"French 101"
"Any luck Charles?" Eric asked as the door to Cerebro opened, and an exhausted Xavier wheeled out.
"No, I'm afraid not. I don't understand this, if someone as powerful as Apocalypse was on Earth, even imprisoned, I should be able to at lease sense him." The Professor massaged his temples trying to fight off the impending headache.
"Do not strain yourself." Magnus started walking down the hall, and with a casual wave of his hand moved Charles's metal wheelchair along side him.
"It is nice to see us working together again." The Professor offered.
"If you remember, I offered an alliance a long time ago."
Xavier laughed. "Kidnapping my team and me and taking us to an asteroid hovering over Antarctica is hardly proper grounds for a truce."
"I suppose you are right." Eric shrugged. "But though my ideals may be different than your own Charles, I believe any mortal, human or mutant, would temporarily push them aside to combat the end of the world."
~~~:*:~~~
Pyro lay on the floor, one arm cradling his head as he intently stared at the other raised in the air. A small flicker illuminated just above his fingertips and into a small flame at the end of the match he held in his hand. Cocking his head to the side, he softly moved his fingers and the flame shifted birthing into the form of a flying bird, flaming wings gracefully arching in its stationary flight.
He just happened to look over and was met with a pair of eyes watching him. "Bloody hell!" He jumped, the bird fading into the air.
"Sorry." Amara apologized, kneeling down to the floor and sitting on her knees. "That was beautiful, can you do it again?"
"Sure." John chuckled uncomfortably next to the girl. "Ah, just let me get some more matches. Remy stole me lighter earlier."
"You can't create it." She asked as he sat up.
"No, just control it." He looked over at her as he twirled the half burnt matchstick between his fingers. "Where you from? I don't think that's a New York accent."
"A small island in the Pacific Ocean." She smiled. "My name is Amara. You have a different accent yourself."
"Shit, forgot me manners, the name's John." He stammered and Amara chuckled again. "From Australia, a not too small island just off the Pacific." He explained. "Grew up in Sydney, me dad was a cop."
"How long have you had your powers?"
"Didn't know I was anything special until me 12th birthday." He answered, producing a weak smile.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Went to blow out the candles and…" He leaned back on his hands. "Well, let's just say it got a little hot in there." He laughed, shrugging off the incident. "Here I go talking about me, what mutation got you in the door."
Amara smiled and stood up and closed her eyes. Raising her arms over her head she concentrated, and turned into her Magma form, flames licking the air around her.
John's eyes seemed to glass over with tears as he stood up and looked into her eyes. "Amara." He smiled. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
~~~:*:~~~
"Pull!" Gambit shouted, and a metal arm launched a brick like a bullet towards his head. He stood with legs apart, hands fluttering at the entrances to the outer pockets of his brown trench coat.
In one swift movement they dipped into the pockets, both emerging with a charged card sent flying into the brick that was only three feet away, blowing it into a pale orange dust.
"Do this often?" Kitty asked, coming out into the yard with a glass of ice water.
"Occasionally." Remy resumed his stance and prepared for another projectile.
"Why?"
"He needs practice stopping things from hitting him in the head, and I need practice hitting people in the head with things." Piotr answered picking up another brick from the pile and tossing it from hand to hand.
Kitty started to laugh, but when she looked at the unwavering seriousness of the Russian's face, she pushed the laughter back down.
"It was meant to be amusing you know." Piotr explained.
Both Remy and Piotr stopped their training session and looked at the girl laughing on the ground.
"And wit that note, I'm going to the gym." Gambit stood up straight knowing that he wouldn't be able to concentrate with the girl laughing like that. He turned to Piotr. "You commin?"
"I do not believe I need to lift weights." Piotr sat the unused brick back in the pile.
"Suit yourself." Remy shrugged and walked into the institute.
~~~:*:~~~
"11… 12… 13…" Remy counted off as he touched his chest to the floor and fully extended his arms. As he completed his fourteenth pushup he could hear the sounds of female laughter just outside the doorway of the workout room. Smiling to himself, Remy decided to modify his count a little for the approaching ladies. "98… 99… and 100." He stated just as Jean, Jubilee, and Rahne fully entered the gym.
