Her room consisted of a double bed, for which she was grateful, a low table with yellow cushions sprayed around it, a chest of drawers and a bathroom. There were plenty of cupboards in the walls but nothing to put in them. The only clothes she had, belonged either to Rogue or Jean and even her X-Men uniform was locked away in the basement, in the danger room lockers.
Well, hopefully my suitcase will be sent from Virginia over here.
But she remembered that no one knew where she was living. She had travelled alone to Xavier's mansion after visitingSophie in hospital without informing anyone. She hadn't had much choice either, being chased by the police.
It suddenly stuck her though that she had won 10.000 last night, thanks to Gambit. Maybe she could go shopping this morning and get some of her own stuff instead of constantly borrowing Rogue's affairs.
As she finally got up, she also remembered Storm's words: Cyclops was expecting her again in the war room to complete her file.
Great! This is just what I needed.
Her thoughts didn't reflect her inner feelings though. After her encounter with Gambit and Storm last night, she spent the rest of the evening in bed debating on how much she could reveal about herself.
She couldn't go on hiding her past from the X-Men much longer. Besides revealing more about herself could only calm down all the suspicions, especially Logan's and Gambit's.
Walking out of the shower, she quickly got dressed in the only clothes available yet.
A short black top and a pair of fitting cut light blue jeans. She combed her wet, chestnut hair and looked intently at her green ends. Even wet, they remained bright nearly glowing green and it looked very strange.
She remembered the first day her green hair had appeared; the very same day her powers had "awakened". Scared to death when she found out her gift, she had frantically searched the house for a pair of scissors.
Finally finding a pair of silver ones in the kitchen, she had ran back in the bathroom looking for a mirror and started cutting the green ends off. She was crying, frightened and lost. No one had seen her hair yet and she intended to keep it that way.
Unfortunately, several minutes later, her hair miraculously grew back to its normal length - green! It was no use, her mutation made her look like a punk no matter what she tried: cut, dye or bleach it.
Now she had gotten use to it and couldn't care less what others thought. Besides green was her favorite color, it wasn't that bad. What would she have done with pink hair?
Stepping out of the elevator, Sidney found herself facing the long basement corridor. Walking down slowly, tension began to mount within her. She had planned her conversation with Cyclops very carefully, cautiously sorting out what information could or could not be given. Butterflies were now fluttering around in her stomach as she neared the war room. She hadn't had breakfast yet and now wished that she had.
She said the password out loud in front of the door and watched it slide open. Cyclops was already there, once again working on report files. At the same time he was also flicking through different news channels on a nearby screen.
This guy is a workaholic. It's only 9:30 am and he seems to have been up for hours on.
Casually sitting down in her usual chair at the briefing table, Sidney looked intently at Scott. His eyes were circled with black and an empty coffee mug still fumed on his desk.
Two distinct signs of fatigue. Sidney thought to herself as she waited for Scott to finish off his work.
A couple of minutes later, Scott slammed shut a folder he was working on and looked up to Sidney. "'Morning! Did you sleep well?" He got up from his desk and walked steadily next to Sidney, sitting on the table beside her.
"Yes very. Storm told me you wanted to see me again - so here I am!" She sat back comfortably in her leather chair and waited for the questioning to begin.
"Good. Storm should be here any minute now. We'll start once she's arrived." He walked back to his desk and fiddled around with the television screen trying to switch it off.
Suddenly he turned around to face Natura, he had obviously forgotten to tell her something. "Yeah Sidney, since you're gonna be with us for a while, I'd like to inform you about certain rules."
Sidney perked up herself, interested. "Oh yeah, what could they be? I mean I'm not underage anymore now that I'm 19!"
Scott approached her and smirked. "Sorry to burst your bubble but technically you are underage here in New York - "
"What!" Sidney exclaimed. "You're kidding! That means I'm stuck here under your responsibility?" She couldn't believe it, what had she gotten into?
"The Professor's actually. There's a whole book about the school's rules but the main ones you'd like to know about are: no smoking in the mansion - "
"I can deal with that."
"No booze or sex."
"Booze?" She looked at him confused.
"Alcohol." He replied casually.
"Oh."
"And curfew is at 10 O'clock for you."
"Curfew? Like having to come home by a certain hour? 10 O'clock? Even on weekends?"
"Technically yes with a few exceptions." Scott grinned at Sidney's horror- strucked face.
