The Heavens Open

by Stormkpr

The third book in my trilogy. The X-men have retreated to space and will attempt to save mutantkind and all of earth. Not suitable for children. COMPLETED

6. Chapter 6

THE HEAVENS OPEN

By Stormkeeper (stormkpr@usa.net)

Author's note: I realize that I have been extremely negligent. Since the start of The Heavens Open, I've managed to forget to thank my beta tester!! My beta tester Leigh is outstanding, constantly providing me with inspiration, new insights, and plentiful ideas. She's also a great author in her own right. Leigh, I apologize for this oversight! There is no way I would have even begun this third book if it weren't for you.

CHAPTER SIX

***************

The day after the X-men returned from their journey, the Professor called a meeting of the team leaders and field commanders. Soon after lunchtime, the Professor sat around a circular table with Cyclops, Storm, Rogue, and Wolverine. Banshee was present too, given his role as one of the co-leaders on An'zhina.

Beast and Moira bypassed the meeting (despite their roles as Field Commander and Co-leader of An'zhina, respectively) in favor of working together on their research of a cure for HIV. They had been up since sunrise, working in the lab. Both scientists had also skipped the previous evening's party in order to work too.

Cyclops was finishing recounting the events of the past few months to Xavier and Banshee. "If I had to sum it up," he was saying, "I would have to say that the mission was somewhere between a success and a failure. We were successful in preventing the FOH from unleashing a deadly virus on earth, and in doing so, we saved countless lives --- mutant and probably, ultimately, non-mutant too. But we were not able to carry-out the original plan of Jean using her powers to change public opinion—and change the FOH leader's minds---regarding mutants." He paused and looked steadily at the Professor. "And I know that the way we…acquired the dilithium from that planet was…was not the best thing we've ever done, either," he finished, awkwardly.

In going over the events that occurred during their mission, Scott had dreaded that part the most. There was no getting around the fact that the X-men basically beamed down and **took** dilithium from an inhabited planet. To top matters off, there were their dealings with the mysterious man called Dagron and the fact that they ended up leaving a shuttle on the surface of the planet. And prior to those events, there was the treaty the X-men made with the Pirates. The X-men had had good reasons for doing what they did, but none of those decisions were really acceptable either, Scott knew.

The Professor took a deep breath. "I agree with you that there were both positive and negative aspects to this mission. The fact that you prevented FOH from unleashing a virus is outstanding, and I agree that untold lives certainly were saved because of that." He paused, "And I do recognize that when you lost all your dilithium, you were left with limited and imperfect choices."

"We had to do whatever it took to get back to An'zhina," Scott said. "We couldn't risk this ship getting captured again by FOH."

"I understand," he responded, slowly and calmly. His voice carried no reproach; however, the faintest hint of disappointed could be detected. "And I know that you understand some of the possible ramifications of your decisions. We can no longer prevent Marrow and Psylocke from capturing and torturing FOH soldiers, for one thing."

"If we have to, we can," Storm said. When all eyes turned to her, she continued, "Please, do not misunderstand me. We made a pledge and I believe that we are obligated to abide by it. However, the only thing that binds us to the pact we signed with them is our honor. If ever the right circumstances arise and we need to go back on our word, that option is available."

"I disagree with ya, Storm," Wolverine said. "We can't junk the X-men's honor or our word. We signed an agreement and we gotta stick to it."

"I do agree that when we give our word, we should stand by it. However, what if someday the Pirates are in a position to do something that would cause great harm----worse harm that blowing up an FOH ship? If an extreme circumstance arises, I think then we might have to consider breaking our pact with them."

"I still say our honor stands," Wolverine said. "Besides, you gotta think of it this way. We don't want 'em mad at us. Psylocke's a real powerful telepath and telekinetic. Someday we might be somewhere without the Professor or Jean. If the Pirates wanna get some revenge at us for breakin' our agreement, we might not be able to stop 'em."

Rogue listened to the exchange, admiring the way Storm and Wolverine handled the disagreement. Neither seemed hurt or offended; they simply voiced the fact that they didn't see eye-to-eye and explained their reasons. She suspected that they would easily be able to walk away from this disagreement too, and go on with everything as normal.

Then Rogue started to wonder. `Am I ever that mature 'bout things when Remy and I have a conflict….?'

"I'm most concerned about the events that occurred on the planet," the Professor said. "I understand why you did what you did, but the fact that a shuttle from earth was left on their planet's surface could prove problematic."

Cyclops nodded. "If someone has discovered it and is examining it, that could really impact the natural evolution of their planet."

"Especially given that this Dagron seems incredibly powerful and potentially dangerous, from the limited interactions you had with him."

"Maybe next time we head for space," Rogue began, "we oughtta swing by that planet and check up on old Dagron."

"I think that would be wise," Storm said. "Of course the next question is, when and how will we get back into space? We used almost all of the dilithium we received from the planet to get back here. Our last scan indicated we only had about six days' worth of dilithium use left."

"We canna replicate dilithium from here, can we?" Banshee asked.

"No," Storm answered. "It is one of those substances that is too chemically complex and can not be replicated. An'zhina itself does not contain any dilithium on its surface, either. I believe that we were told, though, that they do occasionally undertake missions into space where they stock up on dilithium since it's such a great power source."

He Professor shook his head. "I have been thinking about this constantly since Jean and I made contact a week ago. I think we are in quite a quandary. We have no dilithium here nor do we have the means to warp to a location with dilithium. Unless someone brings it to us, we might be out of options."

"And who's gonna just bring us dilithium?" Rogue asked. "I think we can count out Betsy and Marrow. They got a whole passel of dilithium but they ain't gonna share it. 'Sides, we already sold our souls to 'em and I don't think we got anything left to bargain with." She paused and involuntarily found herself looking at Scott. He noticed the direction of her gaze and looked right back at her. "Maybe Queen Marina can help."

The room was silent for a while as they pondered their options. Cyclops's thoughts, however, were no longer on dilithium as he fought to suppress his rage. Out of all the X-men, he was not the most perceptive one --- but from the way Rogue looked at him and the tone of her voice….he knew. He knew that Bobby had told Rogue (and, most likely, Gambit) what Scott was planning to ask from the Queen. And he knew that Rogue had perhaps been thinking that while Scott was going to be at it, he might as well ask for some dilithium from the Queen too. `Can't anyone on this team keep a goddamn secret?' he thought, beyond furious. The thought of everyone discussing his private life like this outraged him. Cyclops was not going to just let this one sit, either.

