Leigh's Fanfiction Archive Stormkeeper's Fanfiction Freedom Chapter 4
Freedom
By Stormkeeper
Chapter 4
Sunlight streamed through the window of Rogue and Gambit's quarters. The couple had picked a lovely room. The insides of most of the quarters were fairly identical, but if you looked out the main window of Rogue and Gambit's room, you could see the beaches of An'zhina in the distance.
The sunlight attracted the attention of Gambit. He had been sleeping peacefully, wrapped in the arms of his fiancee. The light helped to wake him. Although no one kept real strict track of time on An'zhina, a yawning Gambit blinked and guessed that the lunch hour would soon be taking place. No matter. They were on vacation.
Rogue felt him stir and began to wake. Gambit reached for one of her hands and kissed it a few times. Rogue wore her inhibitor collar at all times when the two of them were alone together, which allowed them the pleasure of skin to skin contact. Gambit had been sleeping nude, as he did every night, and his skin touched Rogue, who was clad in an oversized shirt of Gambit's. Gambit nuzzled up against her and kissed the back of her neck, delighting in her fragrance.
"Mmmmmm….chere, your skin so soft," Gambit murmured. He placed a wet kiss on her earlobe and then buried his face in the back of her neck and her hair. His hands traveled a bit further downwards. "What you say we start our day off right, chere?" he asked. His hands were cupping her round bottom and his cock was rock hard already.
"I could be persuaded, Sugar," Rogue said. She wasn't sure she wanted to wake up yet but Gambit always had a way of enticing her. Besides, this would be a beautiful distraction from the odious task that faced Rogue later in the day.
Slowly and sensuously, Gambit caressed her into readiness. Rogue allowed him to take the lead, as she generally preferred that he did, and she simply remained laying on her side and enjoying his work.
"You ready, chere?" he asked, as her hips bucked against his fingers, which were wet with her arousal.
"Yes."
And then the disruptive part. Gambit reached for the nightstand and unwrapped a condom. As he unrolled it on himself, he silently reminded himself to ask Hank someday the likelihood of him coming up with a better contraceptive. `Maybe now dat Hank himself got a personal interest in dis topic, dis be the right time,' Gambit chuckled to himself. He was still incredulous that he had lost the bet.
Gambit then easily slid in and thrust away. He reached a hand around and stroked Rogue's clit simultaneously, knowing she liked this the best. Penetration didn't always do it for Rogue but fortunately Gambit had every trick up his sleeve. Rogue pushed back in time with his movements as his fingers kept rubbing her throbbing bud. All too quickly, they climaxed together.
"Race ya to the showers!" Rogue exclaimed, suddenly leaping out of bed. Gambit, startled by her change in mood, scrambled after her. The couple laughed in the shower as they squirted water and liquid soap at each other and playfully smacked each other with the washcloths. They teased each other: "You look like a drowned rat!" "Yeah well you look like a drowned Swamp Rat!" She grabbed his toned rear and squeezed it. Rogue and Gambit made love again, this time frenetically and awkwardly as the water continued to deluge them.
"Alright, play time is over," Rogue said, once the mood had settled down and she and Gambit were out of the shower and getting dressed. She removed her collar and set it at its place on the nightstand.
"What you doing today, chere?" Gambit asked, toweling himself dry and then slipping on a pair of briefs. She had seemed overly serious the evening before and he could tell that something was on her mind, though it wasn't something she was bursting to talk about.
"Aw, some strange idea of Storm's and Jubilee. I guess I shouldn't say 'strange.' I dunno. It's kinda sad, really. Turns out Jubes is feeling kinda down lately. So we got the idea to have another healing ceremony, on board the ship this time."
"Really? Gambit didn't know dat Jubilee's feelin' sad."
"Yeah. She don't seem to show it too much. So we're gonna do this thing and an hope it makes her feel better." For reasons she couldn't explain to herself, Rogue didn't want to tell Remy exactly what they were planning. In fact, she hardly wanted to talk about it at all.
"You feelin' ok, chere?" Gambit asked, stepping closer behind her and gently placing his hands on her shoulder.
She shrugged him off. "I'm fine, sugar."
"Any of the other women in on your ceremony?"
"No, it's just gonna be the four of us. Storm and Jean are still doing ceremonies for anyone who wants it." She paused, and then added as an afterthought, "Too bad Psylocke doesn't attend any. I bet she could use it."
"Gambit t'ink so too. Pity 'bout her an Angel breaking up."
"Oh!" Rogue added, remembering that she saw something that she'd wanted to share with him, "Did you see her and Chen Jiang at the beach yesterday?" Chen Jiang was one of the mutants rescued from the camp in Beijing.
"No."
"They were flirtin' and touchin' each other in the way that only lovers do. They were all over each other like flies on honey."
"Unbelievable. She an' Warren haven't been broken up that long."
"Well, it was real obvious that she's moved on." Rogue sighed. "Poor Warren." It had been many years since Rogue had touched Warren and absorbed his memories back when they were battling Apocalypse. As with many who she absorbed, Rogue retained a certain fondness for Warren.
"Yeah. But poor Betsy too. She's not been herself ever since we got her out of dat camp. Dey messed her up so bad. Warren tried hard to help her `dough."
Rogue nodded. "Well, sugar, I guess it's time we got movin' and I take my medicine. Jubilee, Storm, Jean, and I agreed we'll meet after lunch for our ceremony, and by my reckoning lunch is half over."
Gambit detected, quite accurately, that Rogue didn't want to discuss this topic anymore.
