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 07
Hana squawked incessantly in Storm's arms as she made her way to the briefing room for this emergency meeting of the X-Men. The child was teething and constantly grumpy, the stress telling on her normally so placid mother. The unimpressed expressions on the other staff members' faces as mother and child entered the room last were the last straw for poor Ororo.
"What else do you want me to do with her? She's a baby for crying out loud, I can't just abandon her!" Storm sat heavily, then wondered what she had said to make Blaze glare at her like that? Next to Ororo Golan fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, all four arms twitching in different directions, too-wide-set eyes blinking across ways instead of up and down. Quickly Hana was too fascinated to kick up much more of a fuss.
"So." Scott tried to call some order to the meeting, grateful for Jean's hand on his leg. He was clearly expecting an apology from Blaze and Gambit for their actions the previous night as he turned to speak to them. "You wanted to talk to us, Gambit? Get talking."
Gambit longed to bite back at Cyclops' tone with a comment about respecting your team members. Knowing it was a waste of effort he employed an age-old tactic of winding the team-leader up, making him wait as Gambit poured himself a glass of water. But something in Blaze's sideways glance made Remy refrain from drinking the liquid before starting, she wanted this over and done with. After all, not many of the team would acknowledge the same respect for Gambit as Blaze had earned, as she was most likely about to lose. Remy looked round swiftly from one expectant face to the next, Storm, Golan, Jean, Scott, Bobby, Rogue, Kitty, Jubilee, Kurt and Logan. Well here goes nothin'.
"Blaze an' Gambit not apologisin' for last night. No, Cyclops, you listen for once. Some things are bigger than a mission, bigger than the X-Men." For a moment he paused, glancing to Blaze for support. She took his hand and squeezed it, but didn't meet his eyes, preparing herself mentally for the torrent of dismay and abuse she was convinced she was about to receive. If she wasn't well enough prepared, there was no saying what she was capable of if she lost control. The thought that she should have left here long ago again crossed her mind.
"Gambit?" Kitty asked hesitantly, something wasn't making sense here. These two were fighting last night, why were they acting so together now?
"The girl..." Gambit stumbled over his words, looking for a friendly face and not finding one. Hell, he'd always worked best alone, why not now as well? Blaze squeezed his fingers again under the table as Bobby and Rogue exchanged very worried looks. "The girl I brought in yesterday, Jessica Price, you all seen her?" There was general assent around the table. Logan folded his arms and leant back in his chair, a clear signal that he knew exactly what was going on. Golan shifted more frantically, struggling to hold his babbling tongue as he waited for Gambit to spill the beans.
"None of you notice anythin' familiar 'bout her? No, Golan, I know you know. For once keep your frog mouth shut." There were no other signs of instant agreement, Gambit sighed and ploughed on, wondering how these formidable X-Men had got so dim-witted. "I spell it out then. She mine an' Laura's daughter."
"What?" Jean exclaimed, wondering how she, the Guardian of Thought, could possibly have missed knowing this? No wonder both the X-Men had been avoiding her like the plague! Bobby couldn't even form words to exclaim with, as Kitty gaped like a beached fish. Jubilee looked like she'd had the ground swept from under her feet. Always with one eye on the handsome Cajun, the Chinese-American was never any more wiling to admit than Blaze or Gambit that there was anything more to their relationship than just old friends. Rogue folded her arms stoically against her chest, what was it with these people and spontaneously breeding at the minute? It just freaked her out, made her more jealous than ever that still no way of controlling her vampire-like power had been found.
"Ok, I know I've been away and everything," Rogue addressed her friends unbelievingly. "But none of you noticed nothin'? I mean, not Blaze being pregnant or anythin'?"
"If I didn't know, how the hell any of them supposed to figure it out, Cherie?" Gambit questioned Rogue across the table.
"That was what you were fightin' about last night? Why you wouldn't come on the mission?" Bobby put two and two together and like the good information technology teacher he was made four. "You never told him?"
All eyes fell cold and judgemental on Blaze. Storm realised now why Blaze had glared so threateningly at her earlier words, and clutched her own daughter tighter. A lump rose in Kurt's throat, not sure if he could believe that warm and loving Blaze had ever done what it appeared she had. Scott took his wife's hand in his as both of them felt how empty and desperate they would be if ever parted from their son.
"Judge me all you want." Blaze's words were no louder than a whisper, hotter than seething flame. "Professor Xavier didn't really understand either, though he pretended otherwise. And unlike some telepaths I know, Ilehana had the good sense never to pry."
Jean pulled back her searching powers as every pair of eyes in the room fell suddenly on her. Scott knew that he had to take command of the situation before it got any more out of control. Why hadn't Blaze and Gambit just come to him privately with this?
"Then we've got two choices." Cyclops offered, "I cannot let you tell the girl, so either she goes home untrained and we forget all this ever happened. Or we don't let her take languages, and Gambit leaves in the morning instead of Logan to track down Mystique. If you two keep clear of Jessica, you'll do the least damage both to her and the school's reputation..."
