Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I making any money from, the X-Men movie-
verse. Duncan and Hana belong to Corrinth, as does Ilehana Xavier should
she be mentioned. Star owns Golan, should he be mentioned too. All other
OCs belong to me, especially Blaze and Jessie.
A/N: Post X2 spoilers, and spoilers for Corrinth's Guardians of Destiny, which incidentally is excellent so go read it! Reviews always appreciated.
Scene 06
Gambit stopped cold in his tracks and Blaze breathed what could have easily been a sigh of relief as she reabsorbed the fireball in her hand. They'd faced off before and it was never pretty.
"I don't expect you to understand or even to forgive me." Blaze said quietly, knowing that if either of them left in anger right now, it would be too long before either had the sense or courage to apologise.
"Good." Was Gambit's grudging reply as he folded shaking arms across his chest in a defensive posture. For a few moments they stayed where they were, a motionless tableaux, waiting for one of them to give in to the other. As if they were still linked by the long-gone mind-bond, both of their thoughts drifted to the centre of their argument, their little girl, somewhere in the same building as them... Both their hearts leapt to their throats as they struggled to comprehend what had just happened. Blaze closed her eyes again, hot tears burning even her. When she opened them again, Remy's arms wrapped tight around her shoulders, he never could just stand by when she cried.
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"Hey, what's up?" Jessie approached the basketball court where Gambit was shooting hoops by himself. He was still annoyed at the chewing out Scott had given him and Blaze when the X-Men had returned from preventing a mutant raid on a chemical factory. Perfectly dropping the ball through the net, he turned to greet Jessie with a half-hearted smile but was astounded into a full grin by how beautiful his daughter was.
"Lets just say Principle Summers not too impressed wit Gambit."
"Oh?" Jessie collected the ball and failed to get it through the hoop. "Has he given you detention or something?" Gambit caught the ball and tossed it back to her gently.
"Somethin' like that." He smiled, "What can I do for you Petite?"
"I just wanted to know, well, the kids don't call you Mister this and Miss that, so what do I call you all?" A million thoughts ran like rivers through his mind. What should his daughter call him? Dad? But no, he'd already promised Blaze that they keep this to themselves, that Jessie especially was not to know. Her big red-on-blue-grey eyes frowning up at him called him back to himself. No doubt she was Blaze's daughter then, he was far too familiar with that exact disapproving expression.
"Most of the staff prefers our mutant aliases. You wont get a real name outta Rogue or Blaze or Golan. Anybody else, their first names okay I'se think. What do the other kids call 'em all?" Jessie snorted slightly; again in laughter so like her mother that Remy feared it wouldn't be two minutes before someone else figured this all out.
"They've nicknames for all of you, but I'm not gonna be the one to spill the beans!"
"Aww, c'mon Petite!" He grinned, "Tell Gambit an' I'se let you in on what the staff calls each other?"
For a moment or so Jessie seemed to consider this, knowing there was a catch somewhere but not able to place it.
"Well..." She began, "Blaze is Firefly, guess that's kinda lame huh?"
"Yup." Gambit agreed amicably accepting her return pass and leaping to score again. "She bin that since before you were born."
"How do you know when I was born?" Jessie asked cannily.
"It all on your files Petite, or you t'ink we got you here without talkin' to your ole school as well as your parents?" Gambit filled in, but noting he'd have to talk to Blaze again about the wisdom of this plan. Their child wasn't a slow one. Somehow he was more proud than afraid. "What else?"
"Logan's Snuggles," Jess found herself interrupted as Gambit laughed aloud. "No really!" She laughed back, "One of the kids has this cat, called Snuggles, or maybe it's their grandparents or something? Anyway they say Logan looks just like this mean cat when it's really annoyed. I've seen the photos, an' its gotta be said there's a resemblance!"
"Snuggles eh?" A male voice came from behind them both, and Jess was mortified to see Logan retrieve the ball and come to join them. "Don't worry kid, I wont tell no-one you told me." There was an ominous creaking as Wolverine cracked his knuckles around the ball that made Jess suddenly worried for the kid with the cat. With a glint of humour in his eye, Logan jumped and lobbed the ball at the hoop. After a second of it rolling round the rim it finally fell through to Gambit's joking surprise.
"You bin practicin' Logan? Or you got springs in your shoes?"
"Don't get smart, Gumbo." Logan snarled his warning as Jess went to retrieve the ball again. "You got a minute?"
