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Psylocke's eyes strained as her brain tried to force more energy out of her to project a vast open space to Storm. Storm grew worried as the reality she saw began to flicker. They had been crawling through the ventilation system of the home base of the assassin's guild for almost half an hour.
"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up." Psylocke broke down and whispered.
"Shhhh!" Rogue said from the front of the caravan. She looked through vents in the tunnel into rooms from time to time. "We're almost there… I think." Psylocke began to wince to try to bare more pain, but the pressure on her brain was growing too strong to withstand any longer. She stopped to try and relieve the pain, but could no longer keep claustrophobia away from Storm.
As the infinite empty space she has been seeing began to vanish, revealing itself to be a small, cramped, dark burrow, Storm's breath grew erratic. Her actions became uncontrollable as she slipped into self preservation mode. Her eyes glowed white and the gentle breeze blowing through the air conditioning grew into a strong gust. Small bolts of lightening began to act as static electricity, shocking Psylocke, Storm and Rogue.
"Rogue, punch us out!" Psylocke shouted over the rumbling, buzzing and whistling air.
"But they'll see us!" She yelled back.
"Rogue, punch us out before she fries us!" Rogue punched her hand through the bottom of the metal tubing, following Psylocke's orders. She kicked the hole open wide enough for each of them to jump out. After Psylocke pushed Storm out of the air shaft, all three landed on the floor. By the time Storm had calmed down enough to stop the weather explosion, several guns were all pointed squarely in their faces.
"Who're you?" A masked assassin yelled at them. They scrambled for an answer, but when they didn't respond, he shouted again. "Who are you? What are y'all doing here?" When the three didn't answer again, nearly a dozen men in the room cocked their guns.
"Wait!" Psylocke screamed. "I'm assassin!" They all stopped, waiting for a confirmation to shoot the intruders.
"You're an assassin?" The leader asked, stunned. Storm and Rogue also waited for an answer. Psylocke nodded. "Prove it." The man demanded. She slightly unzipped the front of her uniform, just enough to pull down the shoulder revealing a tattoo. The second he laid eyes upon it, the lead assassin motioned for the men to lower their guns. "Watch them. I'm goin' ta talk ta Belle." He left through a door into the next room. The others all put their guns back up, keeping Rogue, Storm and Psylocke in order.
"You're an assassin?" Rogue asked.
"Yes, do enlighten us, please." Storm mumbled.
"It's a long story." Psylocke said as she eyed the long barrel pointed in her face.
* * *
"Belle, I hate to interrupt…" Gris-Gris burst into the room with Gambit and Belladonna. She glared up at him.
"You really gonna hate it in a minute… What's goin' on out there?" She barked.
"Some people broke in… trois femmes." He informed her. Gambit's eyes flashed as he allowed a short smile to curl the corner of his lips. He knew his cavalry had arrived.
"Who are they? Thieves tryin' t' take mah tithe?"
"Not sure, maîtresse… one of them has the tat of la main." Belle's expression changed from anger to confusion.
"La main? On dis side a the Pacific?" She shot a look back at Gambit and saw his smile. He dropped it, but she'd already caught him. "What're you smilin' at, Remy?" He shrugged his shoulders then smiled wickedly. She huffed then turned back to Gris-Gris. "Alright, bring 'em in." Gris-Gris nodded and left the room.
"You got The Hand afta you, Belle? You in it deep, now." Gambit mocked her.
"Shut up, Remy, I know you got somethin' t' do with this." His eyes flashed as he sneered at her. Gris-Gris and several henchmen bust back into the room with Psylocke, Storm and Rogue. "Let me see it." Belle said to Psylocke, dragging her cherished knife across Psylocke's face. Psylocke pulled away, unintimidated, and revealed the tattoo on her shoulder. Belle admired it for a minute, then looked back up at Psylocke's face. "What're you doin' here?" Belle said when she was satisfied with the evidence. "I ain't got no business with The Hand."
"No." Psylocke finally spoke. "You have business with me, the leader of The Hand's personal assassin."
"And what business is that… Kwannon?" Belle displayed her knowledge of the over seas crime organization by identifying the person Psylocke said she was.
"That there is mah Cajun." Rogue answered for her, gesturing toward Gambit. He sighed at the fact she hadn't just ignored him all together. Belle put her hands on her hips and looked at Gambit, then back to Psylocke, Storm and Rogue.
