Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I making any money from, the X-Men
characters. Also thank you to my good friend Corrinth for the use of her
creation Ilehana Xavier, aka Vixen.
Scene Seven
Cyclops and Wolverine lead the way down into the lower levels of the manor house, followed by the rest of the X-Men team. Blaze smiled thinly; obviously this was what these people lived for. Being heroes. Why else would they have bothered rescuing someone like her? She hoped that this well-oiled machine would work as well this time. That is, if they believed what she had to say.
Unprovoked the team spread themselves evenly around the briefing room. Whilst Wolverine and Ilehana preferred to stand, the others sat leaving Blaze feeling uncomfortable and alone at the front of the room. She wondered briefly if they had had such a meeting before her own rescue. Bobby gave her an encouraging smile; at least she still had one friend in the room. Blaze tried in vain to find another friendly face amongst her audience, but they were all so serious, even Nightcrawler.
"Now Blaze," The Professor had the remote for the large TV screen. Flicking it on he brought up the security footage from the earlier broadcast. In a moment of technological wizardry he zoomed the picture in. Three familiar scowling faces glared down at Blaze. "You say you know these people?" In the back of her mind, she felt him add his confidence in her. Then another, a stranger added,
**Don't let them spook you, its just business. **
**Ilehana? **
**You expected somebody else? **
Blaze had to smile. She did have friends here. The Vixen was right; this was only business to them. Time to let them know how much more it meant to her.
Carefully for a moment Blaze studied the picture, then began to report like she hadn't done since Remy had started to trust her instincts more than his own...
"Professor, could you zoom in some more on the woman without losing the resolution?" He did so, and the image of the white skinned- blue haired woman grew to gargantuan size. "This is Electra, I don't know her real name. She's a minion of a crime lord called Alessandro Jacobi. Her powers give her control of all electrical systems, security systems being her speciality. Professor? Her associate is called Crush." The face of the colossal man came up on the screen. "He's pretty much pure muscle, and also works for Jacobi."
For a second she steeled herself, and then requested the third mutant's image of Xavier.
"This is Remy le Beau, Gambit. He is most definitely not an associate of Jacobi's. I have known and worked with him, on and off, for six years, since I was sixteen years old. He is my best friend, he has saved my life more times than I can remember, and I his. These..." For a second she almost choked, but she forced herself to continue, "These people have been after him for a long time, Jacobi is intent on making Remy part of his organisation. Remy would have none of it; it's not his thing. They must have found out he was in prison and... And kidnapped him."
Finally looking away from the screen and at the faces of the assembled X- Men, she nearly threw up. They were all staring at her like she had grown an extra head or something, even Bobby. She caught herself before she tried any further to convince them, don't make yourself out to be a complete idiot Blaze.
"Kidnapped?" Logan raised a single eyebrow from the back of the room. Blaze knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth. "From prison?"
Blaze stuck her chin out stubbornly.
"No prison could hold Remy le Beau unless he wanted to be there."
"He's a thief yeah? Why would he, or anybody else, wanna be in jail?" Logan's sarcastic tone was not just irritating Blaze.
"Give Blaze a break Logan." Bobby suggested angrily. "You can't expect her to have all the answers."
"Actually I do." Blaze sniped back at them both. "About two years ago it got to the stage where Jacobi was prepared to threaten both Gambit's and my own life to get Gambit through his doors for good. Rem decided it would be best if he disappeared for a while, 'til Jacobi calmed down. I didn't even know where he had gone." There was a sting in her voice that showed how much that decision had hurt Blaze. "What better place for a thief to hide out than a prison, especially a high security one? He must have got himself locked up for a reason."
"Yeah, he's a criminal! Professor we're wasting our time, this has nothing to do with Magneto." Scott's head was pounding, a combination of hangover and too much shouting.
"Perhaps, perhaps not Scott." Xavier wheeled closer to the screen where Gambit's picture still looked down on the room. Certainly this young man did not look best impressed with the situation, red-on-black eyes scowling.