Rogue would attend the healing ceremony out of respect for Jubilee and the others, though if she had her way, they'd be done with these things. Couldn't the whole vile incident just be forgotten? Rogue slogged through lunch, not getting any enjoyment out of the food. After Rogue finished an ice cream bar, Storm approached. "Are you ready?"
Rogue nodded and followed her leader. They met up with Jean and Jubilee in An'zhina's transporter room, and the four beamed themselves up to Freedom, which was in constant orbit around the moon.
They all exchanged glances with each other when they reached the ship. The vessel was empty. No one was surprised by that but none could remember ever seeing Freedom deserted like this. An'zhina contained everything anyone needed and there was truly no reason for anyone to spend time aboard the ship----especially since everyone going on the next rescue mission would be confined to it for a while. "It feels weird to see the ship so empty," Jubilee murmured as they stepped down from the transporter pad and entered the hallway.
"It's peaceful," Storm said, trying to get the others to view the situation in a different light.
"It's been a while since I've been on board," Jean noted. "It does seem strangely quiet."
Rogue remained silent. This was going to be harder than she had thought. An irrational bolt of fear was worming its way inside her. Did they have to revisit this? The worst few days of her life. Rogue was taken back to the inexpressible terror and outrage. And humiliation. She touched a finger to one of the sockets of a missing tooth. FOH had used pliers to remove two of her teeth for her refusal to cooperate. Absentmindedly, she tapped the gum where one of her missing teeth would have been. It no longer ached.
Rogue was not the only one mentally fighting back fear. Jubilee shivered. This was going to be harder than she had thought. Jubilee reached for one of Storm's hands and held it, not caring if the gesture appeared childish to anyone. The warmth of the one-time Goddess's hand provided a small measure of comfort. But then Jubilee remembered back to when Storm had tried to comfort her after the examination by the FOH, and how one of the guards had then struck Storm.
"The supply room is just around this corner," Storm said, though everyone knew the lay-out of the ship. They would retrieve their cleaning supplies from there, and then proceed to the room.
The door to the immense supply room slid open. Each woman grabbed up such materials as rags, buckets, mops, sponges and cleaning solution. Rogue tried to think of a lighthearted quip but nothing came to mind. All four women were quiet as they gathered their supplies and exited.
The room was up a level and down a hall. Jean mused that if an outsider had been looking in, they made a strange procession indeed, carrying their supplies and wordlessly riding in the turbo lift. At last they reached the hallway. They started towards the room.
Jean sensed the tension in all of the others, as well as her own fear. But she also sensed it was the right thing to do. `Charles always said that you must deal with the thing that you dread, do the thing that you think you cannot do,' Jean reminded herself. Still, she was unnerved by the amount of tension she felt coming off of Storm. Rarely did she detect turbulent emotions from the Wind Rider.
The four reached the room and stopped dead in their tracks. Storm deliberately took a deep breath, and the others instinctively followed her lead. She then reminded herself that, as their leader, she needed to overcome her fears. Some words came to her, and she faced the others and spoke. "We are about to enter the room and face our fears. This is the room where we were all horribly tortured and we suffered in ways that no human being should ever be forced to. But we are brave. We have helped each other to heal through the strength which the Goddess placed inside each of us. The power of our caring for each other---as well as the power and help of all the rest of our family, the men who care about us----will continue to heal us."
With those words, Storm pressed the button to open the door. Rogue held her breath as it slid aside. Storm took a few steps forward and the others followed her in.
Rogue looked around the room, her stomach churning. The room had been cleaned by the ship's automatically cleaning process, but it basically had been left untouched. The room was the size of a small gymnasium. Four beds were in the room, each in a row, though with distance in between them. Each bed had a basket next to it which held stacks of condoms. The platform from which Rogue and Jubilee had been auctioned off was still there. One side of the room had a shower-like area with a hose and grating on the floor for the water to drain.
Rogue turned her head when she heard a noise behind her. Jubilee was softly crying, and Storm was putting an arm around her.
Jean got down to business right away. They were here to clean and that was what she was going to do. It was uncomfortable for her to bend or stoop, so she decided to start by mopping the floor near "her" bed. A mop with an ergonomically designed handle made this a not-uncomfortable task for Jean. Rogue noticed that Jubilee continued to cry for quite some time, and Storm remained with her. After a while though, Jubilee had composed herself. She and Storm mutely got to the work of cleaning.
Rogue sighed and decided to get to it herself. She detested cleaning, always had. She decided to start by working on the platform. She knelt down on the platform, dumped a generous amount of lemon-smelling cleaning fluid onto the cloth, and started wiping down the platform's floor. `This is still so ridiculous,' Rogue said to herself. `Why are we doing this again? I always hated cleaning. My Daddy used to always yell at me to clean and….' A little something snapped when she came to that thought. She cried out and touched her temples. Something inside Rogue halted her memories instantly and she started to feel physically ill.
Storm turned towards Rogue upon hearing her cry out. A look at her friend revealed a look of bewilderment on Rogue's face. Rogue's expression then turned to dismay….and then to rage. Storm blinked. She had seen such fury on Rogue's face before, but not any time recently.
Rogue then bellowed out a war cry. "To hell with cleaning this place!" she yelled. Rogue grabbed the floorboards of the stage and wrenched them up as if they were made of newspaper. Her incredibly powerful hands ripped out all the material that comprised the platform. In a matter of seconds, the platform was destroyed, pieces of it laying in a heap on the floor.
Storm, Jubilee and Jean looked at her in amazement. Rogue grinned back at them. "Damn this feels good!" she told them. Jubilee looked at Rogue's grin and got inspired.