"Kill them." Belle coldly ordered the men in the room. The seven henchmen descended on the X-Men. One man each held one of Psylocke's arms, and one man kept hitting her in the stomach with the butt of a rifle. She was defenseless, still working up the mental strength to provide a useful psionic knife. After having the wind knocked out of her several times now, Psylocke instinctively decided she could take no more. Soon, they would bruise an organ or cause serious internal damage. She slammed the heel of her foot down on the instep of one of the assassins holding her arm. He released her, nursing a newly broken foot. With one swift motion, she swung her free hand up, smacking the heel of her palm into the nose of the man who'd been hitting her in the stomach. He recoiled with a broken nose. She grabbed the collar of the other man and flung him across the ground, knocking his head against the wall where it met the floor, causing him to fall unconcious.
Storm was quickly able to summon lightening to her aid, striking each guard trying to hold her. They fell to the ground and released Storm. She went to work creating a hail storm to keep anyone else from entering the room.
Rogue used her super strength to fling the two assassins holding her back against the opposite wall. She moved forward to release Gambit, but was quickly impeded by Belle.
"You must be the mutant girlfriend." Belle said.
"You must be the ex-wife I ain't heard so much about." Rogue replied, glaring over Belle's shoulder at Gambit. Belle let herself smile just a bit, but then pushed Rogue back. Rogue raised her fist to punch Belle.
"Don't hurt her!" Gambit interrupted. Rogue was surprised he was concerned enough about her to try and protect her. Since Rogue was distracted, Belle knocked Rogue's feet out from under her, knocking her to the ground. Belle pinned her down and raised her knife to stab Rogue.
"Actually, we're still married… and he's always gon' be mah Cajun." Belle said as she drew her knife back.
"Do it!" Rogue yelled at her. She wanted to see the look on Belle's face when she discovered Rogue's invulnerability, but she suddenly went limp, Psylocke standing over her. "Guess your mind's regenerated?" Rogue grumbled as she pushed Belle's lifeless body off of her.
"Apparently. We need you to make us a door." Psylocke said, helping Rogue up. Storm untied Gambit's restraints. Rogue knocked a large hole in the brick wall, and they all escaped.
* * *
"So I'm your Cajun, still?" Remy asked seductively into Rogue's ear as they walked down the hallway. She turned around, flashing him a look of utter hatred and viciousness. She stopped and raised her first as if she were going to knock him into next Tuesday, then had a change of heart.
"Just leave me alone." She muttered, on the verge of tears.
"Rogue, I--"
"Please, just leave me alone." She didn't yell or raise her voice in the slightest. She went into her room and shut the door in his face. Betsy shrugged her shoulders at him as she walked past, and into the room she and Jean shared. As the she opened the door, Jean glared at her and Kitty, sitting on Betsy's bed, decided to be the ambassador.
"How'd it go?" Kitty asked, stopping Betsy in the doorway. Betsy looked around the room in confusion. All of her things had disappeared.
"We won…" she mumbled. "Where's my--"
"I hope you don't mind, you and me switched rooms." Kitty finally addressed Betsy's confusion.
"We did?"
"Yeah, Logan said it would be best of you and Jean didn't share a room. And I never really bonded with Rogue… y'know?" Betsy nodded blankly, still looking around the room.
"Wow. I'm sorry to kick you out." Betsy said.
"Well, actually, Jean, like, threw you out." Kitty whispered to her. Betsy nodded again.
"So you moved all my things for me?" Kitty nodded.
"Thanks." Betsy said.
"How's Rogue?" Kitty finally asked.
"I dunno. She's only spoken to ask Remy to leave her alone. She didn't order him or anything." Kitty's eyes got wide.
"Wow, she must be pissed." Kitty said in awe. Betsy just nodded.
"I guess I better go check on here." Kitty waved her good bye as Betsy walked back down the hallway. Remy was sitting on the floor against the wall outside Rogue's door. "Hey, Remy, guess what! I live her now!" He just smiled at her sarcastically, like she was a small child that just drew an ugly picture.
"Nice." He said humoring her. She got serious when he wasn't happy for her.
"You ballsed up, Remy." He sighed as he knocked the back of his head against the wall.
"I know." She stared at him as he looked up to the ceiling. "I jus' wanna talk to her." He pleaded with Betsy.
"I'm not getting involved." She said as she shook her head.
"But she'll listen to you." Remy whined like a puppy dog. She took one look into his red and black eyes, and her nurturing side kicked in.
"I'll see what I can do." She sighed. His face lit up.