"Wow," Jubilee stated as Remy rose to his feet, absently toweling some sweat off his bare chest. "100?"
"Yes my petite," He gave Jubilee an irresistible wink before looking at Jean and Rahne. "It's important to be able to go the distance." He said, flashing a smirk and walking past them.
Jean rolled her eyes as he left. Jubilee and Rahne just clasp their hands together as little hearts floated around their heads.
~~~:*:~~~
Piotr briefly looked up from the book he was reading at the younger group of X-Kids standing at the far end of the underground dining room.
"You ask him."
"No way!"
He went back to reading. He wasn't sure what they were up to, but he felt he would find out when one of them came up with enough courage to come over to him. It was actually quite amusing.
"Umm, Piotr right?"
He looked back up from his book at the brown haired boy. He tried to recall his information, was it Drake, the iceman?
"How strong are you?" He gulped out, obviously intimidated.
Piotr sat the book down on the table and extended his arm. "Find out."
~~~:*:~~~
Rogue sat at her desk, surrounded by half empty boxes she resorted to living out of rather than unpack. Sighing, she deposited the gnawed on #2 pencil in the wastebasket, retrieved a fresh one from the drawer, sharpened it, and resumed chewing as she stared at the blank page.
Fortunately, a knock tapped at her door, and she welcomed anything that might give her a jumpstart.
"Come in." She called from the desk.
The door opened and Kitty walked in. "Hey." She called in her usual 'I'm just so happy and chipper I should be frolicking with the forest ferries' voice that usually annoyed the hell out of the Goth, but always seemed to cheer her up. "What's the matter?" She asked, weaving through the maze of cardboard and flopping down onto Rogue's bed.
Rogue leaned back in her chair, picking the front two legs off the floor and flicking the now dimpled pencil to the desktop in frustration. "It's this French; I got to turn in ten sentences about what I like most."
"Bummer." Kitty rolled onto her back and examined her hands held up towards the ceiling. "You know, you could ask him for some help."
Rogue's chair landed. "You did not just suggest that."
"Suit yourself, fail the assignment or talk to Remy. He doesn't seem that bad." Kitty caught a glimpse of the glare Rogue was giving her. "Okay, maybe not."
"Did you want something?" Rogue shot back at her former roommate.
"Just bored." She stretched out and got up from the bed. "Want to go see what everybody else is up to?"
"Might as well, I'm not getting a thing done here." Rogue rose from her desk and followed Kitty out the door.
~~~:*:~~~
"Use your other hand." Piotr suggested.
"What?" Ray asked, just straining to hold on.
"Your other hand, try it too." He nodded his head to where their two arms were locked together.
Ray took advantage of the Russian's cockiness, moving his left arm from the edge of the table and on top of Piotr's fist. Planting his feet on the floor he pulled with his entire body. Piotr smiled, before slowing moving his hand and gently pinning Ray's to the table.
Defeated, Ray walked away to join Bobby, Roberto and Sam.
"Uh, mind if I try?" Jamie asked the Acolyte, slightly embarrassed.
"Don't waste your time man." Ray said, holding his shoulder and lifting his sore arm up and down. "That guy could crush your head like a grape."
Piotr looked over at the other chuckling kids and then back at Jamie who started to walk away with his head held down.
"Where are you going?" He asked, and Jamie turned around to see the Russian with his hand up on the table. "I thought you wanted to try."
"Sure." He exclaimed and took the seat, his small hand being engulfed in Piotr's.
"Grab onto the edge of the table with your other hand." He instructed quietly, so the other kids wouldn't hear. "You can keep yourself in place better."
Jamie nodded.
"What's going on?" Kitty asked as she Rogue, Jubilee and Rahne walked into the commons room.
"Colossus has been arm wrestling us." Sam answered.
"Really, how did you guys do?" Rahne asked.
"How do you think?" Ray replied under his breath, still rubbing his wrist.