**He's not bad looking either, Dad... ** Ilehana added with a touch of humour, making him smile.
"Professor?" Storm questioned, wondering what Xavier could possibly be smiling at. Quickly gathering his thoughts Xavier continued.
"All I can say is that there are more enemies to our cause than just Magneto and his associates. If this mutant Jacobi were to threaten ordinary humans then we..."
"Jacobi is human." Blaze had moved to the back of the room and was stood defensively with her arms folded.
"What?" Scott couldn't follow this; something just wasn't making sense. He swore under his breath as the room swung manically, he only wanted to look at Blaze damn it!
"He's human, but he employs both humans and mutants. He runs scams and operations all over the world, with bases in America and abroad. He used to be a member of the international Guild of Thieves, but he got thrown out somehow."
"Now that's an achievement!" Bobby winced as Rogue elbowed him in the ribs, "What?"
"So let me get this straight," If Scott didn't stop scowling soon, Blaze thought, his face would stick like that. "You want us to go after this guy to rescue an old boyfriend of yours who may or may not want to be rescued..."
"To be honest Cyclops if I gave a damn about what you did with your time I'd have had you slammed up in rehab a long while ago!" Wolverine caught Ilehana's eye and grinned, this Blaze did have a backbone after all, and a sense of humour. "You wanted to know about Remy and I've told you." Rogue winced as Blaze's voice got louder. "And if the lot of you won't help me, won't trust me, the I'll go get him back myself! Sod you all!" Blaze turned to go, but Wolverine blocked her way.
"You want help kid?" He smiled, "You got it. Count me in."
"Logan." Charles Xavier said the name as a warning.
Backed up by Wolverine, and feeling Vixen's interest in the back of her mind, Blaze played her trump card, not caring if it sounded like she was preaching.
"You people are so caught up with your damned ideals you can't see what's under your own noses! You're so desperate to see mutants and humans cease their fighting, you don't think about what could happen afterwards. In the underworld, my world, humans and mutants already work together! Masterminds like Jacobi and powerful mutants like Electra are gathering power to themselves right now, waiting to pick up the pieces when the rest of you have stopped fighting! Forget your silly ideals, humans and mutants on the same side are capable of evil worse than you could ever image!"
Scene Seven
Cyclops and Wolverine lead the way down into the lower levels of the manor house, followed by the rest of the X-Men team. Blaze smiled thinly; obviously this was what these people lived for. Being heroes. Why else would they have bothered rescuing someone like her? She hoped that this well-oiled machine would work as well this time. That is, if they believed what she had to say.
Unprovoked the team spread themselves evenly around the briefing room. Whilst Wolverine and Ilehana preferred to stand, the others sat leaving Blaze feeling uncomfortable and alone at the front of the room. She wondered briefly if they had had such a meeting before her own rescue. Bobby gave her an encouraging smile; at least she still had one friend in the room. Blaze tried in vain to find another friendly face amongst her audience, but they were all so serious, even Nightcrawler.
"Now Blaze," The Professor had the remote for the large TV screen. Flicking it on he brought up the security footage from the earlier broadcast. In a moment of technological wizardry he zoomed the picture in. Three familiar scowling faces glared down at Blaze. "You say you know these people?" In the back of her mind, she felt him add his confidence in her. Then another, a stranger added,
**Don't let them spook you, its just business. **
**Ilehana? **
**You expected somebody else? **
Blaze had to smile. She did have friends here. The Vixen was right; this was only business to them. Time to let them know how much more it meant to her.
Carefully for a moment Blaze studied the picture, then began to report like she hadn't done since Remy had started to trust her instincts more than his own...
"Professor, could you zoom in some more on the woman without losing the resolution?" He did so, and the image of the white skinned- blue haired woman grew to gargantuan size. "This is Electra, I don't know her real name. She's a minion of a crime lord called Alessandro Jacobi. Her powers give her control of all electrical systems, security systems being her speciality. Professor? Her associate is called Crush." The face of the colossal man came up on the screen. "He's pretty much pure muscle, and also works for Jacobi."
For a second she steeled herself, and then requested the third mutant's image of Xavier.
