Chapter Twelve:

Enter the Mystery

February 9

Friday evening, Shaina announced at dinner, "They caught the kids who set the stink-bombs."

Keri's jaw dropped, spilling spaghetti back on to her plate. Despite the "eww's" of the other X-Men, she asked, "Really? Who was it?"

Shaina pushed some of her hair back innocently. "I'm not at liberty to reveal that information."

Jamie groaned. "Oh, don't tease us!"

She took a sip of water. "Oh, what the heck, you're gonna find out about it on Monday anyway." She turned to Jamie. "Do you know Andy Santos, Thomas Rockwaller, and Bonnie Williams? They're your age, I think."

Jamie thought for a minute. "Yea…Andy's in my class…He's always distracting everybody, and trying to cheat on tests. He's friends with Thomas, though I've never seen him before."

Keri piped up. "I've seen Bonnie before! She lives near Miki! Once while I was at her house, we got ice cream from the ice cream man, and Miki got the last Push-Pop! So Bonnie came over, and told Miki to give her the push-pop, or there'd be trouble." Keri took a sip of her soda. "But don't worry, she made a full recovery."

Jean's eyes widened. "Bonnie beat Miki up?!"

Keri blinked. "No, Miki beat Bonnie up. Pass the breadsticks."

---

February 10

When morning came, the residents of the institute came to the realization that everyone who had eaten the salad at last night's dinner (Kitty, Beast, Scott, Kurt, and Ororo) had contracted mild food poisoning.

As he watched Scott make a mad-dash to the bathroom, Logan commented, "That's why I don't eat 'rabbit food'."

"No it's not," Keri remarked, as she walked past. "How could you have known that a horrible fate would bestow anyone who had eaten the accursed lettuce? By the way, I have a friend over."

Miki waved. "Hi."

Logan wrinkled his brow slightly. "Hi…Keri, d'ya think it's smart to have a friend over while everyone's sick?"

"It's only four people who are sick, Sammy-Spoil-Sport. Besides, Miki and I have decided it's our sworn duty to cheer people up in their time of need."

"And how're you gonna do that?"

"Music! I sing, and Miki plays guitar!" As Keri spoke, Miki brandished the instrument.

Logan shrugged. "Well, I ain't gonna stop ya."

"Yea! Let's start with Kurt!" The two eight-year-olds scurried off, chattering happily.

---

Meanwhile, Rogue and Mary were sitting on the floor of Rogue's room, playing the card game "Egyptian War" (Or, as Rogue called it, "Egyptian Rat-Race").

"Does this happen a lot?" Mary asked, placing down a seven in the stack.

"Whaddya mean?" Rogue replied. She dropped down a two.

"Outbreaks of food poisoning?" Mary dropped a six.

"No, not really." Rogue dropped down another six.

The two girls halted their conversation abruptly and slapped their hand down on the stack. However, the fact that Rogue's hand was on top of Mary's showed that Mary had been quicker.

"Darn it…" Rogue muttered, as a giggling Mary picked up the 15 or so cards in the stack and placed them at the bottom of her deck.

The two resumed playing, and Mary asked. "Sorry, what were we talking about?" A seven.

"How common outbreaks of food poisonin' are." A four. "This is the first time that something like this has happened."

"Ah…So, how are things going between you and Logan?"

"WHAT?!" Rogue yelped, accidentally dropping most of her cards into the stack. "Oops, ah think ah just ruined our game."

"S'alright. I was tired of playing anyway." Mary put her cards into the stack, too. "But how are things going?"

"You sound like we're datin' or somethin'!"

"I was just wondering…by the way, does he even know how you feel about him?"

"…No."

"Why doncha tell him on Valentine's day? It's less than a week away."

"Ah can't tell him!"

"Why not?"

"Because he's an adult, and ah'm just a kid! It's not like we could ever date each other! Besides, if Ah tell him and he doesn't feel the same way (which is probably the case), things'll be really awkward between us!"

"Well, think of it the other way: what if he does like you, and he's just afraid to tell you because he thinks that you'd think that he was a pervert. But, when you tell him how you feel, he'll be so relieved that he'll confess, too! Then, he'll be overcome with passion, and he'll—"

"Mary, Ah've never seen Logan be overcome by anything, except maybe the occasional Magneto or Sabertooth. Oh yea, and did you forget something? Ah can't touch him. How 'passionate' can he be with no skin-to-skin contact?"

"What's up?" Keri asked, strolling into the room, Miki in tow.

