Disclaimer: Characters have never and will never belong to me.

Author's Notes: Once more, my thanks. Now, I'm going to go crash. See you next time.

****

Unexpected

by Kristen Elizabeth

****

Your eyes

That always make me shiver

Now they are closed

They just sometimes twitch a little

And your body, I could hold for an hour

It sent me to heaven

With it's heat and power

I'll remember you

You will be there in my heart

I'll remember you

That is all that I can do

But I'll remember.

-Sophie Zelmani

****

The pain had overcome the drugs and forced her awake. Her mind raced...something was wrong with her baby. More pressure than actual pain, it was different than what she'd felt the night she'd told Remy about the baby. She rolled to her back and looked up at the impenetrable rock formation high above her.

"No...please. It's too early…," Rogue whispered, her muscles clenching. "Not yet. Not like this." She blew out a breath as the contraction faded almost as quickly as it had come. "Please...not without him here."

Admittedly, she didn't know all that much about the particulars of childbirth, although she and Remy had taken a few classes together over their short engagement. The memory brought a smile to her lips despite everything. They'd had to go into the city to find the class, and beyond a shadow of a doubt, they'd been the only mutants there. Oh, the stares they'd gotten when Remy refused to take off his sunglasses and she kept her gloves and long-sleeves on in the heated room.

But he'd been the perfect coach, catching onto the breathing pattern long before any of the other fathers, although it wasn't supposed to have been necessary. Her labor was to have been induced and quickly ended with a hasty Caesarian. And it wasn't supposed to be brought about for another month.

She wasn't going to make it at all without Remy beside her. The uncomfortable pressure returned and she grabbed her stomach. Her face twisted up until the pain passed. She needed help. She needed to stop it somehow.

"Can ya hear me?" she yelled to the emptiness. Hopefully, Magneto was watching her somehow. "If ya care 'bout me like ya claim to..." She bit the inside of her cheek. "...ya won' let my baby die!!"

There was no reply and after an hour of on and off agony had gone by, he still hadn't appeared. Obviously, his desire for her was conditional…and the right decision had been to kick him where it counted.

Although she hated every single one of them, she couldn't keep her tears at bay. "Cryin'. That's all Ah've been doin' lately." Rogue wiped at her cheeks. "No more cryin', baby. Me an' you…we're gonna get through this. 'Kay?"

She steeled herself against the next contraction. There were so many things she'd had to go through alone in her life. This was just one more.

****

Weekdays at Xavier's mansion were usually crammed with activity. Anything from Storm's botany class taking a stroll of the grounds to Hank's biology class digging up the same manicured grounds for worms could be happening at any particular moment. Students ran back and forth, lecture notes were passed from hand to hand, powers were tested, often with interesting results. There was always life. There was always movement.

It had all come to a standstill. Most of the students didn't know the details of the current X-Men mission, but rumors were enough to supply them with the knowledge that it was pretty serious. Maybe not so much as a mission to stop an all-powerful enemy from destroying the world, but it was definitely personal. And that put it on an entirely different level.

Lessons were basically canceled with three out of the five primary teachers taking part in the mission. The Professor allowed the older students to go with Kitty and Bobby into the city for shopping, movies, and free time. The younger students made do with the mansion's recreational activities while the remaining X-Men gathered in the War Room.

Jubilee had opted to take advantage of her technical X-Man status and join the Professor, Wolverine and Jean downstairs. Now, they were all seated around the big round table, without a smile between them. She fidgeted in her chair, not even realizing she was tapping one purple-glittered fingernail against the tabletop at an incredible rate until Logan looked at her.

"Kid…cool it."

She looked down at her hands. "Sorry." In order to keep them still, she tucked them between her knees and the cushioned seat.

Another few minutes ticked by. Finally, Jean shook her head, clearly frustrated. "I can't seem to establish a connection with Rogue to tell her help is on the way. Her mind is too focused, too occupied to let me in."

"I have been trying without luck myself," Xavier told her. "I suppose there isn't much we can do."

Jubilee bit into her lower lip and shot a glance at Logan. His huge hands were molded into tight fists, upon which he was resting his forehead. "Could the baby make it if it were born now?"

"Not without highly specialized care. Hank took a lot of things with him that can help…but honestly," the Professor shook his head. "Let's just hope that the baby takes its time. At least enough to get back here."

Logan lifted his head. "What'd you think Magneto wants with our southern belle?"

"I wish I knew," Xavier replied, softly. "They have a complex history. But I believe Mystique when she said Rogue is unharmed. It's doubtful that she'd place her foster daughter in danger."

Jean twisted her wedding band around her finger. "Then again, haven't we learned to never overestimate anyone?"

The Professor was about to reply when the communication system beeped, announcing an incoming transmission. Jubilee jumped in her seat. "Is it them?!?"

Logan took her hand to quiet her as Jean moved to the communicator. After pressing a few buttons, Scott's voice, thick with static, came over the loudspeaker. "Team One to base, do you read?"

"Base to Team One, we read you," Jean responded. "Scott…have you found her?"

There was a few seconds delay. "Negative. We've just landed at the coordinates. The whole compound appears to be abandoned. No sign of Magneto."