She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Shit, might as well have gone to a nunnery.
Storm arrived just after and the two leaders gathered around the briefing table in their respectable places.
Before Scott could start, Sidney spoke up. "First of all before we start, I'd like to say a few things. To begin with, Ororo I'm very sorry about last night. I shouldn't have got carried away. You have every right to know with whom you live and work but there are still some personal details, which I'd like to keep to myself. For example, my family name, this might be inconvenient for you guys but I'd prefer not to tell you - at least not yet. For the rest, it's ok, I guess."
Storm looked stunned to hear Sidney apologise. Apparently she didn't expect the girl to give in so easily but it was all for the best.
Cyclops on the other hand seemed annoyed that Sidney still wouldn't give her full name but finally calmed down. Oh what the heck. At least she's willing to complete this damn file.
"Ok, Sidney." He spoke up at last. "So after name and nationality, we'd like to have your address, well that would be your parent's address in France and well more information on your family."
He looked up at her ready to type in who she was in his laptop. Storm sat patiently beside him, ready to discover the truth, the whole truth or so they thought.
Taking a deep breath, Sidney looked down at her hands concentrating. She had to be extra-careful at what she said. Every detail mattered from now on and she knew Storm and Cyclops would pick up on anything that seemed suspicious or incomplete.
She finally looked up at Cyclops and smiled. "That's fine by me. So my address in France was - "
And on she went revealing her past to both leaders, information, which was strictly confidential.
The morning hadn't been so bad for Rogue. She had been able to sleep quite late actually without hearing a single noise coming from outside. Usually the birds happily chirping outside her window would suffice to wake her up but today was quiet. Maybe a little too quiet. She got up lazily and headed straight for the shower.
When she came out, it was nearly midday and lunch would be ready soon. As she slowly began to get dressed, she heard a knock on her door. Wrapping herself in a towel, she opened the door a crack and peered out to see who her visitor was. The door burst open though as soon as she saw Sidney standing on the other side of it.
"Hey Sid, 'morning! Ah was just gettin' dressed. The mansion's quiet this mornin', where's everybody?" She turned around to grab a shirt and hastily buttoned it up.
"'Morning Rogue. Oh, everyone's outside enjoying the weather, we're having a barbecue today. Probably be the last one of the year. Ororo, Scott and I just came out of the war room though."
Rogue sitting on her bed, stopped pulling up her socks and faced her friend. "Did yah guys meet up f'yoh file?"
Sidney simply nodded.
"Ah don't get it Sid. Why won't yah tell anyone 'bout France? What's so special anyway?" Rogue having looked back down at her socks, missed Sidney's icy glare.
"Rogue. You haven't seen me in TWO years. You don't KNOW what could've happened in two fucking years." Her voice had suddenly become cold and firm.
Rogue didn't even bother to look up. It was no use arguing with her. "Whatever Sid."
Sidney broke from her stiff position and approached Rogue still sitting on her bed. "Listen, I didn't come to argue about that anyway. I've already had enough with Scott and Ororo. I wanted to ask you if you were free this afternoon. I have no clothes, no pjs, no shoes, nothing to decorate my room, simply nothing. I'll never feel like I belong here if I don't do something fast - Besides I'm suppose to have dinner with Gambit tonight and I've got nothing to wear. I don't want to continue borrowing from you and Jean - so would you go shopping with me after lunch?"
Rogue lifted her head again and smiled. "'Course."
As Sidney walked into her bedroom, she literally collapsed of exhaustion. She had spent the whole afternoon in New York City with Rogue, going into every store she could find and trying out every outfit.
After an hour though, Sidney had had enough and wanted to head home. Shopping wasn't a pleasure for her but more of a nuisance.
Rogue, on the other hand, loved it but she hardly ever went into the crowdy malls and tiny stores because of her mutation. She always feared an accident especially in public but still she managed to cheer herself up at the thought of a whole shopping afternoon with her friend and practically dragged Sidney from one store to the next.
The result was an endless amount of shopping bags and boxes from all sorts of brands Sidney had never heard of except Gucci. Indeed Rogue had encouraged her suddenly rich friend to spend part of her money on a fashion dress for tonight.
It was a short strappy dress made in dark green velvet material with lighter outlines. It was not at all a fancy dress but perfect for a quiet dinner.