Mary turned to her. "We're discussing Rogue's love-life."

"Ooh, may I join in?" Keri grinned.

"NO!" Rogue snapped.

"Yes," Mary replied.

The two children sat down on the floor next to them, forming a small square. "See, I've been telling Rogue to tell Logan how she feels about him for months. I think that maybe she should tell him on Valentine's day."

"Great minds think alike; I said the same thing," Agreed Mary.

Miki piped up. "Keri told me about the whole situation, and you need to tell Logan before he falls in love with Miss Hope!"

Mary turned to her. "By-the-way, who are you?…Oh, wait, lemme guess…aren't you Keri's friend…uh, what was your name? Mickey?"

Miki's eyes narrowed. "Miki. MEE-KEE."

"Miki hates being called Mickey," Keri explained.

"Oh, sorry."

"It's alright."

"Can we get back to discussin' mah problem?!" Rogue snarled.

Mary looked amused. "I thought you didn't want to talk about this."

"It's betten than listenin' to Runt and Runt-Continued. Besides, I guess I'm at the end of mah rope," Rogue explained glumly.

Keri thought hard for about a minute. "Well, I got nothin'. But I'll tell you if I think of something. In the meantime, would you like to hear our song?"

"What song?" Rogue asked suspiciously.

"It was on The Amanda Show. It's about people eating at a restaurant. Though for some reason, whenever we sing it to someone who's sick, they tell us to stop and to get out," Miki replied.

Mary shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"Great!" Keri chirped. Miki pulled out her guitar, and Keri began sing:

"One time, I ate in a restaurant

The food was disgusting and bad.

The spaghetti had fungus,

The rats were humungus,

And the waitress threw up on my Dad!"

Miki took over at the singing:

"Then my Brother, he

ordered a chicken breast.

It smelled and was starting to rot.

Well meatloaf had worms and the gravy had germs

And it tasted like somebody's snot!"

Keri and Miki sang the next part together:

"Bring me a bag,

I am vomiting!

I—"

"STOP!" Rogue yelled. "THAT'S DIGUSTIN'!"

Keri rolled her eyes. "Duh! But did you like it?"

"NO! Now get out!" Rogue pushed the two protesting eight-year-olds out the door, shutting it behind them.

The Rogue and Mary then looked at each other. There was a five second pause, and then the two of them burst out laughing. For Keri's song had been so disgusting and stupid, it was hilarious.

---

A few hours later, the Professor informed the non-poisoned team that there was a mission to be had.

"…It's nothing that serious," he assured them. "But it's come to my attention that the Acoltes have been spotted in an old warehouse."

"Oh, well that's original," Shaina muttered sarcastically.

"That's what I thought…until I read that it was a police warehouse…and according to news reports, this is the third one hit this month. I think the break-ins are connected."

"Uh, Professor, if this is the fourth one, wah didn't ya tell us about the other three while they were happenin'?" Rogue asked.

"Because they've been careful. On the other three, they were in and out before we could do anything," He replied.

Logan, who had until just now been watching the same TV show as Keri, piped up, "Well, I guess then we'd better go get 'em while they're there. We're a few men short today, and this'll be Shaina's first actual battle—"

"I fought Sabertooth!" Shaina protested.

"—But I think we'll manage. And Imp, I'd turn off the TV, that show's usin' subliminal messages with advertisin'."

Keri looked at him. "Really? That must be why I keep getting the feeling that I should go buy some Nirvana iced tea."

"As soon as possible," The professor answered.

Logan turned to them. "In other words, Suit up."

Keri nodded. "Ok, but before we go, do we have any Nirvana iced tea?"

"KERI!"

"I was just asking…"

---

The team made it to the warehouse with no trouble. But the presence of four large, metallic spheres in the front of the building signaled that the Acolytes were still there.

"Alright, kids, let's do it," Logan murmured.

They then proceeded to split up and search the building, which proved to be larger than they thought.

"You know," Shaina commented to Logan as they searched for clues along a very long shelf, "I thought this place was completely abandoned, but there's still some stuff in here. Is it possible that they're looking for something?"

Logan looked around. "I s'pose. But what would Magneto want with this crap? The worst thing I've seen in here is an almost-empty bag of marijuana."

Shaina smoothed her hair. "Well, there's got to be a—"

"HI!" Keri yelled, sticking her head through from the other side of the shelf.

"YAAH!" Shaina shrieked.

"Imp, what the heck are ya doin'?" Logan snarled.

