Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy! Sorry this took so long. Blame fan-fiction. I couldn't log in for two days...

Lt. Mike Sanderson watched as his sergeant ran to report to him, almost breathless by the time he reached him.

"Sir," he said, panting heavily. "They were here. And left very recently from what we can tell."

"Excellent," Sanderson replied. "Gather the men around."

He looked out over at about twenty of his most trusted officers as they grouped together in front of him. They had been feeling discouraged, and Sanderson knew that many of them had been ready to give up. They had been anxious, ready for revenge for what these two mistakes of nature had done to three of their own. Tom Albers and Jeff O'Connell would fully recover, with time, but Martin Fox had a cracked vertebrae and there was word that he may never walk again.

But Lt. Michael Sanderson had an even more personal reason for catching these two. His boss, his close confidant, and his friend, Greydon Creed was missing. When Sanderson had realized that the two mutants had escaped, the first thing he had done was go to Creed. But he had soon realized that he was gone as well. Sanderson wasn't sure what had happened to the man, but his first thought was that he had been kidnapped. And if that was the case, then there was a good chance that Greydon Creed was dead.

As Mike Sanderson stared out at the faces of his men, he remembered the promise that he had made to him. He had sworn that if anything happened to Creed, he would take in his young daughter. Never had he imagined that he may have to abide by that promise so soon.

"Men," Sanderson began. "We have word that the enemy was here not too long ago. We will not rest until we find them, and have revenge for what these two freaks of nature did to our comrades and friends. We will not fail! Are you with me?"

A loud cheer burst from the men, who raised their guns in the air like wild hunters on the trail of some viscous animal. Sanderson barked out orders, separating them, directing who was to go where. If there was only one thing he knew, it was that he would not rest until he had these muties in his gun's sight. They would not get away with what they had done.

As Remy and Ororo followed Chris Vasquez to what they hoped would be a safe place to hide, they soon noticed that the woods were gradually thinning the further east they went. Soon, the soft ground that had been covered with pine needles was replaced by one that grew increasingly rocky.

"Where we going?" Remy called to Chris.

Chris yelled over his shoulder, his voice hard to hear by the wind that had started to pick up, "It's just up here. I may need your help to get in it."

"Get in it?" Remy asked, but the howling of the wind prevented Vasquez from hearing. The F.O.H soldier was already climbing up a large bolder, to where he could see several old dilapidated trees growing in the cracks. Wherever they were headed, it seemed to be right behind them. Chris turned to help Ororo up the rocks, with Remy covering the rear, carefully making sure that they weren't being followed. As soon as all three were safely up, Vasquez pointed to a hole in a rock that the trees carefully hidden. "Help me move this," he directed Remy. The two men shoved the rock aside several feet, and it finally dawned on Remy what it was. It was a very obscure entrance to a cave. "We can't go in there," he protested. "Ro won't never make it." Storm suffered from claustrophobia, and small, dark places could reduce her to a panic attack.

"No, it's alright. I will be fine," she insisted. "There is no where else to go. It's just so dark..."

"Come on, follow me," Vasquez said as he made his way into the dark rock. "It's actually a lot bigger than it looks."

Remy bent down a grabbed a stick, charging it with kinetic energy. "You sure you be okay, Stormy?"

"I will if you stop calling me that, Gambit."

He grinned, and held the glowing stick in the entrance of the cave. It worked well as a torch, and everything was soon illuminated with bright pink light. The ceiling was rather low, and Remy could just stand erect without hitting his head on it, but the walls, which started out narrow, gradually got wider and wider the further back you went. Chris was right, it was bigger than it looked. It actually looked less like a cave, and more like a huge hole that had been dug right into the cliffs. Their voices echoed more the further they went, and it got gradually darker, although the glowing stick helped a lot. Finally, Chris stopped them.

"We don't want to go any farther back then this," he said, his voice echoing as Remy's 'torch' let up a large circular cavern. "This is the most open area, and it's easy to get lost from here." He indicated to the two tunnels on the right wall, each leading in a different direction.

"How big is this thing?" Remy asked Chris, looking down each of the tunnels. "This the biggest cave I ever seen."

Chris shrugged. "I dunno. Pretty big, I guess. I'm actually not sure if it's not man-made. But as far as I know, no one knows about it but me."

"I thought you had said you were not allowed off the grounds of the F.O.H. compound for an entire year," Storm noted.