"Well then, it seems that maybe the X-men will be staying here for a while," Banshee said, oblivious to Scott's festering anger. "Maybe that willna be such a bad thing. Moira and Hank can work together on finding a cure for Northstar. And I could certainly use some more help in working with the 300 mutants here."

"Speakin' of that," Wolverine began, "how's it goin'? We find anyone else wanna join us?"

Banshee shook his head. He went on to explain that most of the rescued mutants were enjoying "vacationing" on An'zhina. For those with powers that needed to be reigned in (such as Jean's nephew Joe, who had the power to see through objects and had needed help in learning how this worked so that he could see "normally" when he wanted to), as soon as they were taught how to control them, they generally wanted to cease training. Many of them chose to remain in counseling to deal with emotional issues.

"Why is it, in your opinion, that no one wants to join the X-men?" Storm asked.

"I have asked some of them that question," Banshee said. "I've heard a lot of different answers but the usual ones come down to the fact that they think it will be too much work and that they just enjoy a slow-paced life on An'zhina now." Banshee paused and looked at Scott. "One exception is your nephew, Scott. The lad says he wants ta start training with us, but he's too young now, of course."

Banshee saw Scott smile in response, but the older man noticed Scott seemed rather preoccupied.

"I been thinkin' 'bout this problem of not gettin' anyone new to join," Wolverine said. His comments did not surprise Storm. She knew that deep down, he actually loved to teach, loved to train others. She'd observed him teaching karate to Bobby and Jubilee, and she sometimes speculated that **Wolverine** was the one who got the most out of it. Not that he wasn't truly an inspiring teacher too. "If people think it's gonna be too much work, maybe we gotta come up with some ways to show 'em that it ain't impossible."

Storm nodded. "I see where you are coming from. I've had some discussions with the rescued mutants and it appears that they sometimes view us as….as leading these difficult lives and training endlessly."

"And performing feats that they are not capable of," Banshee finished for her. "As if we are somehow born with powers that are greater than theirs."

"Yes, and they need to realize that our powers are not necessarily inherently stronger---it is just that we have learned to make the most of them. If we could demonstrate to them that, with a little time and patience, they could also learn to maximize their powers and join us as well….we perhaps can enlist a few more to the X-men." Storm paused. "Being an X-man is definitely challenging but it is also enormously fulfilling. Perhaps they do not see the benefits of this."

The team discussed these ideas a bit more and resolved to come up with some ways to encourage some of the An'zhinians to consider joining the X-men and ease them into it. The Professor also said that he would contact the Pirates to ask about receiving some dilithium from them, although no one was terribly optimistic about that plan.

"If and when we do acquire more dilithium," Storm began, "what next then? Do we continue with our original plan of using telepathy to change the minds and opinions of earth's leaders?"

"I think we gotta," Wolverine answered. "Freein' the mutants from the camps was good but it's still just a drop in the bucket."

"You're probably right," Rogue agreed.

About one thing there was no doubt: until the X-men obtained more dilithium, they were stuck on An'zhina.

The meeting was called to an end. However, before Rogue could leave, she felt a hand on her arm. "Rogue, I want to talk with you." Cyclops's voice was low and quiet but very firm.

"'Course," Rogue replied. As the room emptied out, she realized that Scott had been oddly quiet during most of the second half of the meeting. She and Scott sat back down at the table once they were alone. "What's on your mind, sugar?"

Scott opened his mouth to speak. He usually was not at a loss for words regarding command decisions but he found sentences failing him now. His face flushed; dealing with uncomfortable matters was never easy. "Rogue, I wanted to remind you of a decision we X-men made long ago. When we discuss matters in these team leader meetings, if we decide that something is confidential then we are to keep it so."

Rogue's face looked blank, and Scott wasn't sure if she knew what he was getting at. "Of course, Cyke. Mum's the word." She then paused, realizing that a flip approach probably wasn't going to suffice here. "Is there any particular reason you're bringin' this up?"

"Yes." He took a breath as he groped for words. Jean would know what and how to say here. But he had to try to find the right way to say the words. He finally decided upon the direct approach. "Look, I'm aware that you told Bobby of the request that Queen Marina made of me. At the meeting where that was discussed, we decided not to divulge this information to anyone outside of the room."

For a split second, Rogue had a deer-in-the-headlights look in her eyes. But she recovered quickly. Although somewhat embarrassed by this, she could not say she was surprised either---of course Scott had to know that someone had not kept the secret. She and Gambit had discussed the possibility of this very situation arising. They knew that if Bobby went to Scott and asked him to fulfil the Queen's request in exchange for a cure for Northstar, Scott would obviously know that **someone** had spilled the beans and told Bobby about the request. And Scott knew that Bobby was good friends with Rogue and Gambit.

Rogue knew that Scott's anger **was** somewhat justified here, so she turned up the honey in her voice and kept out the vinegar. "Cyke, you're right. I did tell, and I'm really sorry about it." Her accent subconsciously thickened. "The only reason I did it was because I was concerned about Bobby's well-being. I mean, Cyke, think about it. If Northstar dies from this disease, I can't even imagine the shape Bobby's gonna be in. Heck, he might even try to take his own life again---heaven forbid. I wasn't in the X-men at the time, but Bobby told me all about the first time he tried to kill himself. If it hadn't been for Hank and the Professor…" She let her voice trail off. She also didn't mind that she had just pointed out, in a subtle way, the fact that Scott had done basically nothing to help Bobby during that depressing period of the Iceman's life. She then continued, "So I did fail to keep the secret, and I'm sorry 'bout it. I just hope you understand my reasons."

Rogue fervently hoped that Scott didn't know that she and Gambit had actually "spilled the beans" about Marina's request long before Northstar's diagnosis.

Cyclops nodded. "I understand your reasoning, but I must ask you to use better discretion in the future. Part of being a leader means respecting confidential information."

`Oh, heck, am I gonna get a lecture now?' Rogue thought. But her reply continued to convey her regretful and sweet tone of voice. She didn't like eating crow but sometimes, she reasoned, you just had to do things you didn't enjoy. `Hey, if Northstar's life---and Bobby's sanity---are saved, it'll all be worth it,' she thought. "You're very right, Cyclops. Honest, I'm real sorry. It won't happen again."