"Yeah." Gambit conceded, ruffling Jess' red ponytail before leaving her to it.
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"What's up Sugah?" Rogue leaned around the open door to Blaze's room, seeing her colleague sat perched on the windowsill. "You still mad at Cyclops?"
"Permanently." Blaze grouched. "But no, I'm just daydreaming I guess." Rogue came and stood next to Blaze, looked out of the window to see a certain Cajun playing basketball with a certain new kid.
"Oh?" Rogue still had little tack, raising a fine eyebrow in Blaze's direction. "You and Remy still fightin'? You're not jealous of this girl he's adopted are you?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Blaze stated, loathing Rogue's choice of words. Below Logan went to join in the game, muscles rippling at the back of his neck as he cracked his knuckles on the ball.
"So what's goin' then?" Rogue persisted. "If you need someone to talk to..."
"Thanks." Blaze cut her friend off, more grateful for the offer than she'd acknowledge openly. The second offer of a friendly ear since Cyclops had practically grounded the two ex-thieves for missing a mission, as Storm had already been to offer her support. If Scott didn't mind his manners and get over his inferiority complex, he'd run out of X-Men soon enough. Rogue shrugged and left, knowing when she wasn't wanted.
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"What you want then Ami?" Gambit asked as soon as he and Logan were far enough from the house for their conversation to be private.
"Just a friendly word of advice, Gumbo." Logan offered begrudgingly. "You don't want folk to get to know the new kid's your daughter, don't spend so much time with her. Same goes for the Firefly. It wont fool folk for long, but hopefully long enough for the kid to get control of her powers and scoot back off to wherever her adopted family are."
"What the hell you know about it Wolverine?" Gambit growled, feeling there was too much common sense from Logan in that statement.
"I know it wont be good for the kid, or don't you have the sense to figure that out? She wants a mentor, set Nightcrawler on it. Or Bobby. Don't screw this up or she wont ever be able to manage her powers."
"This too logical for you, Logan." Gambit folded his arms and raised his chin a little, stubbornly setting barriers against his friend. "Whose you bin talkin' to?"
"I ain't talked to nobody, it don't take much to keep a cooler head than you when it comes to Blaze, Gumbo. You seen she's wearing a shirt now? She's covering the bruises you gave her last night, or don't you remember? You wanna screw the kid up like you screwed up her mother, be my guest, it's your funeral."
Logan stormed away, not allowing himself to regret the scathing attack he'd launched on Gambit. The Cajun needed a wake up call; there ain't no such thing as an easy way into fatherhood.
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"Blaze?" Gambit entered her room first and knocked after. She didn't know why he bothered to knock at all anymore. Blaze threw the trashy French novel away across the room, she hadn't been able to concentrate on it anyway, let it rest in pieces with the rest of the junk that covered her floor. Defensively the redhead wrapped her arms around herself as Gambit shut and locked the door behind him. Usually that was either a very good sign, or a very, very bad one.
"Hello." She tried to smile and found she couldn't. There was a sternness to his expression she didn't like one bit. They'd not spoken since Scott had bawled at them, what the heck did he want of her now?
"Show me you arms." So that was what this was about. She wondered who'd tipped him off, Kitty who'd seen her come out of the shower that morning with bruises on her, or Logan who must have seen how hard Gambit had been holding her when he'd walked into the room last night? Her bet was with Logan as she'd just seen them talking in the garden. Did they know Golan hadn't been far away either? Hesitantly she pushed up the sleeves of her shirt, revealing purple patches on her slender upper arms, before meeting Gambit's eyes as he spoke. "Gambit did that?"
"Uh huh."
"Why didn't you stop me?" His voice was aghast, he just plain didn't remember.
"I would have killed you if I'd tried." She dropped her gaze, ashamed to admit that even after so long she was still battling to keep her powers under control.
"I'se thinkin' maybe you should have." He was so afraid, Logan was right; he'd screwed up big time. Blaze crossed the room to him, reached up and touched his cheek with a gentle friendly kiss.
"It was a rough night." She consoled him, remembering the times when he'd borne burns from her for reasons good and bad. "Logan have much to say?"
"He knows." Gambit sighed, accepting Blaze's arms around him in a comforting hug.
"Which means Golan knows too, seeing as he wasn't far off. And what Golan knows..."
