listening intently for anyone other then Magneto. She peeked into the dining room and saw no one, she moved on to the living room where he sat in a high back chair reading the paper.

    He looked up just as she walked in wearing black jeans that were tucked into her combat boots, a baggy black tang top that covered her lean and masculine torso and hips. She had cut her hair again; it was shaved in the back, from the base of her neck up three inches, what remained fell around her face in a V shape cut. She wore narrow black shades that wrapped around her eyes and seemed to float in place.

    He smiled at her. "Her you go," he handed her a plate of chicken strips covered in cheese and a coke.

    She sat on the leather couch and dug in, eating greedily and swiftly. "Shit," she muttered between bites. "This is good!"

    He chuckled and went back to reading.

*** ***    ***    ***    ***    ***

    Professor Xavier was using Cerebro to locate Gambrel. He found her signal on the west coast in a beach side villa. After telling Storm and Jean they readied the Blackbird and soon Storm, Jean, Scott, Logan, Rogue and Kurt were on their way to battle Magneto and rescue Gambrel… or, so they thought.

*** ***    ***    ***    ***    ***

    Gambrel stopped in mid-bite, her eyes searched around, her ears pricked for anything.

    "What is it?" Eric asked.

    "Cerebro." She whispered.

    "What?"

    She smiled and took her bite. "The Professor found me." She chuckled.

    Just then John Allardyce sprung from a trap door behind Gambrel and attacked. She jumped out of her seat and spun to face him but was greeted instead by a fireball. It collided with her face, but did nothing. She pulled it off and held it in her hand glaring at John with a malice that equaled Logan's berserk rage.

    John stood there gazing at her trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Then she threw it at him, knocking him in the face sending him to the ground, and then it died out. John jumped up and searched his pockets for his lighter, but to his amazement, Gambrel was holding it up.

    She smiled evilly and chucked it at the widow, it crashed through the windowpane and disappeared. He made moved toward the window, but she slammed her hand on his chest at the base of his collarbones. He looked down; surprised to feel the explosion heat inside him… her fingers had cut into him and she was fire casting into his body. He shouted and ripped himself away from her. She dropped to the ground and lashed her leg out in a sweep kick landing him on his back. Then she crouched to a knee and grabbed his shirt collar and was ready to hit him when Eric grabbed her fist and shook his head.

    "No, he was just testing you."

    She looked down at John with a glare that would part the Red Sea, then got up and kicked him in the side for added reference.

    "Don't attack me again boy, I won't be stopped by an old man next time." She shot a glare at Eric then rounded on her heels and strode toward the door. "I am so outta here."

    "Where will you go?" Eric demanded. "You owe your freedom to me."

    "No I don't!" she hissed. "I didn't want out of there in the first place! I'll get you for that Eric, though I do thank you for the clothes and the food, it is better then I could have imagined."

    The door slammed behind her and she looked out at the horizon. The sun was close to setting, she didn't know where she was, this certainly wasn't anywhere near the east coast anymore. She climbed to the top of a jutted hill and sat down starred out at the sun set. She looked around the ground but saw only dirt and clumps of grass. She thought for a moment, thinking how nice it would be to have a cigarette.

    The sun disappeared; she stood up and looked in the valley below. There was a small town of humble establishments. She figured, since she was a criminal on the run from the government, stealing a few smokes and maybe a good coat wouldn't be anything compared to what charges settled in her record. She smiled with her new thoughts and trotted down the steep slope to find something to do.

    The gas station was about a ways outside of the main town, after determining there was only the manager inside she started a fire in the back. He ran out to tend to it and as he did so she walked in, snagged a couple of packs of Marlboros and a lighter and strolled out and out of sight before the manager returned.

    The humble town was busy with some kind of tournament going on at the rodeo grounds. She stealthily made her way to an All-n-One store and slipped in without triggering the alarm. She lit a fireball in her hand for some light and looked around and soon came upon a trench coat she liked. It looked like the one Neo wore from the movie The Matrix Reloaded. She pulled it on and looked down at herself, its color was jet black; the bottom of the coat lightly brushed the toes of her boots. She smiled and slipped the cigarettes in the pocket.

    She stepped outside again, lighting a cigarette and looking around for anything else she might need done. With nothing in mind she shoved her hands into her pockets and began a long trudge down the roads.

*** ***    ***    ***    ***    ***    ***

    Logan was the first to invade the villa, only John was there attending his wounds he received from Gambrel.

    "Where's Gambrel?" Logan demanded as the others did a quick thorough search of the place.

    "She left a couple of hours ago Logan." He said pouring hydrogen peroxide on his chest for the eighth time.

    "No one's here," Rogue said jogging back into the room. "It's all empty."

    "You talking about metal head?" John asked. "He bailed about an hour ago leaving me here because I couldn't move to well, the bastard."

    "What happened to you?" Jean asked.

    John starred at her then went back to his chest. "Magneto told me I was suppose to test Gambrel, to see if she was as good a fighter as he had heard. He said anything went, so I attacked her, and she got the best of me, she can fire cast, create it where I can only manipulate It." he hissed. "And he knew that and he still made me fight her. Then after I was incapacitate he left me… I don't know where the asshole went."

    Logan walked off whiffing the air. He could smell her, but the scent was weak, she had been here, she had eaten, fought and left.

    "We have to find her." Logan declared.

    "No kidding." Storm said and they left. Jean was helping John back into the Blackbird.

    "Wait, why are we taking him?" Logan asked.

    John glared at him.

    "Professor Xavier believes in second chances Logan, so should you." Jean said.

    He grunted in disapproval but said no more.

*** ***    ***    ***    ***    ***

    Gambrel was walking the deserted highway heading east. Rapping a song by P.O.D. called Youth of the Nation when a blue car speeded past her. It slammed on its breaks and backed up. She watched it for a while as it was backing up slowly then stopped at her side.

    The black window went down and an angular face smiled at her. "Need a ride sweet pea?"

    Gambrel looked around. "No."

    "Ah, come on, let me give you a ride, I can take you anywhere you want to go."

    "Are you hitting on me?" she asked with a smoldering smile.

    "Perhaps," he smiled back.

    "Well, I'm sorry," she cooed. "I just don't think you could satisfy me."

    "I'm sure I could,"

    "I love it long, hard and rough."

    "I am pretty long, I'd surprise you."

    She flicked her lit cigarette onto his lap and he looked down at it. "Are you hot?" she winked and it burst into flames. He screamed and tried to wipe it off, Gambrel laughed like a maniac and strolled away. A strong wind rushed through, she looked up and saw thunderheads forming. "Damn," she muttered and headed back into the small mountains for some shelter.

    Logan leaned against the Blackbird sighing and shaking his head. A wind rushed past him, he took a whiff out of habit and jumped. "She's near!"

    Jean and Storm came running to the hatch.

    "I caught a scent! Coming from the east! She's out there somewhere!"

    Jean nodded at Storm who returned to the control panel and started the Blackbird up. Soon they off, flying low and slow with the hatch open with Logan leaning out looking and smelling.