Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men; I do own all OCs especially Samantha and Blaze. Ilehana Xavier belongs exclusively to Corrinth and is used with permission.

A/N: Enjoy!

Scene 06

"No, Gambit, look. That duct is too small, you just wont get through it." Blaze cautioned with a touch of excitement to her English accent. It had been too long since the ex-thieves had planned a break-in together. They were onboard the X-Jet, with Scott piloting and Blaze and Gambit pouring over the Professor's architectural plans of the building where the girl was hiding. It wasn't going to be easy; she'd crawled into the roof space and was laying low in a seemingly unassailable spot. If they hadn't had the world's most powerful psychic working for them, persuading the girl gently via Cerebro to tell him where she was, chances were they'd never find her.

"Gambit hate it when you're right Chere." The Cajun grumbled, frowning over the plans.

"You'd hate it even more if I hadn't spotted it and you got stuck." Blaze pointed out. "But I can get through there, and let you in that hatchway..."

"Is working with you guys always this much fun?" Cyclops grumbled from his seat.

"Work hard, play hard." Blaze shrugged. "We there yet?"

"Um, yeah..." Scott flicked a couple of switches, setting the jet to hover. "You might wanna come look at this..."

The sight that met them was of utter devastation. The ground below them was crumpled and split, buildings ripped in two from the foundations upwards. Fences, streetlights, even trees had fallen under some sort of onslaught that Scott could only think of attributing to some major military strike. Even as the X-Men watched, the truth became startlingly clear. Like a great tidal wave of earth, the soil and rocks began to vibrate, moving out from a single building in a ring like ripples over water. The whole world seemed to shake, even the jet was not unaffected as the air rushed past it disturbed and vibrating. Various red lights started to flash and beep as the plane lost altitude even with Scott fighting to stay in control. There was an audible sigh of relief in the cockpit as the bucking of the earth and air ceased.

"What it 'bout li'l red lights that make everythin' so much worse?" Gambit asked as Scott switched off the final few warning sensors and brought the jet back to hover slightly higher than it had been before.

**The girl has lost control of her powers. She's generating countless energy that is expressed by vibrations of anything she touches. ** The Professor's voice was strong in all their minds. **She's terrified for her life now like never before, and I'm worried she may be justified. The building around her appears to be becoming increasingly unstable. **

"How long do we have before her next attack?" Scott asked the Professor aloud, knowing Xavier could hear him just fine.

**I can't guarantee exactly how long, but she thinks it is about ten minutes from one attack to the next. Time it and make sure, but only once. After that, there is no more time. ** Xavier replied sternly, before leaving them to continue his conversations with the child.

"Ten minutes..." Blaze muttered. "In and out? With a teenager who's in who knows what state and no promise she won't attack us too?"

"Guess we gotta re-think our plans, Petite." Gambit acknowledged grimly. "How small you t'ink that duct be again?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was small. Not quite as small as Blaze had first feared, but small enough that it would be a very tight fit for the tall, muscular Cajun. Still, she'd let him decide, unless he thought she was trying to steal all the fun. Huh, some fun... But both their adrenaline was running now, and thief's' instincts were taking over. They could do this, the mystery girl couldn't afford for them to not succeed.

""There no time to do anythin' else." Gambit muttered, as much to himself as to her, taking off his trademark trench coat and passing it to Blaze. "Go first, I follow. Gambit get stuck, go on alone."

Blaze nodded, folded his coat around her arm and climbed in headfirst to the duct. Not too long after she could hear him behind her, but only just. Guess moving as stealthily as a thief was like riding a bike, you just don't forget. Head down, Blaze set off crawling at speed.

Blaze's photographic memory remembered plans she'd barely studied, leading them both with little difficulty to the spot above where Samantha had told Xavier she was. The entrance to the den Sam had used had collapsed when the first spasm of her power ran through her and into the ground. Now she was exhausted and trapped, fear subsiding as she could no longer sustain the energy for it. Xavier felt her sliding into defeat and tried every ounce of psychology he knew to keep her alert. He heard as she did the moment when Gambit took over the show, popping screws from the side of the air-duct with a fraction of his mutant power. Xavier felt Sam ready her power, preparing to defend herself from Gambit and Blaze as they dropped one after the other to the floor below.

**No! ** Xavier admonished her, but he needn't have worried. Even as Sam lifted her head, she fell forward onto her knees, completely spent. Dusty, battered and bruised, her expensive clothes were ripped, her make-up ruined by tears. Maybe these strangers would just kill her, get it over with...

"Hey," Sam hadn't even realised she was crying again until the young woman in black, seemingly unafraid, took the teenager's hands in her warm gloved ones. "Its okay, there's no need to cry. You're going to be alright, your safe."

"I'm not crying." Sam snapped back, recovering herself slightly but refusing to wipe away the evidence for fear of drawing attention to it.

"'Course not Petite." Gambit chimed in amicably. "It just a li'l dusty in here. How 'bout we take you to get some fresh air instead, eh?"

"Don't I know you?" The girl asked suddenly as Blaze and Gambit both looked a little shocked. It wasn't quite the response they'd been expecting. Glancing once at her friend, Blaze looked back hard at the girl they'd come to rescue. The fire elemental never forgot a face.

"Samantha Hawley." The name jumped out at the redhead with little difficulty. "Yes, you have met us before. Just once, at the Governor's ball in..."

"New York." Sam finished. "You're Gambit, an X-Man. Pyro told me about you."

"It nice he remember me." Gambit drawled. "But maybe this conversation can wait? The buildin' not gonna stand up much longer, even without you attackin' it."

"How?" Sam replied, "I can't get up to that duct you came in through."

"Trust me," Blaze answered, smiling wickedly. "Getting out is the fun part."