Scott was quiet and he nodded. Rogue knew that was his way of accepting the apology.

"So, are you gonna go through with it? You gonna ask Marina for a cure?" The words slipped out of Rogue's mouth before she realized it. She immediately wished that she had not asked. That was one quality of Gambit's that she really admired. He wouldn't accidentally blurt out anything that he didn't mean to say. He wouldn't allow curiosity to get the better of him, either but if he wanted to know something, he would find a very subtle way to get the answers.

Scott was very flustered by this question. After Rogue's apology, he did not expect that she'd have the audacity to ask this. `Of course,' he told himself, `why am I surprised….this is **Rogue** I'm dealing with.' He quickly replied, "I'm considering it."

`Considering it??' Rogue thought. When Bobby had told her of Scott's reply to the request, he'd made it seem like it was basically a done-deal. `Is our fearless leader backin' down?' Rogue wondered. But she then took a good look at his face. His skin was slightly flushed; she gathered that this entire conversation had been uncomfortable for him. `Maybe he just answered that way 'cause he's all nervous at me rufflin' his feathers like this,' she thought.

She desperately hoped that Scott was not having second thoughts.

*************

Gambit and I were at the beach. It was only the day after our return to An'zhina, but both of us missed the water, the sand, the luxury of being able to lay outside in the sun. Rogue had said that she'd join us after this meeting that the X-men leaders were having.

"Dis one time I sure feel glad dat I'm not a field commander," Gambit said.

I nodded my agreement, "Uh-huh. Let them sit inside a conference room on a day like today. We won't miss it." Gambit and I were laying on our backs on towels in the sand. As it was a gorgeous day, the beach was buzzing with activity and I heard the sounds of several others playing in the background. A volleyball game was underway and many were swimming too. I was glad to just be lazing around though. I ran my fingers through the sand, enjoying its warmth and texture.

"Storm and Wolverine mus' be goin' crazy," Gambit said. "Bet dey can't wait to get outta dat conference room and outdoors."

"The burdens of command," I murmured. I then sat up to re-apply some sun block as I'd been in the water earlier and just realized that I should put another coat on. The replicators are pretty amazing but they still don't make any sort of product that completely protects us against ultraviolet radiation. And the research the Endarians provided us clearly indicated that prolonged exposure to their sun without some sort of protection could be hazardous to our skin's health (though the situation wasn't anywhere near as bad as the one on earth.) Even though I was the iceman, I did enjoy the hot sun----just as long as water was nearby and I could cool down when I needed to.

"How're the gardens doin?" Gambit asked.

"Pretty good." I had checked on the maintenance of the vegetable gardens that morning. "There's a great crop of tomatoes coming up, and some incredible carrots and okra. With all the new social activities taking place on An'zhina now, there's an organized group taking care of the garden, and they're doing well. They asked me to be one of their guides." I paused. "They planted a bunch of flowers near the monument too, and it looks really beautiful," I added, referring to the monument that had been built on An'zhina to commemorate all the mutants who had been persecuted and killed for being mutants.

We continued chatting and I sat up, propped against a beach bag I'd brought with. John and Elaine Grey could now be seen with their two younger grandchildren in tow, along with Jubilee's daughter too. Charlotte and Rory both looked ecstatic to be on the beach once again and they frolicked happily.

"Just think, Remy," I began, "someday soon, you'll have one of those. A baby of your own."

"Yeah. I know."

The way he spoke those three words, his tone, was quite revealing, and I wonder if perhaps unintentionally so. If it was an accidental slip, it was unlike Gambit. "You don't sound all that enthused," I observed.

"I guess I ain't all that ent'used. Oh, Bobby, don't get me wrong," he said, sitting up so as to be able to look at me directly. "I love the idea of bein' a Pere someday. An' I love Rogue. Is jus' dat….dat dis be so soon. Rogue and I not been married all dat long and I wanna spend some more time wit' jus' her an' me. We got so much time before we gotta have kids, we still be young. I wish we could wait a bit more."

"Have you discussed this with her?"

"No. She be so excited 'bout dis an' so eager."

I spread my hands, "Well, Remy, that may be true but don't you think you should talk about this with her? I mean, tell her some of the things you just told me."

He sighed. "I know. Is just dat I hate to dampen her excitement."

"Well, yeah, but we're talking about having a baby here. That's pretty serious stuff and if you're feeling some hesitation over it…." I let my voice trail off. "It's probably better to talk about it now instead of waiting till she's pregnant. Then it's too late."

Gambit was oddly irresolute on this. It seemed a little unlike him. He said that he basically agreed with what I said but kept deferring the idea of discussing it with his wife. I kept trying to probe and find out why. He finally said, "Bobby, it's like dis. Rogue has had so much pain in her life an' so much hurt. Havin' a baby will give her some more happiness an' I don't wanna take it away from her. I don't wanna take away anyt'in' dat give her happiness. She ain't had it easy.""

That last statement was the one he sounded the most firm on, so I stopped pressing the issue. It was none of my business anyway and no skin off my back if they did have a baby soon---- and besides, I looked forward to the possibility of yet another baby for me to play Uncle with. But Gambit's last few sentences kept replaying themselves in my mind. Yeah, Rogue's had a lot of pain in her life but so, I was sure, had Gambit.

"How is Jean-Paul doin'?" Gambit asked me. I guessed that maybe he wanted to steer the conversation away from his ambivalence on the baby issue.

"He's fine," I said. "He and his sister and Kurt wanted to hike around some of the hills today. So that's where they are now."

"So…do we know when Cyke's gonna contact Marina 'bout gettin' a cure?"

I shook my head. "I wish I knew. But I gotta give the guy some time, you know. We only got home last night, and I'm sure he and Jean are very busy, getting caught up with the rest of their family and with the leadership stuff." I took a breath. "But I hope it's soon. Poor Hank. He and Moira are working away in that lab when he should be out here relaxing. I can't even tell you how guilty I feel over that."

My life was not going to get any easier, I knew, even if Jean-Paul was cured. I would end up owing Scott and Jean forever, and though I knew Hank would forgive me, I still felt like a jerk for not telling him that he could unchain himself to the laboratory.