Keri scooted the rest of the way through the shelf. "Sorry, I'm not that subtle. But lookit what Rogue and I found!" She held out an older-looking piece of paper. "I have a feeling that it's important!"

Shaina studied it. The front resembled a worn-out map, although the title and the key had faded, leaving them illegible. However, the words on the back looked a bit newer, reading simply:

The flower girl and the boy with the marbles

Logan blinked. "Well, that's about as clear as mud. Who are these kids?"

Keri nodded. "That's what Rogue said."

Shaina blinked. "By-the-way, where is Rogue?"

"Back there, fighting Pyro," Keri replied casually.

"You two got attacked?!" Shaina yelped.

"Yea. So she told me to go bring you the map while she beat that guy up. I tell ya, he's got the most useless mutant power. But now that I think about it, we should probably go help her."

"Lead the way, imp." Logan ordered, and Keri led the group through the shelf.

---

"You know, eventually, you're gonna run outta things to throw at me!" Yelled John Allerdyce, AKA Pyro.

Rogue looked behind herself. "Trust me, that ain't gonna be an issue for quite a while!" She snarled as she heaved another box towards him, hitting him in the shoulder.

This had been Rouge's strategy for quite a while; throwing things at Pyro to keep his flaming 'creatures' away from her. She had already discovered that trying to get close enough to him to steal his power wasn't going to work. So she threw, half-hoping that one of the boxes would contain a fire-proof shield.

Luckily, Keri came running towards her, Logan and Shaina in tow. "Rogue! I brought back-up!" Absentmindedly, she ran through John's fire-making machine.

As that moment, the machine sparked and died.

Keri blinked. "Huh…why didn't I think of that before?"

As John cursed under his breath, Rogue took this opportunity to tackle him, her bare hand exposed. She was in luck; she absorbed his power, and he lay unconscious. "Dunno how this is gonna help me, but he's certainly out."

Keri pumped her arms into the air. "X-Men rule!"

Rogue turned to Logan. "Keri showed you the map we found, right?"

"Yea…you don't know what the words on the back mean, do ya?"

"It looks like some kind of code…maybe this is why the Acolytes are here." Shaina suggested.

"We've got a winner, folks…now give me the map!" Growled a new but familiar voice. The four X-Men turned, and saw Sabertooth strolling towards them imposingly.

"Logan and I haven't found a map," Shaina told him honestly. Keri and Rogue had found it.

Rogue picked up on her game. "Keri and Ah don't have it." Logan had it, not them.

"You're lying!" Sabertooth growled.

"No, we're not," Keri countered. "Everything we just said is true."

"I DON'T CARE WHO FOUND IT OR WHO HAS IT, JUST GIVE IT TO ME!" He roared.

"Why do you want it?" Shaina demanded.

"None of your business…" A sadistic grin spread across his face. "By-the-way, I see you're still up, Hope. Didja miss me?"

Shaina narrowed her eyes. "No. I didn't."

"Oh well…now where were we? Oh yes…" He let out an animal-like roar, and charged at them.

Logan ejected his claws, let out a counter-roar, and charged too. The two collided, and wrestled, neither one gaining any ground. Had everyone not been so engrossed in their own affairs, they would have noticed that John was slowly regaining consciousness. He sat up, looked at the fight, tapped his fire-making machine to get it working, and then aimed a fireball at the scuffling wild-men.

His attack was met with an odd effect: he actually missed Logan and hit Sabertooth, which caused him to lurch forward, pushing his enemy out further. Keri and Shaina (who were probably too close to the action in the first place) were knocked over backwards. This shock caused Keri's phasing ability to activate, and because the four were all connected to each other, they all began to free-fall through the floor.

Rogue, who had been on the other side of the action, watched with shock as the four suddenly disappeared from view. "GUYS!" She yelled.

John looked at his gloves. "Funny…that doesn't happen very often…"

Rogue turned to him, and tackled him once more, stealing his powers and rendering him unconscious. She looked at his body, and unknowingly seconded Keri: "GAW, YOU'VE GOT THE MOST USELESS MUTANT POWER!"

---

It took Keri a few seconds to realize what was happening and to stop phasing. By that time, she, Logan, and Sabertooth were probably on the second basement level. They were all a little dazed when they landed. But Keri sat up first. "Whoa…I do not recommend that."

"Where are we, Imp?" Logan asked, rubbing his head.