"Everybody knows." Gambit finished. Ten years worth of dark secrets, and now they ran out of time. "Guess we'd better do some explainin' quick. Only ways to make sure Jess don't find out."
A/N: Post X2 spoilers, and spoilers for Corrinth's Guardians of Destiny, which incidentally is excellent so go read it! Reviews always appreciated.
Scene 06
Gambit stopped cold in his tracks and Blaze breathed what could have easily been a sigh of relief as she reabsorbed the fireball in her hand. They'd faced off before and it was never pretty.
"I don't expect you to understand or even to forgive me." Blaze said quietly, knowing that if either of them left in anger right now, it would be too long before either had the sense or courage to apologise.
"Good." Was Gambit's grudging reply as he folded shaking arms across his chest in a defensive posture. For a few moments they stayed where they were, a motionless tableaux, waiting for one of them to give in to the other. As if they were still linked by the long-gone mind-bond, both of their thoughts drifted to the centre of their argument, their little girl, somewhere in the same building as them... Both their hearts leapt to their throats as they struggled to comprehend what had just happened. Blaze closed her eyes again, hot tears burning even her. When she opened them again, Remy's arms wrapped tight around her shoulders, he never could just stand by when she cried.
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"Hey, what's up?" Jessie approached the basketball court where Gambit was shooting hoops by himself. He was still annoyed at the chewing out Scott had given him and Blaze when the X-Men had returned from preventing a mutant raid on a chemical factory. Perfectly dropping the ball through the net, he turned to greet Jessie with a half-hearted smile but was astounded into a full grin by how beautiful his daughter was.
"Lets just say Principle Summers not too impressed wit Gambit."
"Oh?" Jessie collected the ball and failed to get it through the hoop. "Has he given you detention or something?" Gambit caught the ball and tossed it back to her gently.
"Somethin' like that." He smiled, "What can I do for you Petite?"
"I just wanted to know, well, the kids don't call you Mister this and Miss that, so what do I call you all?" A million thoughts ran like rivers through his mind. What should his daughter call him? Dad? But no, he'd already promised Blaze that they keep this to themselves, that Jessie especially was not to know. Her big red-on-blue-grey eyes frowning up at him called him back to himself. No doubt she was Blaze's daughter then, he was far too familiar with that exact disapproving expression.
"Most of the staff prefers our mutant aliases. You wont get a real name outta Rogue or Blaze or Golan. Anybody else, their first names okay I'se think. What do the other kids call 'em all?" Jessie snorted slightly; again in laughter so like her mother that Remy feared it wouldn't be two minutes before someone else figured this all out.
"They've nicknames for all of you, but I'm not gonna be the one to spill the beans!"
"Aww, c'mon Petite!" He grinned, "Tell Gambit an' I'se let you in on what the staff calls each other?"
For a moment or so Jessie seemed to consider this, knowing there was a catch somewhere but not able to place it.
"Well..." She began, "Blaze is Firefly, guess that's kinda lame huh?"
"Yup." Gambit agreed amicably accepting her return pass and leaping to score again. "She bin that since before you were born."
"How do you know when I was born?" Jessie asked cannily.
"It all on your files Petite, or you t'ink we got you here without talkin' to your ole school as well as your parents?" Gambit filled in, but noting he'd have to talk to Blaze again about the wisdom of this plan. Their child wasn't a slow one. Somehow he was more proud than afraid. "What else?"
"Logan's Snuggles," Jess found herself interrupted as Gambit laughed aloud. "No really!" She laughed back, "One of the kids has this cat, called Snuggles, or maybe it's their grandparents or something? Anyway they say Logan looks just like this mean cat when it's really annoyed. I've seen the photos, an' its gotta be said there's a resemblance!"
"Snuggles eh?" A male voice came from behind them both, and Jess was mortified to see Logan retrieve the ball and come to join them. "Don't worry kid, I wont tell no-one you told me." There was an ominous creaking as Wolverine cracked his knuckles around the ball that made Jess suddenly worried for the kid with the cat. With a glint of humour in his eye, Logan jumped and lobbed the ball at the hoop. After a second of it rolling round the rim it finally fell through to Gambit's joking surprise.
"You bin practicin' Logan? Or you got springs in your shoes?"
"Don't get smart, Gumbo." Logan snarled his warning as Jess went to retrieve the ball again. "You got a minute?"
"Yeah." Gambit conceded, ruffling Jess' red ponytail before leaving her to it.