Rogue kept going on about the colours bringing Sidney's green eyes out and awkwardly enough not clashing with her hair. Sidney was still surprised that such a simple looking dress could be so expensive but she admitted that it looked good on her.
After much convincing she finally bought it though it killed her to put so much money in a dress instead of jeans and shirts. Dresses weren't exactly her style asSophie would say. Her cousin had always bragged that Sidney made no effort to look feminine though her body had the finest curves and forms.
During the afternoon though, Sidney had casually asked Rogue about last night, hoping the question wouldn't be too indiscreet. Bobby seemed to fear Gambit and this particularly interested her since she was supposed to have dinner with him.
She wanted an explanation but all that Rogue was willing to say was that Gambit could be seen as dangerous considering his past but none of the X-Men took notice of this except Bobby.
Sidney picked up the information carefully, something bugged her about what Rogue had said. Dangerous considering his past - reminds me of something. I'm sure she's just exaggerating.
It was 6 O'clock now and sprawled across her bed, Sidney looked around, appreciating her silent room.
Rogue should be here in a while to help me prepare. I'd better take my shower now.
And with a gigantic effort, she hauled herself up and walked into the bathroom.
Five minutes to 8 O'clock, the grand hall of the mansion. Sidney was ready and waiting for Gambit. She was wearing her Gucci dress, high heeled black shoes and her hair was hanging loose on her back. Her make-up was simple but noticeable and she was carrying a small black purse in her left hand.
She walked about the great hall, looking in all directions. Where is he? Didn't he say we were supposed to meet here? Besides where is everybody? - I guess they're all out. Its Saturday night after all -
His absence was making her more than nervous and seeing herself dressed all elegantly made her feel like a fool. What scared her most though wasn't only Gambit's reaction but also their date.
Why on earth did I go for that stupid bet. I was really asking for it. Now I have to spend the whole evening with him - him and his questions - his presence -
For the first time, she was fully realising what a dinner with Gambit meant. He would relentlessly be seeking information about her or try to seduce her to find out. She knew very well that resisting him would be a difficult task but still, she felt so comfortable around him, her heart would always beat furiously when he whispered to her ear. In those moments, she was literally swept off her feet -
Stop it! You idiot, you don't even know him and he's probably tricking you by gaining your trust.
Suddenly out of nowhere came a voice inside the girl's mind. Sidney this is the Professor, would you please care to join me in my study?
Confused by the sudden telepathy link, which had broken through her mental shield, Sidney feared a meeting with him. Um - Professor, I'm supposed to be meeting with someone -
Yes, I know but this will not take very long.
Reassured that the meeting would not be a usual counselling one where the Professor listened silently to Sidney blabbering on aboutSophie and asked subtle questions about her family, she walked down the corridor and reached the study's door.
It was already open, so Sidney walked in and shown to a seat, she sat down. The Professor in his wheelchair was behind his desk, running through some papers but stopped immediately as his new student sat down.
He looked up at her and gave her a warm smile. "Ah, Sidney. You have come. The news I am going to tell you concerns your cousin."
Sidney's face dropped. "Sophie? Oh my God, did something happen to her? Is she ok?"
"Oh no, she's fine, do not worry. Only she is no longer in Virginia."
A smile broke upon the girl's face. "She's woken up!"
The Professor's smile faded away as he realised his mistake, he was giving her false hopes.
"I am afraid not. Her physical state though has been stabilised a couple of days ago, as you know and so the doctors have accepted your request to transport her to New York. Today she has arrived safe and sound in New York City."
Sidney's face suddenly illuminated and she looked deeply into the Professor's eyes seeking if what he said was really true.
"Gosh - I don't know what to say - she's really here! You should have told me, I would have like to accompany her. But can I see her now?"
"Of course. I am sorry I did not warn you but I only heard about the transfer this morning and you were gone before I could -"
Before he could finish, Sidney jumped up from her chair, gleaming with joy. "It's ok Professor. I have to see her now. Thank you for everything."
Before she ran out of the study though, the Professor called behind her. "You're welcome. There is a car waiting outside to take you."
Rushing through the corridors as fast as she could in her short dress and high heels, she reached the big wooden front door. Cold air rushed across her face and bit her crudely. She shivered as she took the first step down the stairs.