"Hank will forgive you," Gambit said, eerily echoing my thoughts.

"Yeah, but **Panda** might not forgive me," I muttered. I then added, "Not that I can blame her too much. She doesn't get to spend much time with him, and they have a baby on the way."

"You know dat he loves his work an' loves looking for solutions. Dis problem 'bout him workin' too much was gonna come up eventually, and he and Panda gotta sort dat one out for demselves." He said that last sentence with a note of finality. He then looked at me and asked, with tenderness in his voice, "So tell me really….How are t'ings wit' you and Northstar now?"

I shrugged. "They're okay. More than okay, really. We talk. Sometimes he doesn't want to talk, and I respect that." I paused, and then added, "I don't know if I can fully understand what he's going through, you know? Actually, all things considered, things between us can't be much better than they are now. Except for----" I broke off.

"'Cept for what?" Gambit asked. There was some real curiosity in his words, I sensed.

"The whole sex thing," I mumbled.

Somehow I knew that this was exactly where Gambit had wanted our conversation to go. And somehow I felt mostly alright about opening up with him on it too. I'd always gotten the feeling that Gambit had this…undercurrent of interest in my and Jean-Paul's sex life. I can't really explain it and I'm not at all saying that I think Gambit's latently gay or bisexual --- but I just have always gotten the idea that he wants to know more about the general topic. (And of course there was that one incident between Gambit and I, years ago, not long after the X-men got control of Freedom and Rogue wasn't on speaking terms with him. He and I had been playing cards and drinking real booze one evening and he'd been tossing out innuendo at me all night, until he basically asked if I enjoyed performing blow jobs. Obviously I didn't indulge his barely-masked request and I subsequently wrote his behavior off as stemming from too much alcohol and too long without sex. He and I never spoke about that night and I had pretty much forgotten about it until this day at the beach reminded me.)

"Is it like he don't wanna do it anymore? Is he afraid of infecting you?" Gambit asked.

"Yeah, he's basically afraid I'm going to contract the virus. We do have sex but we haven't been doing some of the things I really want to do."

"Like what?"

I smiled and answered him in a light-hearted manner. "What, you want details? Why are you asking?" I didn't think his intent was bad but I just didn't usually divulge any of this stuff to Gambit. Jubilee and Dani were the two with whom I shared whatever details they wanted, but I never really spoke in detail about my sex life with Rogue or Gambit.

"We friends, no? 'Sides, you know dat I concerned for you an' not jus' tryin' to be nosy." He shrugged. "An' you know I ain't like Cyke or some other people here; I ain't the least bit uncomfortable wit' the gay t'ing. You one of my best friends in the world."

"Aww, thanks, Gambit," I said, his words easily melting my resistance to opening up. And I totally believed him when he said that he wasn't at all uncomfortable talking about homosexuality. After a while, it's pretty easy to tell who's put off by it and who isn't. And besides, I kinda brought it up when I mentioned that Jean-Paul and I weren't doing the things in bed that I wanted. "Okay," I began, "what's bugging me is that Jean-Paul won't allow us to do the anal thing. He's paranoid about getting me infected." I left out the fact that I also missed being able to swallow Jean-Paul's cum. Gambit didn't need to hear every detail.

"What about condoms?"

"He's afraid that it's going to break. A few nights ago, I actually got him to agree to do it and convinced him that a condom would be enough protection. But just as he was gonna put the thing on, he went soft. That never happened before---him losing his erection."

"Hmmmm," Gambit said, "looks like his fears took over dere, no? Do you know, Bobby….is it really safe wit' a condom?"

"Well, according to the literature I read---and I read a lot---it should be pretty safe, as long as the condom doesn't break. I just don't know what the chances are of that actually happening, you know? I don't know if condoms really break that often."

"Did it ever happen to you?"

I looked around and saw that a few newcomers to the beach had arranged their towels within earshot of ours. They seemed fairly oblivious to us but just as a precaution, I lowered my voice. Gambit correspondingly leaned in a bit closer to me. "No." I paused. "But, I—uh---was a bad boy in the past. I haven't actually used condoms that much before." I didn't want to share any more of the details. When I was young and in my suicidal stage, I knew about AIDS but there were many years where I truly didn't care whether I lived or died. Didn't care about most of my partners either, frankly. The many men who I was with during that miserable time never even asked or suggested that we use condoms either.

Gambit nodded. "Well, it sound like he jus' really concerned for you. He don't wanna get you sick. He cares 'bout you."

"I know." I then, fearing eavesdroppers, lowered my voice to a whisper. "And I tell myself that if Cyclops actually goes through with what we talked about, Jean-Paul will be cured and this won't be an issue anymore." I paused and leaned back away from Remy. "Okay, Gambit, I've opened up to you, and now it's your turn. How did you get to be so like not-homophobic?"

"It was never a big deal for me," he said simply. "Back in the Bayou, I knew guys dat were gay and some bisexual guys too. Dey were cool. New Orleans got a big gay section." I really wished that he'd talk more and tell me something about his pre-X-men days. I watched his face intently and it seemed like maybe he was going to say more.

But Rogue then walked up to us and the mood was lost. "Hey, chere," Gambit said, scrambling to his feet and embracing his wife.

Rogue eagerly returned his kiss. She then stripped off her shorts (which were quite short, by the way) and half-shirt till she was clad in a bikini, and joined us in laying around at the beach. I noticed that it seemed Rogue's gotten really comfortable in her skin now. She has her powers so well under control that it doesn't appear she's all worried about skin or touch issues anymore.

I hung out with them for a while longer, content to absorb the warmth of the sun. Rogue had brought some snacks with her so we nibbled on the food. At one point, Charlotte meandered over towards us and we played in the sand with her for a bit. Later on, the three of us were joined by Storm, and we procured one of the boats. We drifted around on the water for a while.

Later in the afternoon, I started to get tired and wanted out of the sun, so I headed back for my room.

When I got to my room, I froze in shock at the sight of it.

Someone had spray-painted a message on the wall. The message read, in all capital letters, DIE AIDS FAGGOTS

************

I'm not sure how long I stood there frozen in shock. I think I recovered pretty quickly, though. I'd seen more shocking and horrible things in my life, by far.