"Dunno…probably some basement level…"

Logan looked around, and saw that Sabertooth hadn't quite recovered yet. But something else caught his eye. "Hey, where's Shaina?"

Keri blinked. "Uh…I'm not sure…I know she fell with us…maybe she jerked away from me and stopped at another level?"

Sabertooth sat up, his eyes slightly glazed. He blinked a few times.

Keri turned to Logan. "Ya know I'd probably just be in your way so while you fight him I'm gonna go see if there's a way outta here buh-bye." She said quickly, and sprinted off in a random direction.

"What an imp…" Logan muttered as he saw her disappearing from view. But he also couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Shaina.

Keri had been right; Shaina had in fact jerked away from the other three, leaving her one floor above them. However, she picked a lousy time to stop phasing, and wound up under a pile of boxes.

She blinked her eyes a few times, trying to clear her vision. "Eh…?" She murmured. She attempted to scoot out from underneath the pile, but realized that she was actually inside a couple boxes. She could only move the parts of her body that were exposed, meaning from her sternum up, and only her left arm and hand. Swearing under her breath, she analyzed her options: (A) Sit here and wait to be rescued, (B) Try to break out by herself. If she went with A, she would be granted a safe escape, but there was a good chance that another Acolyte would get to her first and kill her. If she went with B, she would get out, but there was the chance that she stack would collapse. But maybe if she just tried to free herself from the boxes she was inside…

She decided on B. Getting ready to start cracking boxes, she pulled her glove off with her teeth, exposing her bare hand. However, something fluttered out of her glove: The map.

"How the heck…?" She murmured. Wasn't Logan the one with the map? Oh, well, their items probably got jumbled around while they were phasing. She actually wouldn't be surprised if Sabertooth was wearing her earrings.

Unfortunately, as she tried to grab it, her weaker left hand just managed to push it further away. Now, she could only get it if she freed herself.

And she wouldn't get that chance. For at that moment, she was approached by an Acolyte: Remy LeBeau, AKA Gambit.

"Well, whadda we got here?" He said, his accent evident.

"Are you French?" Shaina asked, saying anything to keep him away from the map.

"Cajun. Close enough, ah guess." He took a few steps toward her, and his foot landed on the map. He looked down, and smiled. "Ah say it again: whadda we got here?"

"Nothing you should concern yourself with!" Shaina snapped, trying to wedge her hand underneath the pile.

"On da contrary," Remy replied, looking it over, "Ah do believe that this is just what ah've been lookin' for."

Shaina managed to touch a box that was wrapped around her knees. She pressed her fingers to it, and felt the cardboard split. "Why do you want it?" She demanded.

"Can't tell ya that," He said, tucking it into a pocket on his trenchcoat. He suddenly paused. "…At least not here. You really wanna know what's happenin'?"

"Um, yea…" Shaina was wondering what he was getting at.

"Then why don't we discuss it over dinner tomorrow night? Say, 7:00 PM, at The Silver Dish?"

"WHAT?!" Shaina sputtered. "Are you asking me out?!"

"Ah guess ah am. Whaddya say?"

"NO! I mean…grr…if I went to dinner with you, would you really tell me what the deal is with the map?"

Remy looked at his fingers. "Perhaps. But what have you got to lose?"

"What makes you think you wanna go out with me?"

"Well, I've had mah eye on you for a while now—"

"Huh?!"

"It's not like ah'm a stalka or anythin', ah'm just doin' what Magneto is tellin' me to do. But ah find ya interestin'. So let's just go on one date. Alright?"

Shaina sighed. "OK…but it's not a date! It's strictly business!"

"Fair enough. See ya then." He turned and began to walk away.

"Hey!" Shaina called. "Considering the fact that I'm going out with you tommorow, could you at least get me out from under here?"

Remy blinked, and grinned. "No. Buh-bye." He continued to walk away, until he disapeared from view comepletely.

Shaina bit back a scream of rage, and managed to wiggle her knees a bit. She stuck her hand to another box, and again felt cardboard splitting. She then sighed: this was going to take forever.

She was in luck: about three minutes later, Jean walked up. She came across Shaina, and blinked. "Shaina, what are you doing?" She asked.

Shaina narrowed her eyes. "Taking a nap. Didn't you know that cardboard boxes make great blankets?"

"Do you need help getting out?" Jean asked.

Shiana sighed again. "Yea, that'd be great."

Jean did a little telekenisis, and Shaina was soon free. However, that didn't stop the three boxes that had formed around her body, causing Shaina to resemble a large, brown snowman.