"Do Blaze an' I get a say? Or we scrappin' every last bit of democracy round here Cyclops?" Gambit asked, leaning back in his chair with a fist on the table and a hand in his pocket brushing a playing card.
"Jessica was legally adopted, am I right?" Blaze nodded knowing what Scott was about to throw at them, what Gambit hadn't quite come to terms with yet. "Then you don't get a say, you've no rights to her at all Gambit."
"Tough!" Gambit exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the table so hard it made the glass of water shake. "Gambit will stay away from Jessica, but I ain't leavin' the school jus' now."
"You said it yourself, Gambit, this isn't a democracy." Cyclops cautioned.
"No it a infuriatin' dictatorship an' I'm through doin' what you tell me to do Cyclops! If you were half the leader Ilehana or the Professor were..."
"Gambit that's out of order." Jean cut in, defending her husband who'd gone a glossy shade of white. "You don't like it round here, leave."
"An' do what he wants me to? No. Gambit belong here, with his daughter!" And with that Remy rose sharply and exited the room.
For a moment the room was icy-still. Nobody moved, or even dared to breathe. Kurt moved first, teleporting out of the room again without a word. Kitty didn't wait for the doors to slide open, walking straight through them in her own tumult of thoughts. The others followed at their own paces, until Blaze was left alone in her seat with Storm and Hana.
"Blaze?" The eloquent African asked in a quiet voice, not liking the empty look to Blaze's eyes, the flushed colour of her cheeks. "I... I'm sorry, for before. My words were unkind."
"You didn't know Ororo." Blaze forced herself to look over to her friend and the baby in her arms. "If only I could turn back time..."
"We do what we can, Blaze. We cannot grasp the future as we make our choices, you weren't to understand this would work out like this."
"I know." Blaze admitted softly. "I've only ever tried to protect them, Remy and Jessica. Now what I've done may destroy them both... If Rem leaves he wont come back. If Jess finds out what we're keeping from her, she may never control her powers, the emotions and deceit would be too much for her."
"And you?" Storm asked. "Have you thought about how you can deal with this? It can't be easy to see your child just there and have to pretend she's a stranger?"
"No more easy than it's been to pretend she didn't exist to Rem all these years. I manage. Baring secrets is something I've got rather good at."
"Give it time," was all that Storm could say to that, "It may work out fine, when the shock wears off a little."
"I hope so..." Blaze answered, touching Hana's cheek with a warm finger. "But look after Hana, Ororo. Don't ever give her up..."
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 07
Hana squawked incessantly in Storm's arms as she made her way to the briefing room for this emergency meeting of the X-Men. The child was teething and constantly grumpy, the stress telling on her normally so placid mother. The unimpressed expressions on the other staff members' faces as mother and child entered the room last were the last straw for poor Ororo.
"What else do you want me to do with her? She's a baby for crying out loud, I can't just abandon her!" Storm sat heavily, then wondered what she had said to make Blaze glare at her like that? Next to Ororo Golan fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, all four arms twitching in different directions, too-wide-set eyes blinking across ways instead of up and down. Quickly Hana was too fascinated to kick up much more of a fuss.
"So." Scott tried to call some order to the meeting, grateful for Jean's hand on his leg. He was clearly expecting an apology from Blaze and Gambit for their actions the previous night as he turned to speak to them. "You wanted to talk to us, Gambit? Get talking."
Gambit longed to bite back at Cyclops' tone with a comment about respecting your team members. Knowing it was a waste of effort he employed an age-old tactic of winding the team-leader up, making him wait as Gambit poured himself a glass of water. But something in Blaze's sideways glance made Remy refrain from drinking the liquid before starting, she wanted this over and done with. After all, not many of the team would acknowledge the same respect for Gambit as Blaze had earned, as she was most likely about to lose. Remy looked round swiftly from one expectant face to the next, Storm, Golan, Jean, Scott, Bobby, Rogue, Kitty, Jubilee, Kurt and Logan. Well here goes nothin'.
"Blaze an' Gambit not apologisin' for last night. No, Cyclops, you listen for once. Some things are bigger than a mission, bigger than the X-Men." For a moment he paused, glancing to Blaze for support. She took his hand and squeezed it, but didn't meet his eyes, preparing herself mentally for the torrent of dismay and abuse she was convinced she was about to receive. If she wasn't well enough prepared, there was no saying what she was capable of if she lost control. The thought that she should have left here long ago again crossed her mind.
"Gambit?" Kitty asked hesitantly, something wasn't making sense here. These two were fighting last night, why were they acting so together now?
"The girl..." Gambit stumbled over his words, looking for a friendly face and not finding one. Hell, he'd always worked best alone, why not now as well? Blaze squeezed his fingers again under the table as Bobby and Rogue exchanged very worried looks. "The girl I brought in yesterday, Jessica Price, you all seen her?" There was general assent around the table. Logan folded his arms and leant back in his chair, a clear signal that he knew exactly what was going on. Golan shifted more frantically, struggling to hold his babbling tongue as he waited for Gambit to spill the beans.