It was just that An'zhina was supposed to be a safe place. No one locked their rooms because we weren't supposed to need to. Everyone on An'zhina had all they needed, so there was no motivation to steal. And no one feared physical harm from anyone else. But I felt the blood draining from me and chills on the back of my neck as I stared at the hateful message on the wall. Did I now have reason to fear?

Once the shock wore off, I started trying to think of what to do next. My first impulse was to call Jean-Paul, but I didn't. (He and I, by the way, still maintained separate rooms though I figured that we would—like we did on Freedom---often sleep in each other's rooms.) I felt an inexplicable urge to protect him from this sight.

My next instinct then was to find a logical way to determine who had done this. I had a pretty good idea then but I had to be able to prove it. I got an idea.

"Wolverine, it's Bobby. Can you come to my room right away? I need you."

"Be right there," he mumbled in reply to my request on the communicator.

A minute or two later, I heard footsteps behind me. "What's wrong, Bobby?" he asked. I stepped aside the doorway to allow him into the room. "Shit," he said, looking at the graffiti on the wall.

"I think I know who did this," I said, surprising myself with the calm in my voice, "but I thought I'd ask for your nose to -----"

"Todd," he interrupted, sniffing the air. "Ain't no one been in this room recently 'cept us, Northstar, and Todd."

"Why am I not surprised?" I asked, managing a smile.

Several things happened after that. Wolverine and I entered Jean-Paul's room, just to make sure that nothing in there was defaced. (Nothing was. I wondered if perhaps Todd had gotten confused regarding which room was mine and which Jean-Paul's. Todd's not too bright.) I called Jean-Paul on the communicator and apprised him of the situation. He zoomed over here and surprised me with his restraint. (I had expected him to seek out Todd and beat the crap out of him. But he didn't.)

"We gotta tell the An'zhina leaders 'bout this," Wolverine said. "Todd is one stupid bastard."

"I should say," Jean-Paul said, sounding disgusted but calm. "He can claim that he did not do it, but Jean or the Professor will be able to detect that he is lying."

I wondered what sort of punishment would be given to Todd, and I really hoped that it would be serious –- and not a mere slap on the wrist.

*************

Todd soon found himself sitting at a table in a conference room with Jean Grey and Sean Cassidy.

"I didn't do it!" Todd exclaimed.

"Really?" Jean asked. As one of An'zhina's leaders and a telepath, she had been asked to help facilitate this meeting, despite the fact that she'd only been back on An'zhina since the previous evening. She had also been the facilitator last time Todd had found himself in trouble. "So you are saying that you did not graffiti a message on Bobby's wall?"

"No. I didn't do it," he said, sounding more calm now. "He probably did it himself for sympathy," Todd added, rolling his eyes.

"Todd, are you aware that I can use my powers to detect when someone is lying?" Jean asked.

Banshee spoke up, "Lad, I raised a child and from that experience **I** can tell that you are fibbing, even though I am no telepath." And, Banshee silently addded, Todd was no longer a child but a man in his twenties. 'You wouldna know it from his behavior….'

"If you are speaking the truth, then may I have permission to enter your mind and find out?" Jean asked. Her voice was soothing and soft.

Todd's eyes darted around for a second. He crossed his arms over his chest and replied, "No."

A moment or two passed in silence. Then Jean said, "I just did it anyway." She turned to Banshee. "He's lying. He did it."

"I canna say I am surprised about that," Banshee said. His reply had been quick but it belied the fact that he **was** surprised at Jean's action. Part of him was disbelieving that Jean would actually enter someone's mind without permission. `Well, maybe it does na matter so much. We already knew he was guilty if Wolverine's nose sensed that he had been in Bobby's room,' Banshee rationalized.

"Okay, fine," Todd said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "I did do it. Look, I had to find a way to warn people about this. We can't have someone with AIDS roaming around An'zhina! What if we all get infected?"

Jean took a deep breath and explained that the information was not Todd's to share, that the An'zhinans had already been educated on HIV transmission when Lu was sick but would receive formal education again, and that spray painting hateful messages inside people's rooms was not an effective educational tool. Upon seeing Todd's stony gaze, Jean added, "And besides, admit it, Todd. You did it to scare Bobby and Northstar, to intimidate them and maybe even make them want to leave An'zhina. You did it because you fear and loathe gay people." Before he had a chance to answer, she said, "Don't deny it; I was inside your mind!" She then added, "You need to get over it already. An'zhina is not the place for this and I'm sick of your bullshit."

Banshee again felt some surprise at Jean; she sounded angrier than he had ever really observed. However, the situation did pretty much call for it, he told himself.

"Do you have anything else to say to defend your actions?" Banshee asked.

Todd was quiet for a few seconds. "I just hope that you guys think about this and do something to protect us from HIV. It's a deadly disease that those people spread. Maybe Northstar should be confined to the infirmary or something. I don't want to swim in the same water as him or be around when he coughs or sneezes."

Jean's reply was blunt, to say the least. "Then maybe **you** should confine yourself to your quarters."

***************

Banshee and Jean informed Todd that they would discuss the incident the following day with the An'zhina leadership group (which consisted of, in addition to themselves, the Professor, Moira, and three camp survivors who had been elected representatives – Yunfei, Erica, and Bailey.) They told Todd that the group would come to a decision on the nature of Todd's punishment.

Meanwhile, Todd's deed had more or less achieved one of its desired outcomes. Tongues wagged and word of Jean-Paul's HIV status slowly but surely spread. (Todd himself did most of gossip-spreading, and he knew a few others who loved to talk as well.) Scott and Jean, however, were far less concerned with the state of gossip on An'zhina or even with the task of determining Todd's punishment tomorrow.

They had a far more pressing issue on their hands.

"Northstar and Bobby are always causing so much trouble," Scott muttered, on the evening of their first full day back on An'zhina. The day had been quite a busy one. In addition to the usual upheaval of getting used to An'zhina again, the two children—especially Charlotte—had been running wild with excitement. She was particularly thrilled to see her grandparents again. However, the incident in Bobby's room had provided a splash to the day.

Jean listened to Scott's words and fought back a harsh reply. She wasn't in the best of moods herself, and wasn't quite up for defending Bobby and Northstar. Part of her truly did not wish to, even though the incident today was hardly their fault and she knew it. Jean sat quietly on the bed, her hands in her lap.

