Within My Sister's Shadow

By Calypso

Summary: AU: With Gambit's arrival things start to turn upside down at the institute. Someone wants Logan dead, Rouge begins to doubt Bobby, and Scott repeatedly hallucinates a woman in white. Is someone out for revenge? Or has Jean's death finally taken its toll?

Authors Note: Post X2, slightly AU. Jean isn't the Phoenix, she's just plain dead (sorry, I never liked the character much.) The rating may up and I may end up slashing Bobby with someone depending on how this goes. You've been warned. Also, I'm actually from Westchester county so instead of using 'Westchester' I'm actually gonna go by town names. Thank you to Rookies Revenge for his technical consulting.

Remy LeBeau is Gambit's name NOT Nightcrawler's.

Chapter 1 – Reign of tears

~ ~ ~

"O Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the bottomless pit ;deliver them out of the lion's mouth, lest hell should swallow them up, lest they fall into the outer darkness; but let Thy standard-bearer, Saint Michael, bring them back into Thy holy light, which Thou didst promise of old to Abraham and to his seed. Amen"

The grave was not a deep one, it went only four feet into the earth. The marble headstone, newly inscribed, was still shiny and bright. As the priest began to end the service the few people who stood around the grave wondered why it was that life was so cruel.

She had come into their lives warm and bright, joyful and caring. Now suddenly, she was gone.

Life was known to be unfair, death was know to claim whoever it pleased to. But she… she who they had loved so much was now lost to them forever.

Her disappearance two years ago had been hard enough, that she returned to them dead… was utterly unspeakable, and for one of their number – incomprehensible.

Those who stood around that grave didn't number many, but each one loved her more than the next. As the sky darkened and the light drizzle that had been falling turned into a full fledged storm they slowly began drifting away until only one remained. That one started at the grave stone, long and hard, memorizing not just it, but the face of the woman it commemorated.

Gentle fingers ran across the words on the head stone, and with one sad look, bid it goodbye.

Yuriko Ojama

May 1st 1975 – 2002

Beloved Sister

We will remember you forever.

~ ~ ~

Remy LeBeau hated the rain, then again, he hated a lot of things. Quietly, he sneezed before burying his face into the upturned collar on his trench coat. Why did it have to be New York? There were lots of places in the world he didn't like - New York was pretty close to the top of that list. Sighing with boredom, he looked around the quiet street, noticing a bookstore, a café, and a drugstore. None of it looked exciting.


Remy sighed, shuffling the deck of cards in his hands. Maybe a cup of coffee wouldn't hurt… with that in mind he began to cross the street. As he stepped off the curb he suddenly saw a flash of blue in the corner of his eye. By the time he registered the screech of tires it was already too late. Oh Shit. Was all that ran through his mind as he bounced off the hood of the car.


"What the hell have you done!?" Colossus' high pitched yell was not pleasant to Kitty's ears as she hit the breaks. Geez, she thought, how is it possible for a guy to screech that high?

Quickly, Kitty ran out of the car, having to remind herself not to go through the door. "Sir? Are you ok?" Of course he's not ok you nitwit, she berated herself, you just hit him with a car. To her surprise, the man was not out cold. Suddenly he grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him. Shocked, Kitty pulled back and made his hand go through her arm. Seeing that, his eyes widened.

"No hospital...." His speaking was labored and Kitty barely heard him. "I... mutant." Kitty understood immediately, this man probably had a fear of humans – she personally dreaded human doctors. Looking up, she saw that Colossus had already heard. Without a word he picked the man up and gently deposited him in the backseat of the car. Those who had gathered around the accident protested loudly. Thinking quickly Kitty put on her most innocent look. "Please, he's my brother! We were coming here to meet him… I have to get him to a hospital!!!" By the end of her little speech she was almost in tears. Softening, the people started to dissipate. Quickly she returned to the car.

"I knew I should've never given you driving lessons." Colossus muttered under his breath.