"Um, I can't help you there," Jean pointed out.

"S'alright," Shaina chirped, and after about a minute of cracking, she was completely free.

"I saw Collasus and Gambit around. I didn't provoke them, though," Jean informed her.

Shaina nodded. "And I've already seen Pyro and Sabertooth…and…uh…" She questioned whether or not she should tell Jean about her 'date' with Remy.

Shiana was saved, as Keri and Logan walked up to them. "Hi, Shaina!" Keri chirped. "We were wondering where you went!"

Shaina sighed. "I've been up here, thank you. By-the-way, where's Sabertooth?"

Keri rolled her eyes, and pointed to Logan. "Badger here lost him!"

"He hit me in the eye with a cardboard box, I can't help that it distracted me!" Logan snarled. "Anway, it's not like you actually helped me! And don't call me Badger!"

Shaina turned to Logan. "Bad news: Gambit got the the map."

Logan blinked. "I thought I had the map."

"You did, but Keri's phasing jumbled everything up. I ended up with it, and Gambit stole it from me. He seemed pretty pleased, so that was probably what they were looking for."

Rogue strolled down and joined them. "So, this is where ya'll haven been hidin'. The Acolytes are leavin', just thoughtcha oughta know. Did we ever figure out what the deal is with the map?"

"No…but I may be on to something," Shaina murmured.

"Really? What?" Logan asked.

Shaina sighed. "Ya know that training session that we were supposed to have tommorwow night?"

"Yea."

"Well, I can't come."

"Why?"

"Because…I have a date."

---

February 11

Shaina sighed, and looked in the mirror at the outfit she had chosen for her 'date': a black sweater that cut straight across her soldiers (as oppose to having a neckline), whine-colored jeans, brown boots, and a 'double belt' that started out on her left hip and sloped downward by a bit as it wound its way around her.

As she tucked some of her hair behind her ear, she decided that her outfit was formal enough for The Silver Dish, but it didn't look like she was trying very hard. Oh well, she had made it clear that this wasn't a date.

She checked the clock: 6:45 PM. Time to leave.

However, as soon as she stepped outside the door, she met up with Keri. The eight-year-old grinned. "Shaina! You look positively hot!"

"Uh…thanks," Shaina murmured. "I gotta get going before the Professor catches up to me." Although the Professor had admitted that she should get information from Remy if she could, he had several times expressed his opinion that the whole thing was a bad idea.

"Well, good luck!" Keri smiled, winking at her.

"Yea…" Said Shaina as she strolled down the stairs and headed towards the garage, ready to depart for her 'date'.

---

Meanwhile, Rogue and Mary were in Rogue's room. "Shaina just left," Mary stated.

Rouge, who was painting her nails Plum Passion, replied, "Whatever."

Mary looked at her plain nails. "I would think that you would be happy."

Rogue paused. "And wha is that?"

"Because," Mary explained, "If Shaina's busy with Gambit, then you have nothing to worry about when it comes to Logan." She then picked up a bottle of charcoal-colored polish and began painting her nails.

Meanwhile, Rogue looked straight ahead, contemplating what Mary had just said.

---

Shaina waited anxiously in front of The Silver Dish. She really didn't know what to expect from her 'date', although she really just wanted to get it over with.

A few minutes later, Remy showed up. He was dressed a little bit more normally for the occasion, but he still wore that brown trenchcoat. In his hand, he held a red rose. "Good evenin'." He chirped, offering her the rose.

"Hi…uh, thanks…" She said awkwardly, accepting the flower.

"Well, shall we?" He asked.

"Sure," Shaina replied.

Apparently, Remy had made reservations, because they were ushered to a table quickly. Still feeling awkward, Shaina stuck her rose in her water glass, and looked at Remy to start the conversation.

"So, how ya been?" He asked.

"Fine." Shaina realized that she had to take control of the situation. "OK, let's get down to business. You know why we're here."

Remy groaned and looked at the ceiling. "Aw, d'we have to talk 'bout this?"

"Yes. I wouldn't be here if we weren't. Now, I wanna know: what's the significance of the map."

"Ah can't tell ya."

Shaina's jaw dropped. "Whaddya mean you can't tell me?!"

"Magneto says ah can't." He seemed to enjoy Shaina irritation.

"You said you'd tell me!"

"Ah said maybe Ah'd tell ya."

Shaina felt like pulling her hair out. "Then what the heck am I doing here?!"