"Do you have any idea what sort of punishment to give Todd?" Scott asked, as he stripped off his clothing and replaced it with a comfortable cotton pair of sweatpants and T-shirt.

"I haven't even really thought about it," Jean sighed. "I'll hear what the other An'zhina leaders have to say tomorrow and we can decide then."

"Do you want to watch a movie on the vidcam? It might be nice to get our minds off of everything that's been going on," he suggested, as he sat next to her.

Jean was quiet. Scott looked at her. The look in her eyes was one he rarely saw. He saw fatigue…and also some bitterness mixed with resignation. "I guess we can't not talk about it any longer," Scott admitted softly.

Jean nodded. "Are you going to contact Queen Marina tomorrow?"

Scott absentmindedly started rubbing his temples. "I guess I can't put it off any longer. And I can't really back out, since we've already told Bobby."

Jean nodded, looking straight ahead and not at Scott. "I saw Jeanne-Marie this morning when we were both paying our respects to the monument. I haven't seen her looking happier in a long, long time."

"I saw her at breakfast. I don't know if I'd say it is happiness or relief I saw." It had been an awkward moment, though, seeing Jeanne-Marie. He had seen the former Alpha Flight member start towards him, hesitate, and then turn elsewhere. Maybe, he wondered, she had been about to thank him but then questioned whether that would be the right thing to do.

Jean shrugged. "It doesn't matter now, I guess. We have to go through with it." She turned her head and looked at him. "**You** have to go through with it."

"I know," Scott nodded. He then swallowed and said softly, "Jean, you encouraged me to do this. Now it looks like you have second thoughts."

"I do," she admitted. "I won't attempt to hide anything from you." She then made a small smile, "When you have a mindlink with someone, there's no use in trying to hide anything, anyway. You're right. Today I don't feel so great about it. Tomorrow I might feel better…or worse. I expect that both of us will have a lot of different feelings about it as time goes by."

He nodded. "I resent both Bobby and Northstar so much now," he murmured. "Maybe I always have, and this just makes it worse," he acknowledged. "Part of me knows it's wrong, too. Wrong to resent them so much. I mean, if he really did get the disease from the attack by the FOH, then it really isn't his fault. And you did say that Bobby was telling the truth when he said he would do the same thing for us, if our positions were reversed. It probably could have just as easily **been** us." Scott paused and added, "And I keep remembering Lu. Maybe her death could have been prevented if I'd gone along with Marina's request then." He took a breath. "I don't want the feeling of another death on my hands. I've been thinking about that a lot lately."

"Same here," Jean agreed, though with a listlessness to her voice. Both of their voices were hushed even though it was unlikely either of the sleeping children in their room would hear them. "I guess in the face of life and death, my jealousy is very petty of me."

"Jealousy? Jean, my love…" he struggled for words, quite taken aback to hear of her envy. "You know that you have nothing to be jealous of. Nothing at all," he insisted, with passion in his voice. "You once even said it yourself…our relationship is strong, and we can survive this. We will."

Jean slumped against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "We have to," she murmured.

***************

I don't know if Jean-Paul is mellowing out or what. I think it probably has something to do with the illness he has. But he didn't go after Todd and beat him up after what the creep did to my room. He just looked at me and said, apparently mustering some moral resolve, "I'm going to take the high road with this." And that was that. I was impressed.

The day after the incident, I saw the Professor at breakfast. He went up to me and told me that the An'zhina leaders were going to discuss Todd's fate right after the meal. I would've liked to have been a fly on the wall for that meeting, but I knew it wasn't possible so instead I headed off for the gardens and decided to tend to them. I also had a karate lesson with Wolverine, Jubes and Moonstar scheduled for later that morning.

"Is there any word on what's gonna happen to that stupid creep?" Jubilee asked me, when we were finished with the lesson of the day.

"I haven't heard yet," I said. "But I was just gonna go find the Professor or someone else on the team and ask. It's almost lunchtime and they have to have made their decision by now."

"I vote for us making a jail and tossing Todd in there for a while," Jubilee said.

I looked at Moonstar and saw her looking at Jubilee, smiling. "I agree, Jubilee."

Moments later, Jean-Paul appeared before us. He could fly so fast that it often looked like he appeared out of nowhere. "I saw the Professor and the others leaving a conference room just now," he said. "Come on. Let us see what they decided."

He picked me up in his arms and off we went. Thanks to Jean-Paul's hyperspeed, we were there quick as a wink.

***************

It had been a morning full of lively debate for the leadership of An'zhina. This was the first real criminal act that occurred on the moon----a citizen entered someone's room without permission and spray painted a hateful message on their wall. All of the leaders agreed that this was a serious crime and not one to be taken lightly. On this issue, there was concurrence.

However, deciding exactly what to do with the guilty party was not as easy.

One person brought up the idea of asking Todd to return to earth, and bringing him with the X-men on their next trip to the troubled planet. (Assuming that the X-men someday, somehow got more dilithium and were able to return to earth.) However, the consensus was that that punishment was far too harsh. The point was then brought up that they had no written-out criminal code which specified the specific punishment for different offenses. So it was decided to form a team and create such a code.

Another person had the idea to create a warning system----letting an offender like Todd know that if he did repeat a crime like this one, he could face eventual deportation. This idea was received well and rules regarding "progressive discipline" were to be drafted up as well, so that citizens had a few chances to redeem themselves before facing a serious punishment such as deportation.

"These are brilliant ideas," the Professor said at one point, "however, we still need to resolve the issue of disciplining Todd in the meantime."

Even more discussion and debate followed. One person did suggest building a jail cell and having Todd serve some time inside of it. However, that idea was also rejected as being too severe for this crime----though it would be considered for any future infractions by Todd. Finally, the group decided on this: a program of community service for Todd combined with placing him on a "probationary period" would be a suitable punishment. The probationary period would involve Todd spending significant time confined to quarters.

"I must confess that I like the idea of Todd confined to his room" Moira said with a smile. "If he is to act like a child, then we can treat him as one."