In a matter of seconds, the women changed from cleaning the room to tearing it down. Following Rogue's lead, Jubilee let forth her fireworks. She totaled the bed she had been on and the shower area of the room. "Yell while you do it!" Rogue advised her. Jubilee let out an ear-piercing scream as she continued to lay waste to the room.
Storm took a deep breath. Although she needed to remain controlled at all times because of her awesome powers, she deduced that she could let her guard down for a bit. `This will be cathartic,' she told herself. The Wind Rider then let out several thunderbolts which easily demolished the bed she had been raped on.
Then it was chaos. Rogue and Jubilee continued to scream and trash the room. Storm wasn't as vocal but she was gleefully taking part in the destruction.
At first, Jean backed herself into a corner and hastily created a bubble to surround herself in. She was now nearly seven months pregnant and her baby's safety was foremost in her mind. The bubble protected her from the turmoil. "Be careful!" she called out, noting that Rogue now seemed intent on punching holes in the ceiling. Chunks of the material crashed down. Jean continued to watch. She reminded herself why they were there; what caused this. She replayed in her mind many of the countless stories she had heard from camp survivors. Using her telekinesis, Jean picked up the bed she had been raped on and smashed it against a wall.
Within minutes, the room was in ruins. Parts of the floor were broken, massive holes were in the walls, one entire wall had been taken down, and the ceiling was partially caved in. Storm, Rogue and Jubilee then all wound up sitting in the middle of the floor. Jean walked over towards them, sensing their exhilaration, seeing that the dam had broken. She was too tired to join them in sitting though; getting up and down was difficult in her body. Storm visually scanned the room, surveying the damage. She chuckled to herself. Letting go like this was not something the very controlled woman usually did, but it felt so good.
"I think I might let loose more often," Storm mused, an uncharacteristic grin on her face.
"Now all we need is to go out and get drunk," Rogue said, sneaking a glance at Storm. Storm gave her an admonishing look. Rogue turned to Jubilee, "Ooops, sorry----guess I'm not providing a good role model for you."
"Hey, if we were back on earth, I'd be old enough to drink now!" Jubilee said.
"You know, she's right!" Rogue said, looking at Storm. "We never celebrated this girl's 21st birthday." The X-men had tacitly agreed to just let birthdays go---being that they had lived in space for the past two years, it was too difficult to translate their time to earth time. They were also too busy and they had no means of purchasing gifts.
Storm smiled, still somewhat amazed at the destruction the three had caused. She knew she'd have to explain this to Xavier at some point, but she also felt he would be understanding. "Jubilee, how do you feel now?"
"I feel great!" Jubilee enthused.
"I do too," Rogue said. "Now if only it had been actual FOH soldiers and not just this room that we totaled."
We had been on An'zhina for nearly two weeks. Finally we received word that Queen Marina was no longer occupied with her meetings and wanted to meet with our leadership, as she usually did when they returned to the moon. (The meeting, as usual, would be conducted via videoconferencing as Endarians still preferred as little face to face contact with us as possible.) The day Marina was free, she scheduled to hook up with the Professor, Cyclops and Storm after lunchtime.
I knew this because Northstar relentlessly asked Storm about the topic during lunch. She basically gave him all the information he asked for. As Storm finished her lunch and stood up to head towards the videoconferencing room, Jean-Paul followed her. I followed him.
The videoconferencing room looked basically like any of our meeting rooms—lots of beautiful wood paneling, high ceilings, and at least one wall with floor to ceiling glass windows. The video screen occupied the center of the room. When Jean-Paul and I arrived, the Professor was punching a few buttons on the controls of the screen. Storm was sitting at one of the tables.
Jean-Paul turned towards the Professor. He then asked, "Do you mind if I…..or **we**," he said, taking a glance at me, "sit in? I have never met Queen Marina and I would like to."
"Of course," the Professor said. "Be my guest." So Jean-Paul and I sat next to Storm. Cyclops entered the room a minute later, gave a look at Jean-Paul and I, and sat down.
The control panel beeped a few times and before I knew it, the image of Queen Marina flickered on the screen before us. She smiled and began, "It is good to see you." She looked the same as she always had, serene and really quite beautiful.
"It is good to see you as well," the Professor said. "I want to thank you in person for lending us one of your starships. The Valiant helped ensure us a successful rescue mission. Bobby, Wolverine and Gambit are all safe and sound and we have you to thank for it."
I wasn't sure if it was appropriate or not to say anything, but Marina was always kind and I thought a sincere thank you couldn't hurt. So I thanked her, and she smiled and tilted her head in my direction. She then acknowledged Storm and Cyclops. When she was greeting Scott, she added, "It is very good to see that you have returned safe and sound from the rescue mission."
He smiled and thanked her again for lending us the Valiant. Marina's gaze then shifted to Jean-Paul.
"Northstar," Marina said. "How good to see you as well."
"You know of me?" Jean-Paul asked innocently. He might have asked the question but I'm sure he wasn't surprised that she knew of him at all.
"Of course," Marina said. "We learned of the adventures of Alpha Flight as well as the X-men. Welcome to An'zhina, Northstar."
"I am delighted to be here, great Queen. I thank you for everything you have done to help mutants. You are a most generous ruler to be using your resources to assist a deposed group of people as ourselves." His voice was at its most charming, and he is a man who can be very suave when he wants to be. I was worried he was laying it on a bit thick. I sure didn't know the Queen well but she was certainly not naïve and likely had seen something like this before. I also started to worry because I knew darn well why Jean-Paul had invited himself to the meeting and it wasn't just to meet Marina.
For the next several minutes, Marina and the leaders of the X-men spoke about business. As always, she was focussed and down to business during the conversation; she wasted little time with any "small" talk. They discussed the Valiant (it was in acceptable---almost excellent---condition), the number of new mutants who would be settling on An'zhina, and a few minor things about the facilities.