"None of you notice anythin' familiar 'bout her? No, Golan, I know you know. For once keep your frog mouth shut." There were no other signs of instant agreement, Gambit sighed and ploughed on, wondering how these formidable X-Men had got so dim-witted. "I spell it out then. She mine an' Laura's daughter."
"What?" Jean exclaimed, wondering how she, the Guardian of Thought, could possibly have missed knowing this? No wonder both the X-Men had been avoiding her like the plague! Bobby couldn't even form words to exclaim with, as Kitty gaped like a beached fish. Jubilee looked like she'd had the ground swept from under her feet. Always with one eye on the handsome Cajun, the Chinese-American was never any more wiling to admit than Blaze or Gambit that there was anything more to their relationship than just old friends. Rogue folded her arms stoically against her chest, what was it with these people and spontaneously breeding at the minute? It just freaked her out, made her more jealous than ever that still no way of controlling her vampire-like power had been found.
"Ok, I know I've been away and everything," Rogue addressed her friends unbelievingly. "But none of you noticed nothin'? I mean, not Blaze being pregnant or anythin'?"
"If I didn't know, how the hell any of them supposed to figure it out, Cherie?" Gambit questioned Rogue across the table.
"That was what you were fightin' about last night? Why you wouldn't come on the mission?" Bobby put two and two together and like the good information technology teacher he was made four. "You never told him?"
All eyes fell cold and judgemental on Blaze. Storm realised now why Blaze had glared so threateningly at her earlier words, and clutched her own daughter tighter. A lump rose in Kurt's throat, not sure if he could believe that warm and loving Blaze had ever done what it appeared she had. Scott took his wife's hand in his as both of them felt how empty and desperate they would be if ever parted from their son.
"Judge me all you want." Blaze's words were no louder than a whisper, hotter than seething flame. "Professor Xavier didn't really understand either, though he pretended otherwise. And unlike some telepaths I know, Ilehana had the good sense never to pry."
Jean pulled back her searching powers as every pair of eyes in the room fell suddenly on her. Scott knew that he had to take command of the situation before it got any more out of control. Why hadn't Blaze and Gambit just come to him privately with this?
"Then we've got two choices." Cyclops offered, "I cannot let you tell the girl, so either she goes home untrained and we forget all this ever happened. Or we don't let her take languages, and Gambit leaves in the morning instead of Logan to track down Mystique. If you two keep clear of Jessica, you'll do the least damage both to her and the school's reputation..."
"Do Blaze an' I get a say? Or we scrappin' every last bit of democracy round here Cyclops?" Gambit asked, leaning back in his chair with a fist on the table and a hand in his pocket brushing a playing card.
"Jessica was legally adopted, am I right?" Blaze nodded knowing what Scott was about to throw at them, what Gambit hadn't quite come to terms with yet. "Then you don't get a say, you've no rights to her at all Gambit."
"Tough!" Gambit exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the table so hard it made the glass of water shake. "Gambit will stay away from Jessica, but I ain't leavin' the school jus' now."
"You said it yourself, Gambit, this isn't a democracy." Cyclops cautioned.
"No it a infuriatin' dictatorship an' I'm through doin' what you tell me to do Cyclops! If you were half the leader Ilehana or the Professor were..."
"Gambit that's out of order." Jean cut in, defending her husband who'd gone a glossy shade of white. "You don't like it round here, leave."
"An' do what he wants me to? No. Gambit belong here, with his daughter!" And with that Remy rose sharply and exited the room.
For a moment the room was icy-still. Nobody moved, or even dared to breathe. Kurt moved first, teleporting out of the room again without a word. Kitty didn't wait for the doors to slide open, walking straight through them in her own tumult of thoughts. The others followed at their own paces, until Blaze was left alone in her seat with Storm and Hana.
"Blaze?" The eloquent African asked in a quiet voice, not liking the empty look to Blaze's eyes, the flushed colour of her cheeks. "I... I'm sorry, for before. My words were unkind."
"You didn't know Ororo." Blaze forced herself to look over to her friend and the baby in her arms. "If only I could turn back time..."
"We do what we can, Blaze. We cannot grasp the future as we make our choices, you weren't to understand this would work out like this."
"I know." Blaze admitted softly. "I've only ever tried to protect them, Remy and Jessica. Now what I've done may destroy them both... If Rem leaves he wont come back. If Jess finds out what we're keeping from her, she may never control her powers, the emotions and deceit would be too much for her."
"And you?" Storm asked. "Have you thought about how you can deal with this? It can't be easy to see your child just there and have to pretend she's a stranger?"
"No more easy than it's been to pretend she didn't exist to Rem all these years. I manage. Baring secrets is something I've got rather good at."
"Give it time," was all that Storm could say to that, "It may work out fine, when the shock wears off a little."
"I hope so..." Blaze answered, touching Hana's cheek with a warm finger. "But look after Hana, Ororo. Don't ever give her up..."