"This is Remy le Beau, Gambit. He is most definitely not an associate of Jacobi's. I have known and worked with him, on and off, for six years, since I was sixteen years old. He is my best friend, he has saved my life more times than I can remember, and I his. These..." For a second she almost choked, but she forced herself to continue, "These people have been after him for a long time, Jacobi is intent on making Remy part of his organisation. Remy would have none of it; it's not his thing. They must have found out he was in prison and... And kidnapped him."
Finally looking away from the screen and at the faces of the assembled X- Men, she nearly threw up. They were all staring at her like she had grown an extra head or something, even Bobby. She caught herself before she tried any further to convince them, don't make yourself out to be a complete idiot Blaze.
"Kidnapped?" Logan raised a single eyebrow from the back of the room. Blaze knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth. "From prison?"
Blaze stuck her chin out stubbornly.
"No prison could hold Remy le Beau unless he wanted to be there."
"He's a thief yeah? Why would he, or anybody else, wanna be in jail?" Logan's sarcastic tone was not just irritating Blaze.
"Give Blaze a break Logan." Bobby suggested angrily. "You can't expect her to have all the answers."
"Actually I do." Blaze sniped back at them both. "About two years ago it got to the stage where Jacobi was prepared to threaten both Gambit's and my own life to get Gambit through his doors for good. Rem decided it would be best if he disappeared for a while, 'til Jacobi calmed down. I didn't even know where he had gone." There was a sting in her voice that showed how much that decision had hurt Blaze. "What better place for a thief to hide out than a prison, especially a high security one? He must have got himself locked up for a reason."
"Yeah, he's a criminal! Professor we're wasting our time, this has nothing to do with Magneto." Scott's head was pounding, a combination of hangover and too much shouting.
"Perhaps, perhaps not Scott." Xavier wheeled closer to the screen where Gambit's picture still looked down on the room. Certainly this young man did not look best impressed with the situation, red-on-black eyes scowling.
**He's not bad looking either, Dad... ** Ilehana added with a touch of humour, making him smile.
"Professor?" Storm questioned, wondering what Xavier could possibly be smiling at. Quickly gathering his thoughts Xavier continued.
"All I can say is that there are more enemies to our cause than just Magneto and his associates. If this mutant Jacobi were to threaten ordinary humans then we..."
"Jacobi is human." Blaze had moved to the back of the room and was stood defensively with her arms folded.
"What?" Scott couldn't follow this; something just wasn't making sense. He swore under his breath as the room swung manically, he only wanted to look at Blaze damn it!
"He's human, but he employs both humans and mutants. He runs scams and operations all over the world, with bases in America and abroad. He used to be a member of the international Guild of Thieves, but he got thrown out somehow."
"Now that's an achievement!" Bobby winced as Rogue elbowed him in the ribs, "What?"
"So let me get this straight," If Scott didn't stop scowling soon, Blaze thought, his face would stick like that. "You want us to go after this guy to rescue an old boyfriend of yours who may or may not want to be rescued..."
"To be honest Cyclops if I gave a damn about what you did with your time I'd have had you slammed up in rehab a long while ago!" Wolverine caught Ilehana's eye and grinned, this Blaze did have a backbone after all, and a sense of humour. "You wanted to know about Remy and I've told you." Rogue winced as Blaze's voice got louder. "And if the lot of you won't help me, won't trust me, the I'll go get him back myself! Sod you all!" Blaze turned to go, but Wolverine blocked her way.
"You want help kid?" He smiled, "You got it. Count me in."
"Logan." Charles Xavier said the name as a warning.
Backed up by Wolverine, and feeling Vixen's interest in the back of her mind, Blaze played her trump card, not caring if it sounded like she was preaching.
"You people are so caught up with your damned ideals you can't see what's under your own noses! You're so desperate to see mutants and humans cease their fighting, you don't think about what could happen afterwards. In the underworld, my world, humans and mutants already work together! Masterminds like Jacobi and powerful mutants like Electra are gathering power to themselves right now, waiting to pick up the pieces when the rest of you have stopped fighting! Forget your silly ideals, humans and mutants on the same side are capable of evil worse than you could ever image!"