Jubilee looked past the others at the quiet Russian at the table. "Hey guys, check it out Jamie's giving it a shot."
"Ready?" Piotr asked.
"Ready." Jamie acknowledged.
"You are the challenger, start when you are ready."
Jamie nodded, inhaled, and pulled his arm to the left with all his might. Piotr's biceps tightened, making the already prominent mussels in his arm increase in size.
"Wow, like Jamie is holding on." Kitty observed as the two arms wavered a little back and forth.
"He did this with all of us." Roberto said. "Just watch, it'll all be over in a second."
"Look!" Jubilee yelled.
Piotr's arm slowly began to sink to the table, but not in the direction anyone expected. Sweat formed on the straining Russian's forehead as Jamie bit his lip, pulling as hard as he could. Forcing the larger man's hand to the surface.
The students looked on with open mouths.
"No way." Sam gawked.
"He let him win." Ray dismissed.
"Doesn't look like it." Bobby observed as Piotr stood up, his arm forming into metal.
The metal fist slammed down into the table, denting it and causing Jamie to fly back out of his chair and onto the floor. "Next time I will show you what real strength is!" Piotr threatened, before turning and stalking out of the room.
Jamie was wide-eyed and shaking on the floor. *What have I done?* He now had a giant wanting to kill him. His fear was soon forgotten, as Sam, Bobby, Roberto and the other kids lifted him up, patting him on the back and congratulating.
Piotr walked into the hallway, letting his arm go back to flesh.
"That was really sweet." He turned to face the voice as Kitty came through the wall. "Letting Jamie win like that."
"I do not know what you are talking about." Piotr answered rubbing his right hand. "He has surprising strength for someone his size."
Kitty deadpanned. "He gets me to open bottles of soda for him."
"Well then I would be no match for you then now would I?"
Kitty giggled at his dry humor. "You know big guy, your not as mean as people think you are."
"Mean?" He questioned, rising an eyebrow.
"Well you walk around all day not saying a word and reading all the time. People think you're up to something." She explained. "Anyway, see you around." She tossed a casual wave and started towards the opposite end of the hallway.
Piotr stood in silence a moment before the door leading to the men's locker room opened. Remy stepped out; running his hands through his damp reddish brown hair and depositing his towel in the laundry basked in the hall.
"Do I seem mean to you?" Piotr asked.
Maybe he was caught off guard. Maybe it was just unusual for Piotr to ask a question. Or maybe it was just odd coming out of the mouth of a 6ft 8, 260 pound man. But for the first time in his life, Gambit couldn't think of anything to say.
~~~:*:~~~
*I can't believe I'm about to do this.* Rogue thought as she watched Remy on the same bench in the nook where she had met him a few days before. He had his back to her, watching the setting sun disappear behind the top of the trees. He took one last drag on the cigarette he was smoking, and flicked the glowing butt into the air where it disintegrated into a twinkle of red light.
Summoning up all the courage she could muster, she walked towards him. Letting her boots scrub the gravel along the pathway to announce her presence although she knew he somehow already knew she was there.
"Fancy meeting you here." He smiled and looked up at her from the seat. "People going to be startin rumors bout you coming out here to see old Remy."
"Listen, I'm going to ask you for a favor. But I'm only going to ask it if you will actually help me without expecting anything in return. Got it?" She had to make that clear. She stood before him, composition book still clutched in her hand.
"Remy hurt that you think I would expect a favor in return."
"No asking me for a date or anything?" She wanted him to say it.
"No Chere, no dates." He smiled and scooted down the bench and patted the open space, indicating for her to sit. "Now, what's this favor?"
She sat. "I'm way behind on my schoolwork. More than usual after the past missions and the time I spent in the infirmary. My French Teacher told me that my final would be creating ten sentences about what I love most. I've got to come up with and memorize them by tomorrow or I fail the class."
"That's quite a predicament." He rubbed his chin. "Remy translate and you memorize dem, but on one condition."
She promptly shut her composition book. "I thought there wasn't going to be any deals?"
"Not really a deal. But you got to write me a paragraph by the end of summer that way you will really learn dis, otherwise you would be cheating."