There, leaning against a black BMW, his arms crossed over his chest and a half-gone cigarette hanging on the tip of his lips, stood Gambit. He was wearing casual black pants and a black shirt, which showed off very well his muscular chest and arms. Over his clothes he wore his normal brown trench coat and dark sunglasses hiding away his red-on-black eyes.
He exhaled the heavy smoke as he saw Sidney arrive and flicked the cigarette butt away. He walked up to her and as he saw her come down, he could not help himself but gaze.
"I'm guessing you like the dress." Sidney stated grinning. His reaction was the opposite of what she had expected and decided that she should wear dresses more often.
"Y'look - fantastic!" He blurted out still staring at her curves, revealed by the velvet fabric. He had never expected her to look so fine for him.
Good start, y'lucky devil. He thought as he opened the passenger door for Sidney.
They finally reached the hospital after only an hour of driving. It was miraculous to get to the Big Apple in such short time but Gambit seem to know all the lonely routes leading to the city.
They even dropped by a flower shop to buy a bouquet for Sophie. During the trip Sidney had endlessly thanked Gambit for taking her to seeSophie. They had agreed to see her before heading off to the restaurant. They had a table saved for them but Gambit did not give a single hint about where they were headed to eat.
Following the receptionist's direction, they finally walked out of the elevator on the third floor. It was kept for intensive care patients, such asSophie and her room was the last one down the corridor.
As they approached the hospital room, Sidney spotted three hefty men dressed all in black with black sunglasses standing outside Sophie's room. At their sight, she flinched, she knew that it was too late to turn back. Gambit had also seen them and she dared not look up at him.
As soon as Gambit saw the three men, he knew they meant trouble. He looked down to Sidney and noticed her joyful glee had given way to a petrified ghostly white face. They had stopped walking and after a long pause Sidney finally lifted her head to face Gambit.
"Gambit, stay in the corridor and don't interfere - please." She stated weakly.
Gambit couldn't believe that she could know these guys. "Chere, what -"
"Just PLEASE keep quiet. Let me handle this." She whispered more urgently.
Gambit would not have given in if it weren't for Sidney's begging green eyes. He couldn't resist such beautiful though pitiful eyes. He sat down in a nearby chair and simply watched her continue to walk down the corridor.
Sidney paced to the door and stepped up to the three muscular men, intending to walk inside the room. Before she could reach out for the doorknob, two of the three men stopped her way in with their arms pushing her gently backwards.
The third one simply stated. "I'm sorry miss, you can not come in."
He had a thick French accent, which did not seem to surprise the girl. Instead she snapped back quietly at them. "Take your hands off me! Don't you recognise me?"
Sidney lifted her head up allowing the men to take a better look. As one of them recognised her, his face turned pale and he bowed his head in respect.
"Bien sur Madame, veuillez-nous excuser."
The three men instantly backed off, keeping their heads down. Sidney passed through and entered the room quickly not bothering to answer.
Gambit watched carefully the scene in front of him. He could not hear very well and distinguished only a couple of words but he was certain the man had just spoken French to Sidney. Seeing them bow their heads at her though took him by complete surprise.
Dis girl has more t'her den I thought.
She closed the door behind her and looked around.
Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt her knees melting beneath her as she saw a tall slender Asian man. Dressed all in black similarly to the other men, he also wore a black fedora hat.
Though his back was turned to Sidney, he clearly looked like a gangster.
Taking a deep breath, Sidney advanced menacingly towards the man. She was determined not to show fear in front of him.
"What are you doing here?" She snapped at him. "How did you find me?"
Slowly turning around, the dark man looked down upon Sidney and smirked. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Madame? May I ask how you are doing?"
Red in the face, Sidney could no longer contain her anger. "Save it Bruce! Pack up your gorillas and get out!"
He did not seem to take any notice of her words as he turned back toSophie and stroked her hand. "Monsieur sends his most sincere regards for Sophie. He would have come himself but -"
"Shut up!" Shouted Sidney stepping betweenSophie and him. "If he couldn't make the slightest effort to come himself then there was no point in sending you!"
Still looking down at Sophie's still body, the man named Bruce casually replied. "We had difficulty finding her but we will get the best doctors for her soon."
This was the last straw for Sidney, this was what she had fled from, neither she norSophie would go back to them. "NO! I said get out! I don't need you, Bruce, to take care of her, I don't need him, just stay out of our lives!"