"Proceed with extreme caution," Xavier said. "He's not above an ambush."

"Understood." Another pause followed. "Storm's trying to stabilize the weather; it's almost impossible to see through the snow. Gambit and Beast went ahead to…" He stopped short. "Storm, look out!!!"

Jean's eyes grew wide. "Scott? Scott, what's going on??"

His voice came back, "We're under attack. Storm is…oh my god..."

"She's what?!" Logan demanded, grabbing hold of the communicator as though it were the other man's collar. "What's going on?!"

"She's…I don't know. I have to go." Scott paused. "I love you, Jean."

Her lower lip trembled. "Scott…"

The static abruptly stopped, leaving the room even more silent than it had been before.

Logan was the first to move. Before he could be stopped, he grasped the edge of the table and ripped it away from its anchors. It landed on the other side of the room with a terrific crash. Jubilee put her hand to her mouth; it always hurt her a little when Logan was in pain.

His chest rose and fell as he looked at the heap of metal that had been the conference table. "If I'm needed…I'll be down the hall."

"Don't, Jubilee," the Professor said when the young girl made a motion to follow Logan out of the room. "Let him work it out of his system."

"What do we do now?" Jean whispered.

Xavier looked down at the controls of his chair. "We wait."

****

The baby wasn't going to wait.

Rogue shook her head back and forth on the thin blankets. Despite her earlier pledge, hot tears joined the perspiration that collected at her temples. The pains were coming harder now, with less time in between each one, maybe only ten minutes or so, as opposed to twenty. She had no idea how to prepare herself; she couldn't even sit up enough to remove her jeans. There was no hot water, no scissors, no clean sheets…nothing that was always required in an emergency birth in the movies.

"Ah'm Prissy," she said out loud. "Ah really don' know nothin' 'bout birthin'…"

She never got to finish the quote from her favorite movie. Completely without warning, the cave wall to her far right exploded. Rogue twisted her face away from the debris and dust, both of her arms clutched protectively around her stomach. She coughed and tried to look to see who it was. Had Erik finally come around and decided to help her with the birth? Or was it…

Remy stepped through the dust and over the piles of rock two of his charged cards had created. The last of her willpower against crying gave way as he jumped off the settling debris. "Oh god...sugah…ya came…"

He knelt down next to her and took her bare hand in his gloved one. Putting one arm around her shoulder, he drew her up enough to kiss her hair. "Ma belle, ma ange…I'm here."

"He said…he said ya wouldn' be comin'," she sobbed. "And Ah believed him…Ah'm sorry." She reached for his cheek, wanting to touch him under the protection of Magneto's dampening field. There might never be another opportunity.

Remy gently grasped her hand before she could make contact. "Shh, chere. We're gonna get you out o' here."

She gritted her teeth. "Ah don' think...Ah can move."

"I carry you. But dere ain' no time t'waste, ma belle." He slid his hands underneath her knees.

"No!!" Rogue clutched at his arm. "Wait! Now that yer here...it's okay, Remy. Ah wanna stay!"

"Chere..."

"The field!" Her grip grew tighter. "Ah can have the baby here!! Ah can touch it."

"Gambit not gonna argue wit' you. We go now!"

She shook her head, her hair whipping across his mouth. "If ya gotta go...leave me behind, sugah!!"

"W'at?!"

"Ya heard me," Rogue said, softer this time. "Ah wanna stay here...where Ah can be normal, Remy, just for this one thing. 'Sides, maybe it's fittin'. Ah left ya...an' now it's yer turn."

"You know somet'ing..." He gave her the hardest look he could. "Dat's de dumbest t'ing Gambit ever heard tell!!!"

She clutched at her lower abdomen, but her argument never wavered. "Ain' ya recognized where we are, Remy?? Don' ya know?"

"Course I do. Not somet'ing I'd forget."

"It's the same place," Rogue cried. "The same field...Ah can touch ya here, Remy." She reached for him with cold fingers. "Let me touch ya..."

Once again, Remy stopped her. "Chere," he started again, in a voice that was choked with tenderness...and regret. "Don' you t'ink if Gambit could...he'd not be lettin' go o' you? W'atever field Magneto have up...we had t'take it down." She stared at him, demanding that he go on. "Cyke take out de control room wit' one look." He glanced back at the exit he'd created. "Dat's how Gambit get in here." He swallowed heavily and looked back at her. "Dis ain' no time or place t'have our bebe, ma belle."

Rogue's eyes lowered and darted from side to side as she took it all in. After a moment, she closed them, resigned, once again, to her unfair fate. "The baby's comin', Remy." A contraction hit and she let out a little cry. "Can't stop it..."

"Gambit." Hank swung into the room, unharmed except for a nasty cut on his arm. Blood matted his fur. "Magneto's team has been neutralized for the moment. Now would be the time to retreat to the jet."

He nodded and secured his arms under and around Rogue. "Put your arm 'round me, chere." She did so numbly. "Here we go." Remy lifted her against his chest; she winced as the sudden movement sent a spike of pain through her belly.

