Note : Woohoo! Okay, so I felt sadistik a bit when I wrote that. Sorry for making nice characters suffer a bit, but hey, life's never easy! The story had begun smoothly, but action is coming… (See, I remember saying that in Through Time, first chapter, and it took me 2 or 3 more chapters before any action occurred…lol). Oh, and gotta love the cliffhanger! This one is the best ever!

Lycky439 : Great. You keep waiting, and I keep writing! Deal? ^_^

Ishandahalf : Powers manifesting? Hum, nice guess, but wrong one. That would be too easy, and I'm a lot crueller than that! **evil laugh**. Ahem. Fluff ahead! Told ya! And I'm seriously thinking about the fluffy pointless Remy/Rogue thing and I had an idea for a nice songfic, but the song is in French… If I give the translation, would it still be okay? French love songs are sooooo beautiful… Tell me what you think, so I can get on it! And I'm so glad you like Antoine! I'm doing my best to create a nice, charming, cute and powerful character. And don't worry, he'll have his place in the present story as well, in time… He's not the kind of guy you forget quickly!

Tammy : Woohoo! I made you talk! I'm happy you like this story as much as Through Time, and it's always a pleasure to see your name after each chapter. Reviews are my food, my air… and my reason to write.

KatLeBeau : Why, thank you! I'm really happy to know you like my stories, and reviews like that always make my day!

Enjoy!

The cat comes out of the hat

6 months before

She slipped out of the house a few minutes before the final countdown to midnight. Christmas had been so hard! Her parents had called and sent some money and presents for her, but she dearly missed them and Louis.

Despite her miss, she had liked Christmas here. The Bergerons went in the forest a few kilometers away from the city to buy a real tree, and the fresh smell of pine tree filled the well decorated living room. But damn it was cold here!

It had snowed non stop for the last week, burrying everything under four feet deep heavy snow. The kids had run around like crazy, building snowmen all around the place, and now, in the middle of the night, the small neighberhood street looked like a military camp, full of soldiers standing on attention, waiting for orders. She shivered as the deep humid cold filtered through her winter coat and whool sweater.

She heard the persons inside shout the last seconds to the new year, and she felt tears in her eyes. At the very same moment, everyone was gathered in the mansion, with all the X men and the Professor's mutant students… She wiped the tears with her gloved hand before they froze on her cheek, and sighed as another shiver shook her spine. "It must be at least minus 35 out here…"*

"Well, minus 38 to be exact, I checked on the thermometer…"

Josée turned on her heels to meet Antoine's eyes. "What are you doing out here?" He raised a brow in questionning.

"I could ask you the same thing, and with a lot of more good reasons… I was looking for you. Your mother called at midnight, a few minutes ago, but we couldn't find you, and maman thought you had gotten in bed. Your mom said she would call back tomorrow night."

"Dammit…" The tears were back again, and she sniffed loudly. "I miss them so much…"

" I know." He stood there, waiting, as she hastily wiped the tears away from her green eyes. She looked down on her gloves to see the tears had in fact frozen in the leather, and smiled. "How in hell can you all survive here?" He had a low, deep laugh, and he walked the few steps between her and him.

"Well, you will get used to it, it lasts until late march… I've grown here, and it's oftener cold than hot here, so I guess this is more our way of living than summer. Not that we don't like it!" he sighed.

"My father would die here. He hates cold temperatures, I don't know why. It's like a phobia or something. I guess that's because he's from New Orleans."

"If I came from some place hot, I'd stay there."

"He had his reasons to leave New Orleans, I guess… You don't want to stay here?"

"Well, sure, I'd like to. But I don't know yet. I wanna finish school first, and then decide." She nodded as another shiver shook her. A small snowflake landed on her nose, and she wiped it away. "You want to come inside? It getting damn freezing out here,  even I'm cold."

She looked up at him. They had grown closer since the cafeteria adventure with Philippe, and she had helped him working on his powers. They weren't something positive for him until he had started really working, but he was changing his attitude towards them. But since the last day of school before Christmas, a week before, he was distant, and she didn't know why. Or worse : she knew why, but didn't want to really think about it. She met his eyes and felt a now usual stomach warming. Each time she would look in these eyes, she yearned for something she didn't have, something she knew he could give her…Here in the eerie silver light of the snow, his eyes were dark, almost black, but she could see the light purple shinning in the irises.

Without knowing, she walked the step separating her from him, and wrapped her arms around his waist. He enclosed her within his arms and leaned his chin on her head, and sighed. "That's a nice way of warming up, Josée, but my feet are still frozen."

"Mine too. But I don't care." She lifted her head and he stared into her own green eyes. The air was so cold it seemed to stuck in her nose, but she suddently could feel the warmth of his breath on her face, and the heat coming from his tall body.

"Josée?" he whispered. "I think I'm going to do something stupid." His voice was barely audible, but his lips were so close to her face she heard every word. She felt another shiver, though this one wasn't due to the cold.