Tears had started to mount into her eyes as she remembered the painful past months she had had. She tried to restrain them but Bruce sharply faced Sidney and stared straight into her green eyes. Every word he spoke was soaked with contempt and disrespect for her. "I am sorry, Madame, but Monsieur's orders were clear -"
Before he had finished though, Natura, with both hands wide open used her powers to fling open the door with a gush of wind. She then turned to Bruce and sent him flying out of the room thus crashing against the opposite wall.
Gambit, having seen Natura use her powers in public, had instantly checked for any witnesses. He had also stepped closer to the scene so as to help the girl if necessary
Slowly picking himself up and refusing the guards help, Bruce stood up adjusting his suit and hat and finally smirked at Sidney.
"He will hear of this and how you have - changed."
"Good! So now maybe he'll leave me alone!" She snapped back as she watched them walk away from her. She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, scolding herself to let Bruce see her cry.
Passing by Gambit, standing his ground, Bruce stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Sidney. He obviously hated her.
"Nice hair color!"
His words caused a roar of laughter from the three guards and they departed leaving a confused Gambit and a murderous glare on Sidney's face.
"Who was dat?" Gambit asked as he approached her cautiously.
"No one." She sighed heavily, looking at the four men turn out of her sight. "Thanks for not interfering." She looked at him, smiling faintly.
She was reassured that he hadn't been far during the whole scene. What would she have done without his presence?
A broad smile was returned to her. "No problem chere! Gambit doesn't go where he's not invited."
He turned back to his seat, picked up the bouquet and gave it to her. Pausing, Sidney stood silently in front of Sophie's door, the bunch of flowers in her hands.
"Y'want me t'accompany y'chere?" Gambit inquired.
Taking in another deep breath, Sidney headed straight into the room. "No, I'll be fine. I need to be by myself, I won't be long."
"Don't worry, take all de time y'need!"
With that, Sidney smiled and shut the door behind her.
Hi everyone! I'm sooo sorry I couldn't update before my trip to Greece because this chapter was simply too short. Anyway it turned out that I preferred not to cut in the middle of it thus creating a cliffie but just continued to write endlessly - turns out this chappie is the longest I've wrote. Ok now I know I promised to make this the dinner, to reveal Natura's past, etc but I hadn't expected events coming before that to take so long -
You guys dunno just how much diffiuculty I had writing this chappie. There's no particular action until the end and the interactions between Gambit and Natura are just the toughest. Things can't go too fast! But I love - ur in for big surprises -
Before I go on to answer everyone, I wanna apologise for forgetting to translate some French. So in the last chapter: « Tout se joue ici, maintenant » was: Everything is played here at this instant (meaning the next moment is VERY important basically.) In this chapter: « Bien sur Madame, veuillez-nous excuser » Of course Ma'am, please excuse us.
Next I wanted to say A VERY BIG THANK YOU to everyone who took time to R&R my fanfic, it means a lot and really helps when I write.
Brazos : I did have fun in Greece ! It was wild - plus taking time off from writing this fic is cool coz it helps to clear things up in my head and write better. (
Equinox: Hey I'm glad u like how I portrait Wolvie and Remy. I hope this chapter helped to explain why Bobby feared Remy in a way. Bout Natura well I really had to give her all those great qualities becoz of what she did before. I mean, she did kill someone to start with so I gave her this nice image to convince people that shes not a murderer, at least not at heart. Does that make sense? Tell me if it doesn't. Also when her past is revealed, I don't wnt to give away anything but it will trash her image and if people had known who she was to start off with, there was no way she could have become an X-man. So its important that they see how good she is at heart before they learn more. Don't worry I don't mind criticism as long as its not too harsh ( but otherwise thanx coz it helps to know what u guys don't like or understand. So tell me did u like it?
Darkthedestroyer : Glad u like it ! Thanx for the review
Liv : Sorry bout the French, I had forgotten to translate blush, well I'm glad u enjoy this fic. It's the first I put on : I understand that ur waiting for the date as that's where shes basically busted. How did u like this though ? Hope u read the above explaining the Mary-sure image as you say ;) By the way, it took me a while to understand what Mary-sue meant as I'm French but I asked a couple of my friends who explained. U know sometimes I think ur right - but hey, she murdered someone non ?
I'll try and update soon, surely before the weekend. Till then R&R, bisous !