When the discussion appeared to be drawing to an end, Jean-Paul spoke. "May I say something, Queen Marina?" he asked. The Professor, Storm and Cyclops all turned their heads towards him. Marina nodded and Jean-Paul continued. "When I was held prisoner by the Friends of Humanity, they tortured my teammates and myself in several ways. They cut one of my arms off, as you can see. I know that you have the medical technology to get me a replacement arm. Can you help?" He had eagerness and wanting written all over his face, and he literally was sitting on the edge of his seat.
Cyclops's mouth was slightly open and I didn't need to be able to see his eyes to gage his reaction. He quickly turned from Jean-Paul to Marina and said, "Marina, please forgive us for Northstar's forwardness. He should not have made that request. We know, as we have discussed before, that we can only expect from the Endarians certain---"
Marina cut Scott off. "Cyclops, it is alright. I do not mind this request." She turned towards Jean-Paul. "Northstar, I am glad to help you. We certainly do have the necessary technology. Endarians rarely lose limbs, but if they do, replacing them is a simple procedure. We can surgically add a mechanical substitute arm which will look and feel just like a natural arm. The procedure is painless and will take under an hour."
Jean-Paul's eyes were wide, his mouth open. "Really? Oh, Marina I cannot thank you enough!"
"Are you ready now?" she asked him.
Jean-Paul looked stunned and elated. "Right now?" He didn't even pause. "Yes!"
And from that moment on, it was a whirlwind. She asked if he would like anyone to go with him. Jean-Paul looked at me and I nodded. We were beamed somewhere right then and there. Last thing I saw before we were wisked away were some very disapproving looks from the Professor, Cyclops and Storm. I knew it was Jean-Paul who had made the request but I also knew we both would certainly have to face this later. (And I hoped we would be able to face it in the form of a discussion with Storm or even the Professor, rather than get yelled at by Cyclops. I have seen him yell at other X-men when they did something that was out of order. I hadn't seen it much in the last two years—usually it was during my first stint with the X-men----but for someone who prided himself on being controlled, he sure could get angry and end up yelling.)
So off we went. In the Endarian medical facility (which, I believe, was on an orbiting space station), I was in the room as Jean-Paul was put under. I basically had to look away during the procedure since I get nauseated around blood and hospitals and stuff. Endarian hospitals were nothing like the ones on earth but still. I wasn't allowed to leave the room though; I knew the reason had to do with the Endarians' wish to avoid contact with us.
Fortunately, it was a large room and someone handed me a magazine on gardening. I should have read it more in depth and paid better attention to it rather than looking at pictures of pretty gardens and vegetables, but my head was still spinning from everything and I couldn't really concentrate. I knew Hank would be disappointed that I didn't pay better attention during the surgery but I didn't even want to peek. I just paged through the magazine, listened to the really cool music that was playing in the room, thought positive thoughts about Jean-Paul, and daydreamed.
Although I knew the Professor, Cyke and Storm were going to be pissed, I was glad for Jean-Paul. He **really** wanted his arm back. He was so self-conscious about it. When we went swimming, he left a T-shirt on---something Jeanne-Marie told me he never used to do. Anytime his lack of a second arm hampered him from doing something, he expressed anger about it. I thought he'd be much happier this way and that would easily outweigh---for both of us---whatever chewing out we were going to get from Cyclops and the others.
I'd estimate it took about forty-five minutes. Before I knew it, he was sitting up on the bed, blinking and rubbing his new arm. He kept starting at it, poking it with the other hand, touching it in different places. He was handed a mirror and sat there studying both of his arms. They looked virtually identical; the new one fit right in with the old one. I didn't even see a scar or anything along the area of his upper arm where the stump had been. He asked me to touch the arm in various places---the biceps area, the elbow, the forearm, the hand, the fingers. "Mon dieu! It feels so real!" he said in amazement. "Every touch feels real. It doesn't feel mechanical at all!" On inspiration, I reached for his new hand and kissed it. He smiled and brought my own hand to his lips.
Well, that was it. The doctors gave him some information---they basically told him he shouldn't feel any discomfort or pain, he could treat the new arm just like any other body part of his. Before we knew it, we were transported back to An'zhina.
It struck me that I had never seen Northstar shirtless before. Of course I hadn't because he even went swimming with a shirt on. But as soon as we got back, he went everywhere without a shirt, showing off his new arm to almost all of An'zhina's 200 inhabitants. Everyone went up to him and touched it as we talked about how quick and easy the surgery was. Mostly, I stood there looking. And looking and looking and looking. Jean-Paul shirtless was an impressive sight. His chest was broad and he was **built.** Everything was muscular---his pecs, his shoulders, his arms. His abs were perfect. And yeah, he wasn't the only man on An'zhina who was buff---but he was **my** man and that made it all the more exciting. I practically started drooling. Oh, not only was he so well put together, but he also had a smooth chest. As I looked more closely, though, I realized he did have hair around his upper chest but it was white and wispy like much of the hair on his head. I wanted so badly to able to touch everything that was on display. After a while, I wasn't listening to any of the "ooh"-ing and "ahh"-ing that was being done over his new arm. I was too busy trying to calm myself down and get rid of my erection.
When Hank and Panda found us, they asked about the surgery and didn't seem too thrilled when neither of us could remember anything at all. "I was unconscious!" Jean-Paul laughed. Hank and Panda turned towards me. "I was reading a magazine," I said, shrugging. "And I didn't want to risk seeing any blood or stuff."