"Great." Rogue rolled her eyes. "I got to get a thief with morals."
"Do we have a deal?" Another smirk.
"Fine." She sighed, defeated. "What's this paragraph got to be about?"
"Anything you want." He clasp his hands together and leaned forward interested. "Alright, tell Gambit what you love."
"Okay." Rogue thought for a moment. "I like pizza?" She questioned, not fully deciding whether or not it was a good enough sentence.
"La façon que vous marchez." Remy recited slowly and watched Rogue write it down. "Next?"
And so it went for the next thirty minutes. Rogue mentioning everything from the joys of a room to herself to the music of Korn and Garbage. Before long the two had finished, and noticed for the first time that the sun was gone behind the horizon and the lamp post behind the bench was providing the majority of the light that they worked by.
"That it?" Remy asked as she finished writing the last sentence.
"Yep, that's ten." She clicked her pen and shut the composition book.
"Remy hurt that you not want to mention him." He covered his heart with his hands. "Thought it was supposed to be about things you love?"
"Nice try Swamp Rat." She smiled, regretfully admitting to herself that Remy LeBeau wasn't as bad as she thought him to be. "Do you ever give up?"
Remy smiled placing a finger to his chin in mock contemplation. "No, not that I can remember."
"Well, I had better go start memorizing these." She indicated the notebook. "Nothing like waiting till the last minute."
"Good luck." He stood as she left, disappearing out of the lamplight along the path back to the mansion.
Remy himself was about to call it a day, either go back to Magneto's base in the city or just crash on one of the couches at the mansion. But his thoughts were interrupted by the flame from a lighter in the woods just a few feet from where the light of the lamppost turned to darkness.
He strained his red on black eyes into the darkness. "Well, if it isn't de Wolverine." He said as he recognized the form inhaling the lit cigar, still a little unraveled that someone had managed to sneak up on him like that.
"Listen carefully Gumbo, I'm only going to say this once." Logan exhaled in a clown of smoke; Gambit's expression changed from carefree to serious an instant after recognizing the tone of his voice. "You hurt that one and I'll gut you where you stand."
Logan's gaze was unwavering. He wasn't threatening Remy, but he was letting him know he would back his statement up with every ounce of life he had in him. Wolverine leaned off the tree he was propped against and walked off into the darkness of the woods.
~~~:*:~~~
Rogue finished drying her hair and tossed the damp towel back into her steam filled bathroom. Sitting cross-legged on her bed, clad in a gray nightshirt and pajama bottoms she began reading the French on her paper. Trying to memorize every detail for tomorrow.
La façon que vous marchez.
La façon que vous parlez.
La façon que vos cheveux tombe vos yeux.
La façon que vous couvrez en haut vos cris.
La façon vous me regardez.
La façon que vous détournez les yeux.
La façon que nous toujours rencontrons.
La façon vous voulez que je soit resté.
Ceux-ci sont les choses que vous toujours faites.
Ceux-ci sont les choses qui ont fait me tombent dans l'amour avec vous.
Okay, that does it for the first weekend. The next chapter will pick up after their next week of school, probably on Friday afternoon like the first one did.
I apologize to the nation of France for completely raping their language. You can go to one of those online translation sites and translate everything Remy told Rogue but I wouldn't recommend it, it won't come out pretty. My suggestion: Be Patient, it will be reviled in a couple of chapters.
rogue star: Here's some more Romyness for you. And you had better get off your butt and post another chapter to "Drifters"!
ishandahalf: The crocodile hunter thing just popped into my head and I was surprised how easy it was to picture. Expect more of Pyro's antics later.
Bunny angel: Thanks.
Vagabond: Yeah, you better be sorry you missed the last update. Lol, just kidding. I tried to read "Midnight Encounters" last night but the site was experiencing overload message kept popping up, I'll check it again later. Have no clue what happened to the last 4 episodes of season 3, I think they are waiting to show them when season 4 starts.
Rogue_Chick: As I told bunny angel before: all shall be answered in time.
Later everyone.