"Well...okay, so I lied a little. I found this place a few months ago, when we were doing survival training. They sent us out in the woods, and we were told that we had to 'survive' out here for 24 hours, without getting caught by the other team, whose job was to track us down." He paused and grinned at the memory. "I was the only one on my team not to get caught. No one in the organization must know this place is here."

"Well, it is lucky for us that you discovered it," Storm said. "We are grateful for your help, Chris."

Vasquez didn't reply, but he did look a little embarrassed. Or maybe he looked nervous. He wasn't sure if he should be helping them or not. If Creed or anyone in the F.O.H found out, he would be ostracized, or worse. But it was pretty much too late for regrets now.

Remy broke the awkward silence. "Well, if we gonna stay here for the night, we gonna need a fire. It's freezin' in here."

"But what if someone sees the smoke?" Chris asked.

Remy shrugged, not worried. "If we keep it small, and back here, we be fine. C'mon, homme, let's go find some wood."

The two of them didn't venture far from the cave, just in case, but as it turned out, they didn't have to. The ground was covered in old, dead wood from the ancient trees that grew around it. Remy never went more then a few feet from Chris, either. He wasn't taking any chances that this was some sort of trap. Experience had taught him to never let your guard down for a second. Soon, they were both back inside with a nice warm fire blazing away.

Remy sat, leaning against the cave wall, fiddling with the com link in his watch. He figured it was probably useless to try and fix it, but he wanted to make sure just the same. If he could get it working, it would be a snap for one of the others to figure out where he and Storm where. Ororo sat next to him, quietly staring into the flames, and occasionally adding more wood to it. Chris was across from them both, absent mindedly doodling in the dust with a stick, and every now and then casting Remy angry looks. Vasquez had no idea if he even noticed, but not only did he, but Remy was started to become annoyed by them.

"What?" He asked, exasperated.

Chris didn't even pretend not to understand. He chucked the stick into the fire, and said, "You still don't trust me, do you?"

Remy paused and cocked an eyebrow. "Why you ask?"

"Come on, man. You were practically glued to my hip when we went to get the wood. You think I'm gonna take off into the woods and yell to the whole world that you're in here, or what?"

Remy set down his com link, and leaned forward. The fire felt excellent, and he was warm for the first time in several days. He and Ororo were safe for the time being, and they had escaped reasonably unharmed, and the baby was safe as well. He knew that this kid was partly responsible for this, but still, he didn't regret at all what he was about to say.

"I'm sorry, homme, but there only two people on this planet that I completely and totally trust. One of 'em's me, and the other is sittin' next to me."

Chris looked from Remy to Ororo, and shook his head. "Whatever, man."

"Please try and understand, Chris," Storm broke in. "It is not as if he distrusts you. Remy is a very cautious person. I suppose I am as well. As mutants, we have to be. You have seen what happens first hand if we are not."

Vasquez turned away, feeling slightly guilty, as if he were personally responsible for what had happened. For several minutes, no one spoke, and the only sound was the crackling of the fire, and the distant sound of trees rustling in the wind outside. "Why aren't you guys married?" Chris suddenly asked.

Remy and Ororo glanced at each other. How do you answer a question like that? "Damn, that sure came outta left field, kid," Remy replied. "Why you think we not?"

"You're not wearing wedding rings," he pointed out.

"Ah...maybe we lost them."

Chris snorted. "Yeah, right. If you don't wanna tell me, then just say so."

"No, it's alright," Storm said. "I will tell you why we are not married. It is simply because Remy has never asked me to marry him."

Chris laughed, and shook his head. Remy grinned. "Hey, I'm workin' on it. Haven't found the right ring yet."

"And now, Mr. Vasquez," Ororo said, "If you don't mind, I have a question for you." The boy shrugged, and chucked some more sticks in the fire. "How did an intelligent and compassionate young man like yourself come to work for the Friends of Humanity?"

Chris felt his jaw slacken. He wasn't sure if it was because of the question or because a mutant had called him 'kind or compassionate.' "Why do you want to know?"

"Because it bothers me to know that someone so young could already feel so much contempt for mankind that he would feel compelled to join such an appalling organization as the Friends of Humanity."