"Me too. But I don't care." He smiled, and as he bent his head a little more, she felt her lips part involuntarily to greet his kiss. She closed her eyes, savoring the taste of his soft, warm lips on hers. She held on tight on his waist and his arms squeezed a little harder, and his tongue teased her mouth a little before exploring her mouth. She moaned, eyes closed, not feeling cold anymore, but burning from head to toes. He let go of his mouth and she breathed deeply, scared to open her eyes. She felt a warm hand on her cheek, and she leaned her face into it, like a cat looking for petting.

"That warmed me a lot" he softly said into her ear. "but we better go inside before my feet turn into ice." She laughed a bit, and took his arm as they headed for the front door.

~~

It started with a vicious headache that caught her during lunch. She was in a small crowded café with Lydia, taking a break of the intense shopping therapy the girls had prescribed themselves. Josée had missed her almost sister, and they had talked non-stop since Jean had dropped them in front of the mall. She fumbled in her purse, looking for some aspirins, and sighed when she found the small bottle empty.

"Are you okay?" Lydia had noticed the slight grimace of pain on her forehead, and her eyes held a hint of worry.

She looked at Lydia. "I have a headache, but it'll pass, I'm sure. I was looking for an aspirin, but it seems I don't have any…"

"Wait, I think I have some."

***

Louis smiled at his image reflected in the aluminium rim as he drew back his hand from the waxing. Suddently, he put a knee on the ground and pressed a hand on his forehead, trying to make the suddent head-splitting headache go away. "Ye alright, Lou?" Louis lifted his head to meet his father's worried look from the front of the car, where Remy had been waxing the car hood.

"Yeah, sure, it's just the sun, I guess."

"Mebbe ye should go inside, den. I'll finish alone…"

"No, no, papa. I'll be alright."

***

"We should call my mom so she picks us up, Josée. Maybe you should lie down in your bed or something…"

"I said I was alright." Josée lifted her head from the sink, splashing some cold water in her face. "It's just a headache, Lee." Lydia looked dubiously at her.

"You look so pale…" Josée gave her an encouraging smile.

"The water helped, Lee. Let's got buy that nice skirt you saw before we came in here…"

Lydia's eyes followed her friend out of the bathroom, but she shrugged and followed Josée. No use in trying to convince a rock-stubborn LeBeau.

***

He let out a small exclamation as a sharp pain ran through his shoulders, and he let go of the rag he had in his hands. He got up on his feet, looking at his tingling hands. The headache was getting worse, and small black dots were dancing in front of his eyes. He felt himself sway dangerously, but he heard rushed footsteps and soon hands were on his shoulders, pushing down. "Sit, Louis. Put y'head between your knees. Dat's it." He slowly remembered Henry's first aid lessons, and breathed deeply. Oxygen and blood returned to his brain, and he felt conscious enough to open his eyes. Remy was crouching in front of him, a hand on his shoulder. "Feelin' any better?"

"No." The pain in his shoulders was hard to bear, and he clenched his fists, bracing his muscles as the white pain ran down his arms, and into his hands. He moaned, and Remy's hand suddently clenched on his shoulder, and he heard his father curse under his breath in French. Louis lifted his eyes, meeting the red on black eyes, and saw worry in the red and golden depths. Remy got up, and reached down a hand to help him up.

"Come on, fils, let's get'y to de med lab." Louis reached up and grabbed his father's hand.

***

Josée sat on a wooden bench, her head in her hands, as Lydia quickly dialed her mother's cell number on a public phone. The pain in her head had spreaded to her shoulders, and she could feel furious burning in her veins, bringing sharp pain in each finger. She had almost fainted a few minutes before, and she had sat down on the bench before falling on the floor.

She let go of her head and put her hands on the bench to steady herself. It seemed to help, and the tension in her arms loosened. She sighed with relief, until Lydia came out of the phone booth and yelled when she looked at her. No, not at her, but at the bench. Josée looked down and saw with horror that the bench was glowing a vivid red. Remembering the consequences of her father's powers, she quickly stood up and ran, grabbing Lydia's arm.

The wooden bench exploded, sending splinters everywhere.

***

His hand took his father's, and, almost instantly, he felt a great surge of power run through his arm and into his father's hand. He heard Remy's exclamation of pain as he jerked back his hand, before the world went black and he fell back on the ground. His head bumped on the paved alleyway, but he simply blinked as he realized the pain in his shoulders and arms was gone, except for a strong burning pain in his hand. Then he noticed the suddent silence.

He struggled with his numb body to sit up, only to see his father lying face down on the ground in front of him in complete stillness, unconscious. He swallowed a cold lump in his throath, and reached for Remy's body, gently touching his shoulder under the white t-shirt.

"Dad?"

To be continued… Muwaahahahahahahahaha!

* In celsius degrees. -35 celsius' equivalent in fahrenheits is -31… without the wind factor. It is so cold here in winter time!