I really was thrilled for Jean-Paul. He was practically glowing with confidence, a level of confidence I hadn't seen before. I think maybe he'd been faking it up to that point.
All I remember about the rest of that day is the long hug Jean-Paul and I shared before bedtime. (As always, we embraced outside of one of our rooms. We never entered the room together-----if we were to start making out in private, we weren't going to stop with kissing. ) His chest felt hot against my shirt. My fingertips were touching his bare shoulders and back. We kissed. And as frequently happened, I tried to go back for seconds but he stepped backwards and shook his head. I did manage to coax him into a second hug but it was horrible when he ended the hug. It felt like diving into freezing cold water when you've been warm and content. I suppose I don't need to say that I went to bed very unsatisfied.
"I can't believe the nerve of that arrogant little snit," Cyclops was saying to Jean later that day. They were supervising Charlotte and Aurora's playtime in a room which had been designated a play area for children. The two little girls were making a ton of noise using a variety of different toys, some created by Wolverine and others donated by Endarians.
"It certainly was wrong of him to make such a request without clearing it with someone beforehand," Jean agreed. "So which one of you is going to have a little talk with him?"
"The Professor said he would. Which is lucky for Northstar----he wouldn't want me to be the one."
"I'm surprised Marina agreed to Northstar's request. In the past, she's been so insistent on limiting our contact with any Endarians. But this-----" Jean broke off and placed a hand on her abdomen. "He's kicking!" she said. "Feel it!"
Scott eagerly rushed to place his hand on Jean and feel the baby's kicks. `What a profound experience,' he mused, 'for her to be carrying our child inside of her.' He closed his eyes and used their psy-link to sense what she sensed. Thoughts of Northstar's impropriety were soon gone from his mind.
Storm was eating her breakfast when she got the message from the Professor that Queen Marina wanted to meet with the three leaders of the X-men again. 'That's a bit odd,' Storm thought to herself. It was only the day after their previous meeting, and all of the business they had discussed yesterday had been resolved. Marina was an extremely busy woman and would not schedule a frivolous meeting. The Professor went on to inform Storm that the Queen was busy until mid-day and they would meet with her a few hours after lunch.
Storm finished her breakfast. As she had no other commitments that morning, she flew off for the hills to spend time in meditation.
When she was finished and descending the hills, she spotted three figures off in the distance. She had a hunch that they were Wolverine, Jubilee and Rory and as she flew closer, she found that she was right. Apparently, they were finishing up a karate lesson as Jubilee's daughter napped nearby.
"Hi, Storm," Jubilee greeted. Wolverine allowed himself a smile upon seeing Storm.
"How are the lessons going?" Storm asked.
"She's doing great," Wolverine said. "Pretty soon she'll be able to kick my ass in combat." Wolverine had been keeping a close eye on Jubilee since he'd been rescued from the Cetians. Storm had shared with him that Jubilee had been struggling a bit, emotionally. Wolverine made sure he spent some time with Jubilee and her daughter every day. He knew he had trouble saying it in so many words but he hoped his actions would show that he cared about her.
Jubilee smiled. "I doubt that. But look how strong I am!" Jubilee deftly demonstrated an impressive move.
The three chatted for a while but after not long, Wolverine took his leave of them. Storm, Jubilee and Aurora then decided to go for a walk.
"So tell me how you are feeling," Storm began. "You seem to be doing better since our…unusual ceremony on board the ship." After the women had finished destroying the room, Storm had informed the Professor of what happened. He asked only that they repair the holes in the ceiling and walls, which Storm, Jubilee and Rogue had happily did the next day.
Jubilee smiled. Just thinking back to it lifted her spirits. "I feel good." She shrugged, "Like we talked about before, I don't think I'll ever forget it or ever just like `get over it.' But I'm feeling okay."
"You shared with me that you were going to ask the Professor to erase your memory if this last ceremony didn't make you feel better. Have you thought more about….?"
"I don't think I will ever ask him to do that," Jubilee said, shaking her head. "I keep thinking back to what you told me. Living through this and working through it makes me a stronger person. I'm not going to just get it erased out of my memory."
Storm nodded and smiled, knowing that Jubilee was indeed a strong woman.
Later that day, Storm found herself sitting in between the Professor and Cyclops in the videoconferencing room. Queen Marina's image appeared on the screen before them, and the usual greetings were quickly exchanged.
Marina then added, "I trust Northstar is doing well?"
"Yes," the Professor replied. That morning, the Professor had had a discussion with Northstar. Charles was irritated at the Canadian's lack of remorse for his inappropriate action. Northstar had still been clearly elated to have a second arm again, and although he had apologized to the Professor, the apology had not been the most sincere Charles had ever heard. He had no wish to "punish" Northstar but he did want the man to realize that his action was wrong. However, even without his telepathic powers, the Professor knew that Jean-Paul was a long way from coming to that realization.
The Professor was preparing to apologize for Northstar's request when Marina spoke again. "There is something I wish to discuss with you." She paused. "My Executive Council has been upset at the special favors I have been granting you. They have no objection to your living on An'zhina, but lately you have made some requests of us----the use of the Valiant being the largest one, for instance. Northstar's arm is another example."
"I thought that the Council itself approved our use of the Valiant," Cyclops said.
"They did. But I had to pull quite a few favors to get them to agree. I have been paying for that decision for several weeks now, as I probably will have to for restoring Northstar's arm." She paused and then said the last sentence slowly, emphasizing the words, "I would like to ask for a favor from you now."
The Professor, Cyclops and Storm were silent, awaiting Marina's request. She had never asked them for anything prior to this. Storm found herself holding her breath.
Marina turned towards Cyclops. "Cyclops, I would like you to spend an evening with me."