Obviously, that was not the right thing to say. Chris jumped to his feet, eyes blazing. "That's not true! The F.O.H. is not an appalling organization! Don't think that just because I helped the two of you that I don't still hate muties! You Goddamn people are dangerous! Don't you realize that? You think you can control the Goddamn world! You don't care who you hurt along the way!" Vasquez suddenly stopped his yelling when he realized that both Remy and Ororo were staring at him in amazement. Chris turned away from them, and plopped back down to the ground, fighting back tears. He wished he could disappear from the face of the planet right then.

Ororo understood now. A mutant must have done something to this boy to make him hate and fear them so much. "You dislike mutants because one had hurt you, child, am I right?" Chris nodded without looking at her. "Who?" She asked. When he didn't reply, she added, "It may help to talk about it."

Chris sniffed, wiping his eyes on his jacket sleeve. His wasn't sure he wanted to talk about it, but still he replied, "My brother."

"Your brother?" Remy chimed in. "You have a brother that's a mutant?" Chris nodded rather distantly as if he didn't really want to admit it.

"Perhaps you had better start at the beginning," Ororo advised.

"It's a long story," he mumbled.

Remy and Ororo gave each other an understanding look. They both knew what it was like to be hurt by someone you loved. "We ain't going no where, homme. Take your time."

For a few minutes, Chris didn't speak. He scratched at the dirt floor with a stick, thinking. Did he really hate mutants? He wasn't sure. Finally, he said, "My mom was killed in a car wreck when I was only two. I don't even remember her. My dad freaked out, and ditched us. That's how it all started. Me and my older brother were raised by my sister."

He paused and turned back around to face them. "My sister, Aquiel, was like a mother to me. She was only seventeen when my dad left, but she dropped out of school and worked three jobs to take care of me and my brother. She wouldn't let us go into foster care, and we didn't have anyone to help. At least, anyone that would help."

"Your sister sounds like an incredible person. You must love her very much," Ororo said.

Chris nodded tentatively. "She was, and I did. I loved Victor[1], my brother, too. He was five years older then me, and I looked up to him. I wanted to be just like him. But then something happened."

"What?" Remy asked.

"It was around his fourteenth birthday. He began to...change. We didn't notice it at first, but he began to be able to control electricity. It was the most incredible thing I ever saw, at least until I met the two of you. Victor could literally suck up power from a socket or a power pole and direct it back at whatever he wanted. Well, at first I thought it was kinda cool. But I slowly changed my mind. It began to take control of Vic's mind. He thought he was God, or something. Just because he could control electricity. He turned...bad. And he began to resent me and my sister because he thought we were holding him back, or something like that."

"What did your brother do?" Storm asked quietly. She was pretty sure she already knew the answer, but she had to know for sure.

Chris looked down at his hands, his chin trembling. When he spoke, his voice shook terribly. "He...killed Aquiel," he said. "Victor killed my sister. For no reason other then she got in his way one day. He electrocuted my sister! My own brother! And after all she did for him!" Tears began to pour down, and Chris buried his face in his lap and cried. He hated thinking about the day he found his sister's lifeless body. He hated remembering how much it hurt. He had only been eleven years old, and his whole world was shattered that day. Damn you, Victor! Damn you for taking her away from me! "And damn you for making me relive it!" He screamed at Ororo and Remy.

"Huh?" Remy asked, eying Storm. Where had that come from?

She hushed him with a look, and then holding her bulging stomach, moved to sit next to the boy. "We are sorry, child, if we caused you anguish. But you know, you will not heal from this unless you talk about it. It is not wise to keep your feelings bottled up." She reached out and patted his shoulder. He flinched at first, but didn't move away. "I know," he whispered. "I'm sorry. But you see why I'm not too crazy about mutants now?"

"Just 'cause your brother was a power hungry freak, boy," Remy said, "don't mean that all mutants are like that. Think about if all non-mutants were compared to Hitler or Charles Manson or something."

"That is true," Ororo agreed. "We are both sorry about what happened to your sister, but it is not fair to judge a group of people by what one has done."

Chris looked up, and dried his eyes. "I can't believe I'm such a crybaby."

"There is no shame in crying, child."

He nodded. "You guys are right. I guess I don't really hate all mutants. I was just so angry at my brother that I blamed every mutant for what he did. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for what the F.O.H did to you."

"You didn't have nothing to do with that, mon ami. Don't blame yourself," Remy said. "Hell, me and Stormy owe you our lives."

Chris smiled. "No problem." He stifled a yawn. "Man, what a day. You guys can tell your kid about this one day, and we'll call it even. Just don't forget about that hottie that saved your butts when you do."