As she was carried out of the cave, Rogue took one last look back. It was too hard, having hope handed to her and then snatched away so quickly. She shut her eyes and tucked her face into the high collar of Remy's uniform.

They emerged into the swirling snow, and Remy instantly chastised himself for forgetting the few blankets Magneto had provided her with. She shivered against him. "Almos' dere, ma belle. Just hold on, oui?"

She felt herself drifting. She tried to focus on his face, but she must have lost some time, because the next thing she knew, Remy was charging up the lowered gangway of the Blackbird. Rouge felt herself being laid onto the floor, her head cushioned by a balled up sweatshirt. She looked to her side. A few feet away,

Storm was laid out in quite a similar manner. Only she wasn't moving.

"Everyone here?" she heard Scott yell. "Hang on..."

Rogue turned her gaze back up to the ceiling of the jet. The engines roared to life beneath her and the vibrations coursed through her entire body. Remy's face appeared over hers. "Stay wit' me, chere." He paused. "Hank."

"Her water hasn't broken, Remy. That's a very good sign; if it had, with the placenta previa..." Rogue heard him sigh. "Well, let's not even touch upon that scenario. I'm going to give her a steriod shot...it has a two-fold purpose. It should slow her contractions and build up the baby's underdeveloped lungs. If labor can't be stopped..."

She cut him off. "Erik..." Her mouth was so dry, the question came out barely audible.

Remy's gloved fingers stroked her cheek. "He got out 'fore we got dere. Just left ya behind wit' his freres." His tone grew colder than the ground below them. "Dat not my idea o' 'unharmed.'"

She was about to ask about Storm when she felt her sleeve being pushed up and Hank's rubber-gloved hands swabbing her skin with alcohol. The needle's prick was nothing compared to the painful pressure in her abdomen. "Just relax and breathe, Rogue," Hank said.

"Like we learn, chere." Remy sucked in two fast breaths and released. "Remember?"

Rogue repeated the pattern for his benefit. "Hank," she said. "Tell me the truth, sugah. If the baby decides to come out on this jet...will it be okay?"

"Like I said, try to relax." The doctor gave her a warm smile from far above. "I have to help Storm now, but I promise, I will do everything in my power to help you and your baby."

Remy's face replaced his. "Breathe, ma belle. De pain pass if you breathe."

"What's wrong with Storm?"

He hesitated. "She take on de brunt o' de Brot'erhood." His fingers twisted up into her curls. "It look bad, chere, Gambit don' lie t'you."

Rogue closed her eyes, relaxing into his protected touch. "All this...'cause he wanted me back. Am Ah really worth it??"

"Ma chere." Remy took her pale hand, pressing it between his palms. "You are...t'all o' us. But most 'specially t'me." He tried to smile and wink. "'Cause Gambit blow a hundred bucks on dat tuxedo. An' he plan t'get his money's worth."

Hank left the couple to their breathing after checking over Storm's condition. He climbed to the front of the jet and sat in the empty seat next to Scott.

"How are they doing?" the man piloting asked gravely.

"If there is some sort of hyperdrive on this craft, it would not be overzealous to employ it," Hank replied, ripping off his glasses. "Rogue needs specialized equipment if either she or her baby are to survive. And Storm..." He sighed. "I think she's bleeding internally."

Scott stared ahead into the clouds. After a second, he reached out and flipped up a flat panel on the control board. Upon pressing it, the jet's speed tripled, launching them through the sky at an inhuman rate.

"Got to love the Shi'ar and their technology," he quipped, dryly. "We'll be at the mansion in under two hours."

****

Logan was the first to reach the landing pad, with Jubilee right on his heels. The incredible winds kicked up by the jet's landing gear and engines blew even his carefully constructed hairdo out of place. He waited like a wounded wild cat, waiting for the ramp to lower, waiting to see her walk down, her cape billowing around her legs, waiting to see her be all right.

Remy carried Rogue down the ramp. By that time, a small crowd had gathered at the edge of the landing strip, including several students with stretchers from the infirmary. The mass of people parted to let Gambit walk by and place his fiance onto one of them. She was breathing as best she could; he never let go of her hand.

He wanted to be able to give his attention to his friend who was in so much pain from a way-too-early labor, but Logan had to look back at the ramp. Hank came down next, carrying his bags of medical supplies. Their eyes met, but Hank looked away. A lump settled into the base of Logan's throat.

Then, Scott walked down the ramp. Carrying Storm. A huge, cold fist squeezed on his heart. She was so still, and so pale, despite the beautiful color of her skin. There didn't appear to be any major injuries, but he just knew something was terribly wrong.

Scott moved past him, and he smelled sweat, blood, and lingering traces of her perfume. His oft-times rival paused to address him. "Are you coming?"

A sad little parade made its way through the grounds, from the landing pad back to the mansion, with Logan at the very end this time. When he entered the house, he sniffed, smelling fresh coffee, someone's way of helping the situation.

He simply sent his fist through one wall, watched the cuts and bruises vanish, and took the stairs down to the infirmary. Two of the women he cared most about in the world were in serious jeopardy. No one would be sleeping that night.

****

To Be Continued