Scott's mouth fell open. In the flash of an instant, part of him knew what she meant even as he found himself struggling with disbelief. Storm turned towards Cyclops, absolutely shocked at Marina's request. "I-I beg your pardon?" Scott asked, keeping his tone questioning rather than angry.
Marina smiled. "I know that you do not have the same attitudes towards sexuality that we Endarians do, so perhaps this is awkward for you. But I have been watching and admiring you for a long time, Cyclops. I like you the best of the men on An'zhina. When I say that I would like you to spend an evening with me, I mean that I would like to have dinner with you, for us to attend an event together---we have wonderful plays, symphonies and such here----and for us to then return to my palace and make love." She said the words casually, as if she were requesting that he tell her what time it was.
Scott fought hard to contain his outrage. He reminded himself that he was speaking with a powerful regent, one who could make the X-men's lives a misery if she wanted. "Queen Marina…." he began, "I'm a married man. I have a wife and a daughter….and another baby on the way. What you're asking for is….is totally inappropriate!" His last sentence betrayed his affronted state.
"I have no desire for you to leave Jean or your child," Marina replied simply. "All I am asking for is one evening with you."
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry, Queen Marina but the answer has to be `no.' There's no way. Perhaps your people do not practice monogamy but I made a vow to be faithful to Jean and nothing in the world could ever make me break it."
Scott was too angry to notice the subtleties in Marina's expression, but Storm easily picked up on them. Marina's eyes narrowed. "I see," Marina said. "This is very disappointing."
Scott looked at both the Professor and then at Storm. Both of them mirrored his surprise and outrage. "So what do we do now, Marina?" Scott asked. "Are you going to ask us to leave An'zhina?"
She hesitated before replying. "No. No I wouldn't do that. But I remain very disappointed. Do not ever ask me for any favors again!" With that, Marina terminated their connection and the screen went blank.
The three X-men sat looking at each other. "I'm stunned," Storm said.
Cyclops shrugged, though his cheeks were flushed, reflecting both embarrassment and ire. "Wolverine once said no one gives you a moon without asking for something in return. I hate to say it, but maybe he was right." He shook his head and mused aloud. "If she really knew anything about me at all, she would have known there's no way I'd go along with what she was asking. So why did she even make the request?"
"Marina has never asked us for anything before," the Professor said. "I do not know what might have happened to make her change her mind. I took a reading of her emotional state and it is basically the same as normal for her, though she is somewhat more tired than usual."
"Did you catch the hesitation in her voice before she replied to Scott's question?" Storm asked. "The question as to whether she would ask us to leave An'zhina."
Both Scott and Charles nodded. "I hope I didn't give her any ideas," Scott said.
"I'm sure you did not," the Professor said. "Besides, Marina has enough power that she could force us to leave any time she wanted. She might come back and make another ridiculous request someday."
"Perhaps it was naïve of me," Storm began, reflectively, "but I always thought of An'zhina as a safe and secure haven. Right now I am realizing that perhaps that was a falsity."
Scott nodded, still shocked at Marina's request. He would never go along with it. He had never made love with any woman other than Jean and he had no desire for anyone else. "Excuse me," he said, getting up to leave the room. As he reached the door, he turned and added, "I trust that neither of you will mention this to anyone else."
Storm and Charles assured him they would not. Scott left the room. Storm looked at the Professor and shook her head. "Amazing….I never saw that coming. What an outrageous request."
Jubilee sat in the rec room one evening, paging through a book which was failing to hold her interest. The rec room was one of the busiest areas on An'zhina and at any given time, a few dozen people congregated in it, eating, conversing, playing games such as ping pong or any assortment of board games, and listening to music. One of the rescued mutants, a young man named Russ, had worked as a deejay before and often enjoyed spinning tunes in the rec room. Jubilee sat back in her seat that evening and watched Rogue and Gambit together on the dance floor, as they moved to a slower song that Russ had cued up. The couple's bodies were practically melded together and Jubilee wondered at how they kept from stepping on each other's toes. From where she sat, she couldn't see their faces well but she didn't need to. She had seen Remy give Rogue that look of utter adoration numerous times before and she'd heard Rogue talk about how it made her feel. Jubilee was filled up with longing.
Jubilee wondered for a moment whether she should call Colossus to check up on Aurora, but she knew that the burly Russian and his girlfriend Elena would not have volunteered to babysit unless they really wanted to and that they would reach her via their communicators should anything come up.
A mutant named Yunfei entered the rec room. Upon seeing him, Jubilee got up to leave. Yunfei had been one of the ones rescued from the Mutant Containment Center in Beijing. Jubilee found the man attractive and had mustered her nerve to initiate conversations with him more than once. Yunfei never gave her the time of day; it was evident that he was not the least bit interested in getting to know her. Seeing him that day made her feel uncomfortable.
Jubilee then decided to go for a walk, wanting to enjoy the peace and quiet of the outdoors while she had a few hours away from her baby. On her way out, she passed Hank and Panda cuddled up on the porch together, Panda partly in Beast's lap. The inseparable pair was talking quietly. Hank was said to be spending far less time in the lab and far more time in his room with Panda. The pair no longer had separate rooms; they had "moved in" together. Anytime Jubilee looked at Panda, she saw unbridled glee on the woman's furry face.
Quick as a wink, Northstar and Bobby bounded onto the porch, holding hands. The giggling couple seemed oblivious to anyone else as Northstar asked, "Ready, mon ami?" He then scooped Bobby up in his two arms and, with a whooosh, they flew off somewhere.
Jubilee walked through the backyard on the way to the forested area. Cyclops was pushing Charlotte on one of the baby swings, as Jean lay on a blanket nearby. Another happy couple.