Remy and Ororo laughed, and for awhile no one spoke. All three of them laid down around the fire and watched the embers slowly burn. Chris was soon asleep, exhausted as much from the talk as the rest of the day. Remy poked a few more sticks into the flames, and listened as they crackled and popped. "You know what, chere?"

"Hmm?"

"I think the F.O.H have one less soldier." He pointed to Chris's jacket, where for the first time Ororo noticed that the insignia had been ripped off it. She smiled. "If that is the case, my friend, then it was worth everything we had to go through."

"Yeah, I guess. 'Night, chere."

"Good night, Remy."

He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain in his stomach, head, and almost everywhere else. The first thing he was going to do when he got home was have Jean cook him a big steak, or maybe some of her famous pot roast. Damn, he was hungry. "Stormy? I mean, 'Roro?"

"Yes?"

"You know what you told the kid 'bout why we ain't married?"

"What about it?"

"You're a good liar." He grinned, and again closed his eyes.

"Remy?"

"Hmm?" He mumbled, already half-asleep.

"Never mind." Storm said, but inwardly she knew what she wanted to say, but couldn't bring herself to say it. Who said I was lying?

March 7

Remy awoke slowly the next morning with a terrible shooting pain in his back and neck, adding those body parts to the numerous others that already hurt on him. After spending three days strapped to a board, he thought even sleeping on the ground would be like Heaven, but he guessed he was wrong. l never take my bed for granted again.

The fire had died down during the night and was now reduced to just smoky ash. The cave, however, was much warmer than it had been last night, and he was no hurry to get up and start it again. Sunlight peaked in through the crack where they had hidden the entrance. Obviously, they had done a pretty good job. No one had found them in the night. Remy wondered what time it was, and knew that he should get up, and that they should get moving. Instead, he groaned and turned over. It couldn't be too late, and he was still too tired to get up yet.

Just as he was about to drift back off to sleep, he heard a moan. At first, he thought it must be his imagination, but then he heard it again, and felt a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him.

"Remy," Ororo said. "Remy, wake up."

He groaned, and struggled to open an eye. "What? Something wrong?"

"Yes," she replied, more assertively than he could ever remember her being.

He immediately forced himself to wake up, and sprang to his feet, grabbing his gun that he had kept next to him the entire night. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Did you hear something?" He pointed the gun in the direction of the cave's opening, waiting to pounce on anyone that appeared.

"No," Storm replied. "That's not it. I think...I think I'm in labor."

Remy stared at her, sure that he hadn't heard that quite right. "You're...you're what?"

"I'm in labor."

His jaw literally dropped open. He stared at his best friend as if she had suddenly morphed into a frog. This wasn't right. This couldn't be right. She couldn't be in labor. She couldn't have the baby here in this cave. Things like this only happen in movies, or really bad novels, not real life. "Chere, you can't be in labor," Remy asserted. "You're only eight months pregnant!"

Storm cringed. "Tell that to him...or her. I'm afraid that I am definitely in labor. I have been since yesterday."

"Yesterday! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I wasn't sure. I thought that maybe I was just having some cramps that were caused by stress. But now it is more serious than that. My water broke."

Now it was Remy's turn to cringe. "Oh, shit." He grabbed his com link that he had unsuccessfully tried to get to work. "Hey!" He yelled into it. "Can anyone hear me?" The only reply he got, however, was more static. "Anyone? Professor, damnit, someone answer me!"

All the noise woke up Chris. He sat up wearily. "What's going on?" he asked.

Storm leaned back and sucked in a noisy breath as she worked through another contraction. "I'm having a baby. That's what's going on."

Chris's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. 'Whoa," he exclaimed. "Not good. You need a doctor."

Storm actually smiled. "I don't believe doctor's make house calls to mutants hiding out in caves."

"What are we gonna do?" Chris asked Remy.

Remy responded by letting out a growl and chucking his com link against the wall. "I don't have the slightest clue, homme."

As Remy's com link hit the wall, however, something strange happened. Something miraculous perhaps. It beeped, and turned on. -----------------------

[1] I should mention here that I wrote this story before I ever saw an episode of 'Mutant X' and the character of Victor, who bares a strange resemblance to Victor Webster's character on the show is totally a coincidence, even the name. I would change it, but I have already used him in other stories as is. Just thought I'd mention it.