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"What's up Sugah?" Rogue leaned around the open door to Blaze's room, seeing her colleague sat perched on the windowsill. "You still mad at Cyclops?"
"Permanently." Blaze grouched. "But no, I'm just daydreaming I guess." Rogue came and stood next to Blaze, looked out of the window to see a certain Cajun playing basketball with a certain new kid.
"Oh?" Rogue still had little tack, raising a fine eyebrow in Blaze's direction. "You and Remy still fightin'? You're not jealous of this girl he's adopted are you?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Blaze stated, loathing Rogue's choice of words. Below Logan went to join in the game, muscles rippling at the back of his neck as he cracked his knuckles on the ball.
"So what's goin' then?" Rogue persisted. "If you need someone to talk to..."
"Thanks." Blaze cut her friend off, more grateful for the offer than she'd acknowledge openly. The second offer of a friendly ear since Cyclops had practically grounded the two ex-thieves for missing a mission, as Storm had already been to offer her support. If Scott didn't mind his manners and get over his inferiority complex, he'd run out of X-Men soon enough. Rogue shrugged and left, knowing when she wasn't wanted.
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"What you want then Ami?" Gambit asked as soon as he and Logan were far enough from the house for their conversation to be private.
"Just a friendly word of advice, Gumbo." Logan offered begrudgingly. "You don't want folk to get to know the new kid's your daughter, don't spend so much time with her. Same goes for the Firefly. It wont fool folk for long, but hopefully long enough for the kid to get control of her powers and scoot back off to wherever her adopted family are."
"What the hell you know about it Wolverine?" Gambit growled, feeling there was too much common sense from Logan in that statement.
"I know it wont be good for the kid, or don't you have the sense to figure that out? She wants a mentor, set Nightcrawler on it. Or Bobby. Don't screw this up or she wont ever be able to manage her powers."
"This too logical for you, Logan." Gambit folded his arms and raised his chin a little, stubbornly setting barriers against his friend. "Whose you bin talkin' to?"
"I ain't talked to nobody, it don't take much to keep a cooler head than you when it comes to Blaze, Gumbo. You seen she's wearing a shirt now? She's covering the bruises you gave her last night, or don't you remember? You wanna screw the kid up like you screwed up her mother, be my guest, it's your funeral."
Logan stormed away, not allowing himself to regret the scathing attack he'd launched on Gambit. The Cajun needed a wake up call; there ain't no such thing as an easy way into fatherhood.
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"Blaze?" Gambit entered her room first and knocked after. She didn't know why he bothered to knock at all anymore. Blaze threw the trashy French novel away across the room, she hadn't been able to concentrate on it anyway, let it rest in pieces with the rest of the junk that covered her floor. Defensively the redhead wrapped her arms around herself as Gambit shut and locked the door behind him. Usually that was either a very good sign, or a very, very bad one.
"Hello." She tried to smile and found she couldn't. There was a sternness to his expression she didn't like one bit. They'd not spoken since Scott had bawled at them, what the heck did he want of her now?
"Show me you arms." So that was what this was about. She wondered who'd tipped him off, Kitty who'd seen her come out of the shower that morning with bruises on her, or Logan who must have seen how hard Gambit had been holding her when he'd walked into the room last night? Her bet was with Logan as she'd just seen them talking in the garden. Did they know Golan hadn't been far away either? Hesitantly she pushed up the sleeves of her shirt, revealing purple patches on her slender upper arms, before meeting Gambit's eyes as he spoke. "Gambit did that?"
"Uh huh."
"Why didn't you stop me?" His voice was aghast, he just plain didn't remember.
"I would have killed you if I'd tried." She dropped her gaze, ashamed to admit that even after so long she was still battling to keep her powers under control.
"I'se thinkin' maybe you should have." He was so afraid, Logan was right; he'd screwed up big time. Blaze crossed the room to him, reached up and touched his cheek with a gentle friendly kiss.
"It was a rough night." She consoled him, remembering the times when he'd borne burns from her for reasons good and bad. "Logan have much to say?"
"He knows." Gambit sighed, accepting Blaze's arms around him in a comforting hug.
"Which means Golan knows too, seeing as he wasn't far off. And what Golan knows..."
"Everybody knows." Gambit finished. Ten years worth of dark secrets, and now they ran out of time. "Guess we'd better do some explainin' quick. Only ways to make sure Jess don't find out."