"That's all I ask." He hugged her legs and kissed the toe of her shoe then let her go in the room. She patted the top of his head as she shut the door.
"I live here now!" Betsy announced, walking into her new room. Rogue nodded as she sobbed, curled up on her bed. Betsy sat down on the bed next to her and Rogue laid her head on Betsy's shoulder. "He's out there." Betsy calmly informed her.
"Make him go away." Rogue whimpered through her tears.
"You know this is foolish."
"Just make him go away, please? He'll listen to you." Betsy couldn't help but smile. She knew Rogue and Remy belonged together, but not just because they said the same things as if they had a mental connection. Betsy stood up and walked back out of her room. Remy jumped up as she came back into the hallway, but upon relalizing it wasn't Rogue, he looked back to the floor.
"Not what you were expecting?" She chided him. He looked back up at her. He didn't have to say anything and Betsy knew what he wanted to hear. Unfortunately, she had to tell him the truth. "She's real messed up, Remy." He knew that meant, "go away." He looked at the floor again, defeated.
"I have to talk to her." He said.
"Not now." Betsy tried to get the message through to him, but he didn't seem to care.
"But I--"
"Remy," She interrupted him. "You must be diein' for a fag. Go have a smoke." This time, he got the message. It hit him harder than Betsy expected. "Come back… just wait a while."
"It's okay. I understand." He said, even though he didn't.
"Remy, your destiny only fails when you accept it, and refuse to fight for it." She tried to get him to be his normal, arrogantly persistent self, but this was different.
"What do you mean, 'destiny'?" That word caught his attention as he quit walking down the hall.
"You and Rogue. You're going to die together, and you're going to live on together. It's a fact." She clarified.
"A fact?" He contested.
"Have my visions ever been wrong?"
"You had a vision 'bout me an' Rogue?" He was intrigued. Betsy shook her head.
"Your eyes, Remy, they're exact compliments: red and green, black and white. It's as if you've been walking around your whole lives with jagged holes in you the same shape as the other person." She paused a moment to let her words sink in. He pondered carefully. "Just stay away for a while." She summarized.
"Stay away? Am I supposed t' fight or not?" He grew bitter.
"You know I can't tell you that." She honestly didn't know the answer.
"This is ridiculous." He said. "It shouldn' be this hard, not if it's meant t'be."
"Remy, you did the one thing you knew could crush her. You lied. You betrayed her."
"An' what about me? Don' I deserve the same respect?"
"What are you talking about?" Betsy was confused and frustrated.
"She never tol' me how much Illyana's death meant to her. She never mentioned it at all."
"She didn't?" Betsy was surprised.
"If she wants t'talk, I'll be on the roof."
"You can't just give up."
"An' I shouldn' be the one t'fix everyt'ing."
"If you're going to play a 'stubborn contest' with Rogue, you're going to lose."
"My cards're showin'. It's up t'her now." Betsy just stared at him in amazement at his utter remiss behavior as he disappeared down the hall.
"She's made you feel like you deserve better, eh? I was wondering what it would take!" She shouted after him. He just ignored her.
* * *
When Betsy went back into her room, Rogue had stopped crying. She sat on the bed with her knees up to her chest under her chin. She just stared at the wall. Betsy was worried.
"Rogue, are you alright?"
"Ah'm fine." Betsy watched Rogue for a moment. When she didn't blink after a while, Betsy's concern grew into fear.
"Rogue?" Rogue looked up at Betsy with ferocity. It made Betsy jump back.
"Ah knew Ah shouln' love anyone. Ah knew it. Ah thought he was different. But he's just like everyone else."
"That's not true."
"Yes it is. Ah don' wanna have any secrets between us, me an' him, an' he knew that!"
"Then why didn't you tell him how much Illyana meant to you?" Rogue looked at her surprised. She didn't know how Betsy knew what she'd done.
"That's diff'rent."
"Why? Because it's you and not him? Rogue, this 'openness' thing is as new to him as it is to you. If you want him to take risks that leave him completely exposed and vulnerable, then you have to also." Rogue scowled at Betsy. This is not what she wanted to hear. Betsy sat cross legged on the floor in front of Rogue.
"So you're sayin' Ah should apologize?"
"Yes." Betsy replied.
"Whose side are you on?" Rogue grew angry with her.
"Both. Of course he should apologize too. The only thing you two are being stupid and stubborn over is who should approach who first. You're gettin' on my nerves." Rogue laid down the bed facing the wall away from Betsy, showing her disgust in Betsy's response. "Aren't you the vindictive one."