Aside from Yunfei, Jubilee had tried to strike up a friendship (that is, a friendship that might lead to something else) with one of the other rescued mutants. But that man too was simply not interested in her and gave her no encouragement.
One of the men rescued from the FOH camp in England, a man named Brett, had pursued Jubilee. However, both Storm and Wolverine asked Jubilee to be cautious, indicating that they did not get a good vibe from Brett. Jubilee found Brett to be dull in personality and physically unattractive. Despite the fact that she felt no emotional or physical attraction to him and despite the warnings of Wolverine and Storm, Jubilee had responded to Brett's wooing of her. However, just a couple short days after he had started courting her, he dropped her like a hot potato. Psylocke, apparently, was interested in Brett and soon they were rumored to be sleeping together. Wolverine told Jubilee that he could sense that that was all Brett had wanted from Jubilee and it was much better this way. So on one level, Jubilee was glad things had never gotten off the ground with Brett. But seeing all these couples made Jubilee long even more fervently for the day when she would find someone of her own.
Our vacation on An'zhina was over far too soon. Before we knew it, the four weeks were up and it was time for us to start heading back to earth. Time for another five week trek across the galaxy to our home world where we would attempt to rescue as many mutants from FOH as possible. Hank finished work on the "Euphoria Vapor" (as he called it) just in the nick of time. This gas would create a euphoric state for whoever was doused with it, and Hank found a way it would seep through conventional gas masks. Our own gas masks were reinforced and would be impenetrable for the Euphoria Vapor. So we hoped that this weapon would successfully fend off the FOH and whichever traitor mutants were still working for them.
Those of us X-men who would be going on this rescue mission were: the Professor, Storm, Wolverine, Hank, Colossus, Gambit, Rogue, Angel, Psylocke, Jubilee, Nightcrawler, Marrow, Northstar, Shaman, and myself. Accompanying us on the journey would be Panda, Shaman's family, Jubilee's daughter, and a few assorted others (such as Elena----she's been trained as a medical assistant, along with steadfast Ramon, etc.) Out of the mutants we rescued from the camp in Beijing, only two wanted to return to earth so they were on board as well. None of the mutants we had rescued on our first mission had changed their minds; all were content to live on An'zhina.
Remaining on An'zhina would be Cyclops and Jean, Moira MacTaggert, Banshee and his daughter Siryn, and Jeanne-Marie and her son. Jeanne-Marie said that she had had enough of action and adventure for the time being and wanted to spend some time helping her son. As for Moira, she said that she understood how serious our need for another doctor was, but she had to respect Siryn's wishes. Siryn was so overjoyed that her father was alive, she was not about to let him out of her site. I sure couldn't blame the family for wanting some time together in peace.
So our burgeoning colony on An'zhina would have Cyclops, Jean, Moira and Banshee serving as its stewards. We talked about this at one of our long meetings and basically the whole group gave its blessing to the idea of those four being in charge on the moon.
As for us X-men who were heading back for the next battle on earth, Storm would of course serve as our field commander but as we also discussed at that meeting, three others would be trained as field commanders: Wolverine, Rogue and Beast. I agreed that it was a good idea we got to training new leaders. I asked Hank about it and he admitted he was not wild about combat—never had been---but also felt that the more leaders the X-men had, the better. He was spending a lot of time in training and I didn't get to hang out with him as often as I'd have liked.
The evening we were to depart, I said goodbye to An'zhina. Northstar flew me up to the highest hill and then flew me all around the moon. I was leaving my garden in the capable hands of four or five different people who'd been working on it all along and promised to tend to it. After we flew over the garden, Jean-Paul then took me over the brilliant white beaches and the woody forested areas. We paid homage to all of them. He then flew me back up to the top of the hill.
"I'm going to miss it here," I said, looking down on our colony. It was dark out but the main complex was brightly lit and stood out like a beacon. Jean-Paul held my hand and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him nod. There wasn't any need to say much more. We both knew that if all went well, we would be back on An'zhina in ten weeks' time. If things did not go well….. we knew what that could mean too.
He squeezed my hand. The warmth felt really comforting. "We will be back soon," he murmured, his voice sounding far away. I turned my head to look at him, concerned at the sadness I thought I detected. "I am really going to miss my sister," he explained. "We've never been apart for too long. I cannot recall being separated for more than a week."
An idea flashed across my mind. "We don't have to leave. I mean, if you want to stay here and be with her, be with your nephew….Jean and Scott----and Moira and Sean could use the help here, running An'zhina I'm sure. We could stay."
Jean-Paul shook his head. "We are needed on this rescue mission. You know that, Bobby."
"Yeah, I know. I just hate seeing you sad like this," I said, putting my arms around him. He embraced me quickly but then stepped away.
"It will be okay, mon ami. I'll be okay. Jeanne-Marie has the harder part than me. She will stay here and worry over me while I go on this mission, knowing she's safe."
I smiled and attempted some humor, "And you didn't mention the hardest part of all. She has to take care of Stephan."
He returned my smile. A few more moments went by and he stifled a yawn. It was approaching bedtime. "Shall we?" he asked, tilting his head in the direction of the building.
I nodded and was scooped up in Jean-Paul's strong arms. He carries me so well. One of his arms went under my thighs and the other against my back as I sat in his arms, with my arms around his shoulders. As he carried me, I felt two sensations at once----I felt secure but at the same time, I felt exhilarated with the wind rushing my face.