"I have another thought too," the representative named Bailey said. Bailey was a mutant in his early forties, one of those who had been rescued during the third successful rescue----he had spent time in the camp that Jean's family was being transported to, and where the X-men had been held captive the time that Northstar and Storm were tortured. His easy-going and casual style combined with a striking sincerity and ability to relate to so many people led to him being elected the third of An'zhina's non- X-men leaders. "I think the community service and probationary period thing is cool. But I don't think it's gonna be quite enough, 'cause I think the real problem here is homophobia. Todd does stuff like this 'cause he's a total homophobe. I think this guy's got some education comin' to him. He's gotta learn to like….get over it."

"I think you are right," Moira said. "If we do na address the root cause, the problems with Todd's behavior will continue."

"And it would be nice if we can avoid having to ever build a jail cell or deport Todd," Erica added. "I hope those are last-resorts."

The Professor nodded. The X-men had created several educational workshops and classes for all of the citizens of An'zhina, programs in which the rescued mutants were taught to accept themselves and build their self-confidence. Most of the classes had sections on accepting differences in other people as well. The classes addressed matters such a cooperating with people of different races, sexes, ethnic groups, and different manifestations of their mutantcy. However, the training did not specifically address homophobia. "We need to come up with some training to address this matter," he said. "However, none of us in this room are the experts on this subject either."

The group discussed it some more and decided upon asking Northstar, Dani Moonstar, and Bobby to help with the construction of this workshop. They also realized that more education regarding HIV and AIDS would be beneficial for all An'zhinians.

Later on, Bobby and Northstar were pleased to hear the results of the meeting. They particularly liked the idea of Todd having to undergo a workshop addressing homophobia, though neither argued with the idea of Todd forced to perform various menial tasks or spending bouts confined to his room either.

****************

Scott had decided not to put it off any longer. He and Jean discussed it that morning. As Jean headed for the meeting with the other leaders to discuss Todd, and their two children were given to the loving care of their grandparents, Scott walked to a conference room and tried to contact Queen Marina.

The largest conference room inside the compound featured a vast round table which could easily seat all the X-men, with room to spare. The room had windows from floor to ceiling---some of which faced the lush, green outdoors. The communication equipment was housed inside this spacious room. The An'zhina leadership was meeting in a smaller room that morning, so Scott had the room all to himself.

He walked to the communications relay and punched in a few buttons. He transmitted a text message to Marina, requesting a "live" meeting with her. As he typed, his fingers trembled and his heart rate sped up.

Scott had not expected an immediate reply; nor did he receive one. A few hours later, a text message was sent to his personal communicator. Marina's schedule was full of engagements that day, but she could speak with him early the following morning. Scott was ordered to be ready in the main conference room at a specific time.

The day passed at an agonizingly slow pace for Scott.

"Daddy worried," Charlotte stated. "Nervous." Scott found himself reading to the children, sometime during the afternoon.

"I'm sorry, pumpkin," he said. Although he was on the third different book he'd read to them this afternoon, he had no idea what the previous two books had been about or even the topic of the current one. "Daddy's had a lot on his mind. Don't worry about me, sweetie. I'm okay."

He looked at his timepiece. Several hours more to go until dinnertime. The day continued to move slower than a glacier.

*************

Dani Moonstar walked down the corridor towards her room. It had been such a blissful day. She loved being back on An'zhina and had spent virtually every hour outside. The day got even better when Moira MacTaggert approached her in the afternoon and asked her to put together some thoughts and ideas on teaching people about tolerance for gay men and lesbians. Truth be told, Dani would take working on that sort of thing over a combat session in the Danger Room any day.

Of course the best part of the day had been her interactions with Jubilee, as always. The two had taken little Aurora for a swim, and spent hours frolicking in the water and, later, the sand. An'zhina's water was a shimmering turquoise blue, crystal clear and beautiful. Dani had seen nothing remotely like it before. Jubilee had enjoyed herself, Dani could tell. She smiled, thinking of the woman she loved. Very soon Dani planned to make her interest known.

Later that day, Dani had later joined Panda, Mark, and two other An'zhinians for a late evening walk up the hills. The view of the sunset had been breathtaking. By the time they got back to the main complex, it had been late. Dani hung out with a few of the others in the rec room, sipping drinks with music in the background and talking until the early hours of the morning and Moonstar's yawns told her she needed to get some sleep. She headed back for her room with a smile on her face. She was thinking of Jubilee.

The door slid aside. Dani looked around and dropped the cup of tea she'd been holding, her smile having evaporated.

"What the hell are you doing here??"

Marrow was perched nonchalantly on the edge of the bed. "Thought you'd never get here. Hi, Dani."

Dani's eyes bulged. She knew, as all the X-men did, that the Pirates's ship had been hovering in the vicinity. But as they'd had no official contact with them lately, she was stunned to see Marrow in her room.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dani repeated, incredulous at Marrow's gall.

"I'm here to see you. I missed you."

Dani's mouth fell wide open. "Missed me? Whaaaat? Uh, Marrow…we spent ten minutes together on board your ship a while ago. What the heck are you talking about??"

Marrow shrugged. "I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out some. Like, if you wanted to ever get together. We could have dinner on board my ship or something. We could work out together. Maybe you could play a song on that flute of yours."

Moonstar blinked several times. She had not been drinking alcohol and knew that this was not some bizarre hallucination. Still, she did not believe a word of what she was hearing. Given the awkwardness of their one previous conversation, Marrow's words didn't register. There had been no chemistry, no sparks between the two of them. What Marrow was saying just didn't make any sense.

"Um, I'm flattered at the offer," Dani managed, "but I think I'll pass. I'm real busy with the X-men now. And I'm not really thrilled that you decided to barge into my room unannounced like this, either."

Marrow offered no apology. She just sat there on the bed. Dani couldn't figure her out.

"Well, uh, I'm gonna go to bed now," Dani said. "So you wanna move on now…." she said, making a gesturing motion with her arm.

Marrow finally took the hint and stood up. "Okay. Fine. I'll see you later." She tapped her communicator and commanded, "One to beam up." Marrow was then beamed away.

Moonstar didn't sleep well that night. She'd always thought of An'zhina as such a safe place. But within the span of two days, Bobby's room had been defaced with a hateful graffiti message and now Marrow had beamed herself into Dani's room. `I guess she can beam herself here again at any time,' Dani thought. `Who knows what that crazy chick might do next.' She tried to cut that line of thought off, but the worries kept coming.