To Kitty he said only "Go." As the two drove away they both prayed that it wouldn't be too late once they reached the institute and hopefully the new Doctor, Hank McCoy, would be able to do something about it.

~ ~ ~

Spectre was tired. Unspeakably, bone wearied tired. She had slipped into Xavier's institute for the gifted to get out of the rain and to get some much needed nourishment. She had been on the road for days, and though she had been able to steal what she needed thanks to her mutation, it hadn't been comfortable.

Despite the fact that she was invisible, Spectre had stayed away from the children at the school (not knowing that they too were mutants,) by hiding in an occupied bedroom on the top floor of the house. Half an hour ago she had gone to the kitchen and stolen some dinner that had been left over from whatever the staff had been eating. After grabbing and heating it, she had run back wolfing the food down with gusto as soon as she'd arrived in the room, praying that no one had seen the food floating up the stairs.

Finished, she now eyed the bed and weighed out her choices in her head. The bed looked really comfortable, and really clean. Spectre liked the idea of sleeping somewhere that wasn't a fleabag motel. On the other hand if she got caught…

To tired to think, Spectre gave in to her desire for rest. Besides, who would come up here this late at night anyway?

Taking off her shoes, sweatshirt, and Khaki's Spectre carefully folded them and lay down in her oversized tee. Pulling the blankets up over her shoulders, she let out a contented sigh. Finally, she thought, a decent nights rest. And in less then a minute she was out like a light.

~ ~ ~

Swish, "Damn." Lady Deathstriker unsheathed her claws and without a word launched towards him. Following suit, Wolverine did exactly as she did, quickly entering into battle with her. Stop! A voice inside his head screamed. This isn't her, it's that fucking serum. Not listening to that voice, he fought back, hard and angry. Swiping her across the face.

Save her, that voice screamed, she's just like you, she can help you… you wouldn't have to be alone. Growling, Wolverine shoved Logan aside. NO He knew that he should try and get through to her, but if he stopped for a moment – she'd probably kill him. She struck a searing blow to his head and for one moment the world went white.

Save her, that voice said again, maybe she knows something about your past. Once again, he ignored it. I can't he argued back, you know I can't. Their fighting became more furious, and for long moments his thoughts were only about survival. And then he saw it.

Don't do it! The voice whispered, don't! I have to. He spoke back, and with one vicious shove, she was dead.

With a sharp intake of breath, Wolverine awoke. Once more in a cold sweat. This wasn't the first time he'd had this dream, always it was the same. That voice – that voice telling him he shouldn't have killed her. Wolverine had taken lives before, and most of the time he didn't give a rat's ass. But her… whatever her name was. She was probably just like him. She probably wanted to free – and to find her past.

Pushing the nightmare and the unpleasant thoughts aside, Logan scratched his neck, suddenly he stopped.

Sniffing the air, he realized that what he smelled was blood. His blood. Looking down he saw that the sheets – and his shirt, were bloody. For a few minutes he puzzled over this, then he noticed the very small, very round hole in his undershirt.

"Damn." He said as the thought finally hit him. Sometime during the night, as he had been asleep, someone had shot him in the chest.

Someone wanted him dead.

~ ~ ~

Scott glared at his bedside clock. 1:00 am the red letters told him, and he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep yet. It was this room, there was just too much of Jean in it. He couldn't bring himself to move her stuff into storage, and yet… having it there meant that he never got any sleep.

Sighing he got up and slipped out of the room. For the fifth time that week he tiptoed down the hallway and up the stairs. There were three rooms up here that were never used. One had no bed, one was specifically designed for handicapped children, and the last was a normal bedroom.

It was the third one that Scott stumbled into. With a groan, he lowered himself into bed, never bothering to turn on the lights. As he drifted off to sleep, he suddenly realized that he had seen a pair of shoes as he walked in. Too tired to think about it, he dismissed the thought and fell into a deep slumber, never noticing that next to him the blankets seemed to be falling and rising at even intervals on their own accord. Almost, as if they were breathing.

~ end chapter 1

Well? What's the verdict? Do I continue or stop here?