Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I making any money from, the X-Men
characters. Thank you to Corrinth for the loan of Ilehana Xavier. Blaze is,
always has been, and forever will be mine, so there!
A/N: Don't forget to review!
Scene 2
Cape Town, South Africa, five years previous...
The view from the penthouse of the hotel was a spectacular panoramic feast of the city. Glass oozed floor to ceiling in the room, allowing the occupant to gaze uninterrupted all across the horizon just as the sun dipped below it. Champagne in one hand, red hair stubbornly pinned up off her neck, draped in a shimmering almost translucent designer dress and make- up flawless, Blaze smiled to herself contentedly. She could pull off this thief lark by herself. She'd just pulled off the biggest job of the underground's year so far; nothing would stop her now...
A knock at the door interrupted her gloating. Expecting room service she shouted "Its open!" and did not turn from the view as someone entered behind her.
"You come up in d'world, Petite. Word is you made a fortune without Gambit?" Remy le Beau didn't wait for her to invite him; he walked to stand besides her at the window. Blaze didn't know what to say, or even feel. She'd half expected him to track her down sometime, and she was glad to see her old friend. But he'd run off and left her for no good reason, and now he expected to just walk back in here and be offered champagne? She settled to answer his question instead of punching his lights out like she'd sworn to do next time she saw him.
"Maybe. Depends on what 'the word' says I've been up to?"
"Oh, not much specific," Gambit met his friend's eyes and smiled. "'Cept extortion of a well-known designer perfume manufacturer with an animal testing facility of dubious legality. Clever, Amie, clever."
"They'd only pay me off with stock, but at a trade price of thirty dollars U.S. per bottle, twenty bottles per case, and fifty-five crates in a storage lock-up on the other side of town to be emptied tomorrow once the payment from my buyer is cleared, I've made about thirty three thousand dollars U.S. And I don't have to pay for this hotel suite, it's all from my buyer." Blaze couldn't help but grin out over the city; she'd been having a whale of a time.
"An' the folder of blackmail evidence is already flyin' to half a dozen animal welfare types I'd bet." Blaze smiled up at her tall friend, he knew her too well. "Not a bridge I'd have burnt, Amie. You wont be able to do business with these people again."
"What can I say, burning's what I'm good at, Remy. Champagne?"
"Oui, merci. You look good, Chere, that cop of yours a lucky guy." Blaze smiled, Gambit was fishing for gossip he'd probably already guessed anyway.
"I got rid of Lance the week you left with Electra." She gave him the champagne flute and topped up her own. "He was so boring!"
"How long you bin drinking for, Blaze?" Remy asked as she took gulps, not sips from the full glass.
"Long enough for you to have some serious catching up to do, le Beau!" She laughed as she draped herself elegantly on a large red sofa. Remy took a seat across from her, black-and-red eyes smiling.
"Good job I was drinkin' on d'plane then, eh Petite?"
They were well and truly sozzled by the time they hit the Jacuzzi on the balcony. What happened next didn't take much, Blaze in a chestnut brown bikini that accentuated her near-flawless tan, leaning too far over Remy to reach the third champagne bottle. Bodies too close, breath on wet skin, lips on lips. The line that Remy had broken in Sidney months earlier, the line that kept friendship from being anything else suddenly didn't even exist any more. Some part of them knew that this was all because of the alcohol, that they would hate themselves in the morning for being so weak. But right now the morning was still hours away...
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Xavier Mansion, present day...
"Hello, Xavier's school for gifted youngsters, how may I help you?"
"Hey Blaze its Bobby." The voice at the other end of the phone was chirpy as ever. It had been strange, really strange when Bobby Drake, his ex- girlfriend Rogue, Kitty Pride, Colossus and Jubilation Lee, with other students that were the same age, gradated in the summer and were now enrolled in various universities across America. Somehow it just wasn't the same school without them. "Can you put the Professor on, there's something I need to ask him?"
"You can't go asking the Professor every time you're given an assignment that stumps you, young man!" Blaze laughed, "He's got other students you know."
"Spoken like a true languages teacher, Blaze. And congrats on your teaching certificate." Bobby was laughing too, he missed the X-Men no matter what a fantastic time he was having at college. It was good to speak to someone familiar once in a while.
"If I spoke like a true languages teacher, surely I've have told you off in Italian or something? Stay on the line, I'll go see if he's busy."
"Blaze wait a minute? How's Gambit fitting into term-time life at the school?" Gossip from someone familiar was even better than just speaking to them. On the other end of the line, Blaze sniggered her laughter.
"He's chickened out already, gone upstate on some business for the Professor."
"Bet Wolverine's livid, that's usually his type of thing."
"And Ilehana, but they're dealing with it. It's easier than having to give Rem counselling every time a kid comes within twelve feet of him. He just can't cope with all this responsibility." Blaze shook her head, before nodding a greeting to her employer. "The Professor's here, Bobby. Take care okay?"