"Oh, so now you're goin' to insult me?" Rogue turned over in the bed to watch Betsy as she looked for where Kitty had put her PJs. Betsy sighed and looked back at Rogue.
"Well I'm not going to feel sorry for you." Rogue glared at her again, then rolled back over. "Your whole life people have felt sorry for you because you've never had any control, well now you do. You have the power to fix this whole situation and make yourself happy again, but you refuse to because it's so much harder to suck up your pride and talk to him first than it is to just feel angry." Rogue didn't respond but Betsy sensed Rogue knew she was right and hated it.
* * *
Remy opened the door to his room to find a furious Nightcrawler waiting to attack him.
"Vas she your vife?" Kurt snarled. Remy walked past him and began searching through is dresser drawers.
"Oui." He mumbled coldly over his shoulder.
"I know many languages, but French is not one of them." Kurt turned to face him and crossed his arms. He knew what Remy said, but he was livid.
"Yes." Remy asserted He pulled a fresh pack of cigarettes out his drawer.
"You'd better not come near me, or I'll teleport different parts of your body to different places." Kurt threatened.
"You don' know how t'do that."
"I'll learn." Remy's eyes flashed at Kurt as he slipped out of the bedroom window. He climbed to the roof and smoked his cigarette in silence. He didn't even think about anything, just the toxic smoke filling his lungs. Hoping it would hurry up and kill him.
"My my, how quickly they turn on you." Remy turned his head to see where the voice had come from, His only wish in the world right now was to be alone. He couldn't even have that. He was afraid he knew whose voice had called to him. He saw nothing but a tall dark shadow, and two burning red eyes, more vivid than his own.
"You did this." Remy deduced.
"No, Mr. LeBeau." The man's chilling voice spoke. "You did this to yourself. I merely set events on their course." Remy turned back to his cigarette. His heart filled with hate and guilt. "And I set the sentinel loose in the mall."
"Why?" Remy hadn't thought about the sentinel in a while.
"I simply wanted to test the limits Rogue's powers… rather interesting results, I must say."
"What about Belle and Candra?"
"Your little sweetheart is merely a flatscan… static, and thus she is of no importance to me. I offered the external the famed Elixir of Life as well as monetary compensation if she brought you to me. And she failed." Remy was surprised at his response.
"Whadda you want with me, Sinister?" The wicked man's yellow fanged teeth glowed as he smiled.
"I have a favor to ask of you, Mr. LeBeau." Remy was still unimpressed as he took another drag on his cigarette.
"Why would I wanna work f'r you?"
"Because I have something you want."
"What's dat?" Sinister said nothing as he revealed a small black vial between his index finger and thumb. Remy nearly chocked to death on the smoke in his throat as his jaw dropped when he saw it. "What is that?"
"You know what it is, Gambit." He did know, but he wanted to confirm it.
"That only means what I make it." Remy said, keeping his eyes glued to the vial.
"That's true, but you decided on that a long time ago." Remy broke his gaze by looking up at Sinister's eyes. His heart battled with his mind to shake his head.
"No. It's not worth all a dis." Remy finally said.
"Alright Mr. LeBeau…" Sinister said through gritted teeth, ending his smile. "Name your price."
"You can't afford me." Remy said as he put out his cigarette on the roof.
"I will get what I want Gambit, I'm only giving you the opportunity to claim something in return."
"You better get outta here b'fore mansion security picks up on you." Remy warned him, mockingly.
"Don't toy with me. I know you come up here to smoke because security doesn't reach up here. Now, I'm growing impatient… every man has his price to charge, Gambit, name yours." He said.
"Anything I ask, and you'll give it t'me?" Remy finally considered his offer.
"So long as you perform a few tasks for me in return." Remy pondered for a moment. He knew Sinister wouldn't tell him what he needed done until Remy agreed to do it. He considered what the worst thing he could was, and what was important to receive.
"You have t'promise t'leave me alone… forever… once this is through." Sinister smiled again.
"As you wish."
"And anyone I care about. You leave me, the X-Men, de guilds – both of 'em – even the brotherhood, leave 'em alone. I don' ever wanna feel yo' slimy presence long as I live."
"An honorable request."
"Not a request, a demand." Remy corrected him. Sinister bowed his head, solidifying the terms of their agreement. Remy stood up and snatched the vial. "What do I have t'do?" Sinister smiled and chuckled manically.