Once we reached the complex, we walked back to our room, hand in hand. We passed Rogue and Gambit in the corridors----we all smiled at each other and wished each other goodnight. Remy and Rogue looked so happy together. Jean-Paul and I then reached his room first. We turned and faced each other in the hall for our evening custom of saying goodnight to each other. I looked at his handsome face and my heart melted. I reached a hand around to ruffle his hair.
I think he saw the longing in my eyes but he only smiled patiently at it. Last time I'd asked him about it, he still wanted to wait, saying that he needed more time to honor Phillippe's memory. So I wasn't going to say anything that evening, despite how I felt.
"Pleasant dreams, amour," he murmured.
"You too," I said, as one of my hands then caressed his ear lobe. He then grabbed my shoulders and pulled me towards him. I expected something more passionate from the way he had reached for me, but he then lightly brushed my lips with his. Everything felt so good. He was so warm and so tender, his lips were soft, and my heart was throbbing at how much I felt for him. I didn't know if it was too early to call it love but I knew that I cared for him so deeply. He allowed a second kiss this time and he gently inserted his tongue in my mouth. I ran my fingers through his hair as we kissed. Each one of my nerve endings was on fire and I never wanted this kiss to end. I was excited but I also felt….content and mellow at the same time.
"Would you two knock that off?!"
We were interrupted by an angry voice. Feeling as if we'd been doused with cold water, Jean-Paul and I broke apart to find that we were no longer alone. Todd was standing in the hallway looking at us, an expression of hatred on his face. Todd was one of the mutants who had been rescued from the FOH camp in England.
"I beg your pardon?" Jean-Paul asked Todd, anger evident in his voice.
"I said that the two of you need to knock that off," Todd repeated, practically snarling at us through his clipped British accent. "Take that sick stuff and do that in your bedroom but you bloody well don't need to shove it in everyone's face in the hallway!"
As he spoke, I forced myself to take a deep breath. Part of me wanted to react with anger but I tried to come up with a reply that might do me proud by, say, Hank or Storm. "If you are offended, then don't look," I said simply. "I see plenty of straight couples holding hands and kissing in public all the time but I've never noticed you giving them a hard time for it." I managed to say it without yelling it or letting my exasperation get the best of me.
"Yeah, well, that's because they're not **perverts** like you two. There are children here and I don't want to see this disgusting crap anymore. You had better----"
Todd was cut off because Jean-Paul punched him in the face. Todd struck back. It all happened so quickly that I wasn't sure what to do, other than stand back. One of Jean-Paul's abilities allows him to move at hyper-speed, so Todd was really outmatched in this fight---especially considering that Jean-Paul had years of combat training behind him. Todd's mutation allowed him to turn invisible, but he had never had any sort of formal training and his power wasn't well under his control. During the few seconds that they were fighting, I think Todd tried to use his invisibility power but between Jean-Paul's speed and superior strength, Todd was toast.
"What is going on here?" an angry voice asked.
Jean-Paul and Todd stopped their fight when Cyclops approached them. Jean-Paul looked none the worse for wear, but during the seconds the scuffle had lasted, he had inflicted quite a bit of damage on Todd. The man was bleeding from the nose and mouth.
"What happened?" Cyclops repeated, standing in between them.
"He attacked me!" Todd said, pointing angrily at Jean-Paul.
"No, he attacked us!" Jean-Paul spit back. He was furious.
The accusations flew back and forth. I joined in and backed up Jean-Paul. Todd **did** attack us. It was a verbal attack, but an aggression nonetheless. Cyclops looked at the three of us, clearly pissed off. He finally said, "We're working on procedures to deal with conflicts like this. We can't have citizens of An'zhina beating each other up. We'll need to resolve this."
I had heard, during one of our endless meetings, the other X-men discuss and debate different conflict resolution strategies. Jean had come up with a sort of mediation thing where all the parties involved got together with an arbitrator to discuss what had happened.
"You mean we'll have to mediate this," I said flatly.
Cyclops said, "Yes. But you and Northstar are leaving tomorrow morning. We'll deal with this when you return from the mission and everyone's had some time to cool off."
"Too bad Todd is not joining us on the mission, eh?" Jean-Paul taunted. "We could use all the help we can get but I guess some people are not tough enough to take on FOH…..and prefer to just sit around and harass others."
"Why you little----" Todd made another move towards Jean-Paul, but Cyclops held him back.
"Come on, Jean-Paul," I said, quietly, putting a hand on Jean-Paul's chest to hold him back. "Enough of this guy. Forget him."
Cyclops escorted Todd down the hall towards his room and soon they were gone. Jean-Paul and I looked at each other.
"Are you hurt?" I asked, looking him over. I didn't see any visible wounds. His hyper-speed abilities sort of allow him to heal faster, though it's nothing like Wolverine's healing factor.
"No," he said. "Just angry as hell."
"Me too. That was a lot of nerve of him," I muttered.
Jean-Paul shook his head. "I'm sure he'll find a way to make it look like we were at fault. And I gotta wonder how fair this mediation is going to be."
"Let's not worry about it now. We got enough----"
Jean-Paul wasn't listening. "I'm going to go work out. I need to blow off some steam." He was already facing the direction of the gym.
He didn't invite me to join him and I didn't follow. I could tell from his voice and mannerisms that he wanted to be left alone. I was sad to see him go yet I understood too. It was better to let Jean-Paul go. Goddamn Todd for ruining the mood of our evening. Everything had been so wonderful. I tried to conjure up again the mood and the feelings that Jean-Paul and I had created and shared but it was gone.
I didn't sleep well that evening. The fight left me angry and upset. It was too early to worry about what would happen at the arbitration but I worried nonetheless. And I hoped that this next earth rescue mission would prove more successful than the last one.
Chapter 3
Chapter 5