"Yeah you too. Bye."
A/N: Don't forget to review!
Scene 2
Cape Town, South Africa, five years previous...
The view from the penthouse of the hotel was a spectacular panoramic feast of the city. Glass oozed floor to ceiling in the room, allowing the occupant to gaze uninterrupted all across the horizon just as the sun dipped below it. Champagne in one hand, red hair stubbornly pinned up off her neck, draped in a shimmering almost translucent designer dress and make- up flawless, Blaze smiled to herself contentedly. She could pull off this thief lark by herself. She'd just pulled off the biggest job of the underground's year so far; nothing would stop her now...
A knock at the door interrupted her gloating. Expecting room service she shouted "Its open!" and did not turn from the view as someone entered behind her.
"You come up in d'world, Petite. Word is you made a fortune without Gambit?" Remy le Beau didn't wait for her to invite him; he walked to stand besides her at the window. Blaze didn't know what to say, or even feel. She'd half expected him to track her down sometime, and she was glad to see her old friend. But he'd run off and left her for no good reason, and now he expected to just walk back in here and be offered champagne? She settled to answer his question instead of punching his lights out like she'd sworn to do next time she saw him.
"Maybe. Depends on what 'the word' says I've been up to?"
"Oh, not much specific," Gambit met his friend's eyes and smiled. "'Cept extortion of a well-known designer perfume manufacturer with an animal testing facility of dubious legality. Clever, Amie, clever."
"They'd only pay me off with stock, but at a trade price of thirty dollars U.S. per bottle, twenty bottles per case, and fifty-five crates in a storage lock-up on the other side of town to be emptied tomorrow once the payment from my buyer is cleared, I've made about thirty three thousand dollars U.S. And I don't have to pay for this hotel suite, it's all from my buyer." Blaze couldn't help but grin out over the city; she'd been having a whale of a time.
"An' the folder of blackmail evidence is already flyin' to half a dozen animal welfare types I'd bet." Blaze smiled up at her tall friend, he knew her too well. "Not a bridge I'd have burnt, Amie. You wont be able to do business with these people again."
"What can I say, burning's what I'm good at, Remy. Champagne?"
"Oui, merci. You look good, Chere, that cop of yours a lucky guy." Blaze smiled, Gambit was fishing for gossip he'd probably already guessed anyway.
"I got rid of Lance the week you left with Electra." She gave him the champagne flute and topped up her own. "He was so boring!"
"How long you bin drinking for, Blaze?" Remy asked as she took gulps, not sips from the full glass.
"Long enough for you to have some serious catching up to do, le Beau!" She laughed as she draped herself elegantly on a large red sofa. Remy took a seat across from her, black-and-red eyes smiling.
"Good job I was drinkin' on d'plane then, eh Petite?"
They were well and truly sozzled by the time they hit the Jacuzzi on the balcony. What happened next didn't take much, Blaze in a chestnut brown bikini that accentuated her near-flawless tan, leaning too far over Remy to reach the third champagne bottle. Bodies too close, breath on wet skin, lips on lips. The line that Remy had broken in Sidney months earlier, the line that kept friendship from being anything else suddenly didn't even exist any more. Some part of them knew that this was all because of the alcohol, that they would hate themselves in the morning for being so weak. But right now the morning was still hours away...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Xavier Mansion, present day...
"Hello, Xavier's school for gifted youngsters, how may I help you?"
"Hey Blaze its Bobby." The voice at the other end of the phone was chirpy as ever. It had been strange, really strange when Bobby Drake, his ex- girlfriend Rogue, Kitty Pride, Colossus and Jubilation Lee, with other students that were the same age, gradated in the summer and were now enrolled in various universities across America. Somehow it just wasn't the same school without them. "Can you put the Professor on, there's something I need to ask him?"
"You can't go asking the Professor every time you're given an assignment that stumps you, young man!" Blaze laughed, "He's got other students you know."
"Spoken like a true languages teacher, Blaze. And congrats on your teaching certificate." Bobby was laughing too, he missed the X-Men no matter what a fantastic time he was having at college. It was good to speak to someone familiar once in a while.
"If I spoke like a true languages teacher, surely I've have told you off in Italian or something? Stay on the line, I'll go see if he's busy."
"Blaze wait a minute? How's Gambit fitting into term-time life at the school?" Gossip from someone familiar was even better than just speaking to them. On the other end of the line, Blaze sniggered her laughter.
"He's chickened out already, gone upstate on some business for the Professor."
"Bet Wolverine's livid, that's usually his type of thing."
"And Ilehana, but they're dealing with it. It's easier than having to give Rem counselling every time a kid comes within twelve feet of him. He just can't cope with all this responsibility." Blaze shook her head, before nodding a greeting to her employer. "The Professor's here, Bobby. Take care okay?"
"Yeah you too. Bye."