Still, Dani wouldn't tell any of her teammates about the event. She was a little embarrassed by it and although she was good at listening and extracting information from everyone else, Moonstar preferred to keep her own business to herself.

**************

"Well, Scott. It is good to see you. What did you want from me?"

Queen Marina's image gazed calmly back at Scott Summers through the video screen. Out of the side of his visor, Scott saw a few people walking by the outdoor path that one of the conference room's windows opened up against. He hoped that none of them glanced into the conference room and saw him talking with Marina. Gossip seemed to spread at lightening speed on An'zhina. Which made sense, actually --- they had a small population with somewhat limited entertainment sources. All the new social groups that had been formed---the cooking club, "bad art group", sports leagues, etc.---facilitated the spread of gossip even more.

"I wanted to ask you for your help, Queen Marina," Scott replied, looking back at her steadily. To an onlooker, Cyclops appeared calm and collected. "One of the X-men has been diagnosed with HIV." He paused, "You do know what HIV is, right?"

"Yes," Marina replied. The Endarians periodically sent probes to the planet earth, as they found that monitoring the happenings on that troubled world provided a grim yet fascinating form of entertainment. And from keeping abreast of the events on An'zhina, Marina knew that a young woman named Lu had died of AIDS less than a year ago. "I am sorry to hear that one of your people has this virus. Who is it?"

"Northstar."

Cyclops and Marina both, then, tried to speak at the same time. Scott apologized and deferred to the Queen.

"I suppose you are contacting me to ask for my help," she stated.

"Yes, I am. Jean-Paul will eventually die if no cure if found. I'm sure that you don't want to see one of the X-men die, Queen Marina, as I know you are an admirer of the work the X-men have done." He paused. "Surely you have a way to help us, and I'm asking if you can share your cure with us. Your scientists do have a cure for HIV, don't they?"

Scott fervently hoped the answer would be "no." He doubted that his hope would come true though. But the thought of going through with this insane plan felt no more comfortable to him now than when it was first suggested to him.

"Yes, they do," Marina answered. Despite not having his hopes up too high, Scott still felt his heart sink just a bit lower. But still….there was one small hope left. Perhaps Marina would feel sympathy for an X-man she would just give them the cure men without asking for any special favors from Scott. "We had an outbreak of a similar—and equally deadly---virus about five- or six hundred years ago," the regent continued. "I am not a scientist but I believe that our cure, with some modifications, should work for Northstar. Your anatomy and physiology is very similar to that of Endarians'."

"Will you help us, then?" Scott asked.

Marina's eyes lit up and she smiled. As soon as he saw that smile and the devilish glint in her eyes, Scott's last shred of hope withered and died. His heart plummeted to the ground. "You know my price, Scott."

Scott swallowed, though his mouth was dry. "Do you mean it, Marina? Do you really mean that if I don't go through with what you want, you're just going to let Jean-Paul just die?"

Marina shrugged. "I must say that I truly do not understand why this is such a big deal to you, Scott. Most of the galaxy does not practice monogamy as you do. Making love is a wonderful thing and I cannot share your puritan disdain of it."

"I have nothing against **making love**, Queen Marina," he answered, not hiding his anger. "It's something my wife and I do quite frequently. But casual, meaningless sex with someone you don't love ---and when you've made vows to someone else----is another thing entirely."

Marina raised her eyebrows and bit her lip from making a comment. She found Scott Summers adorable when he was angry. "Whatever you say, Cyclops. Irregardless of our difference of opinion in this matter…do you want the cure or not?" she asked, though she did not return his irate tone.

"Is there any other way….anything else we can do, to get you to provide us with that cure?"

Her answer was pure, simple, and clear. "No."

Once again, they both spoke at the same time. This time, she deferred to him. "What specifically is it you want from me?" he asked.

"As I said before, I would like for us to spend an evening together. This will include dinner and perhaps an event such as a play or a dance. Then we will return to my palace and make love."

Scott swallowed again. He spotted something off to the side and turned his head to see a few An'zhinians walking down the same path outdoors. Fortunately they didn't look into the conference room; they seemed oblivious to the turmoil their leader was experiencing.

"Okay," he said.

Marina's usually steady image across the video screen reflected the shock she felt. "So you agree to this?" she asked, attempting to mask her surprise.

"If you'll provide a cure for Northstar right away, then yes. I'll do it."

The Queen felt that there were few things in life that could amaze her. This, however, was one of those times. Her heart raced at the thought of an evening with Scott. Through the vidcams, she had witnessed Scott and Jean making love many times, wishing that she could be in Jean's place. Now she would have her wish! She smiled. The Queen was used to getting what she wanted and once more, she had it.

"When will we do this?" Scott asked.

"If you will wait a moment, I will find an evening when I am free." She then placed their conversation "on hold." Her image on the screen was replaced with an Endarian emblem.

Scott paced around the room while he waited for her to return. It was too late to back out now. Not that backing out had ever really been an option. He had briefly entertained notions of lying to Northstar and Bobby, telling them that the Endarians had no cure and would not help. He wasn't sure if his main motivation for not doing so had to do with honor and truth….or whether it was simply because he knew he would not be believed.

Thoughts careened through his mind. 'How will this impact Jean and I?…..I can't believe I'm doing this for Northstar of all people…..What if others find out?'

Scott eventually stopped pacing and sat down in one of the seats. At least ten minutes had to have passed by now. He was starting to think that it was taking Marina quite a long time to find her appointment book when the screen blipped again to let him know that Marina was back.

"Thank you for waiting," she said. "My schedule was booked solid for nearly the next lahar," she said. A lahar was a period of time equivalent to approximately 23 days. "However, I was able to make some changes to my schedule. I can see you nine days from today. I believe, given the system you are using of giving your days earth names, that would be the following Monday."

Scott nodded. "That's right. That should be okay with me." He took a breath. "So when does Northstar get his cure?"

"On Tuesday," she replied, with a smile.

"I have one more request," Scott began, feeling like a complete whore. He hadn't thought of a subtle way to bring this into the conversation but he had to make this entreaty as well. "We X-men need some dilithium too. Will you provide us with some?"

"Hmmmm," Marina began. She allowed a few seconds to elapse as she thought. She then answered, providing Scott with yet another blow, "I might give you dilithium. It will depend on how well our evening progresses."

************

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