Remy grinned. "Lighten up, chere. Why don't we talk about something else and enjoy our date?"

"We're not on a date!" Shaina whispered furiously.

He held his hands out. "We're dressed up, I'm treating you to dinner, I bought you a rose…Ah say we go for it."

"Well, I don't!" Shaina snarled. "I'm not interested in you!"

At that moment, a waiter came by to take their order. Remy ordered a steak, and Shaina ordered grilled chicken with a salad. However, as soon as the waiter left, the two continued their conversation.

Remy looked at the ceiling. "You're so cranky. It's no wonduh you hit it off so well with Wolverine. Is he your boyfriend?"

"No, Logan and I are just friends," Shaina replied, looking down at the tablecloth.

"Well, whah doncha ask me somethin' else? I may be able to answer a different question."

Shaina thought for a second. "Why is Magneto after me?"

"What makes ya think he's afta you?"

Shaina rolled her eyes. "Well, I kinda got that feeling when Sabertooth broke into my apartment, chased me down to the bar, and told Logan that 'his boss wanted me'."

"Things aren't always as they seem, chere."

"Story of my life…But if he's not after me, what was the deal with Sabertooth?"

"There was somethin' else he was supposed to get…when that didn't work, you became a bargainin' chip."

Shaina looked up at the ceiling. "What could I have that Magneto would want?"

Their food came, halting their conversation. Again, once the waiter left, the two started talking.

Remy looked at her, his head cocked slightly. "So, ah know your real name; whatcha code-name?"

Shaina raised an eyebrow. "Ya know, most men would ask me what my sign was."

"Ah'll take both, thanks."

"Taurus, and Splinter."

"Splintuh, huh? Rolls off the tongue, don't it?"

"I guess…"

"…So, ya don't have boyfriend?"

"No…" Shaina narrowed her eyes.

"Hmmm…a good first date means everything…" He thought out loud mischievously.

"FOR THE LAST TIME, WE'RE NOT ON A DATE!" Shaina said loudly, attacking her chicken with her knife.

"Hey, what'd that poor chicken do to you?"

Shaina bared her teeth. "And what'd that poor cow do to you, steak-boy?"

"Ah'm not da one maulin' mah food…with manners like that, you're never gonna get a boyfriend." He took a bite of his steak.

"What makes ya think that I want a boyfriend?"

The rest of their meal went something like that, with them picking on each other and talking about X-Men and Acolyte related issues every so often.

After they finished their meal and were walking out to the parking lot, Shaina sighed. "Well, despite the irritation involved, I guess this was an interesting night…matching wits with you could be fun at times."

"Well, Ah'm always up for a challenge…but you'll do."

Shaina stopped. "You never were gonna tell me anything, were you?"

"Nope," he answered. "But wouldja have gone out with me if Ah didn't lie to you?"

Shaina shrugged. "Dunno…Probably not…and you're not gonna tell me anything now, huh?"

"Nah…just wait and see how things work out, OK?"

Shaina sighed. "Alright. But…thanks for treating me to dinner…It was a nice 'not-date'."

"Oh well, Ah can dream, can't I?" He looked down at her, and for the first time, she noticed something odd about his eyes: not only were the irises a deep red color, but where most people's eyes were white, his were black. The whole thing gave and intense look. Why hadn't she noticed it before?

"I don't suppose I can stop you. Well, good-night…and thanks again," Shaina murmured.

"G'night," He replied, and then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Shaina paused, slightly surprised. Then, she regained her senses. "Uh, I gotta go." With that, she scurried off to her car, and got in. However, she didn't start driving just yet.

He was never gonna tell me anything, he just wanted me to go out with him, She mused. Well, it was a pretty dirty trick, but still…Did he really like her that much?

Shaina looked at her lap, and then realized that she still had his rose. She never really remembered picking it up, but there it was. She pulled it in closer to her face.

You know, it was almost the exact same color as his eyes…

She leaned back in her seat, and looked at the ceiling. "Remy LeBeau…I guess he's not so bad," She thought out loud.

---

When she got back to the institute, Shaina reported back to the others. "I got diddly squat," She announced bitterly.

"You didn't talk at all about the map that they were after?" Asked the Professor.

"No, he said he couldn't tell me. But he did tell me that Sabertooth wasn't after me that night he broke into my apartment."

"Sure seemed like it to me," Logan grumbled.

"Yea…he didn't give me the details, but there was something else he wanted. When it didn't work out, I was just supposed to be a bargaining chip."

"Interesting…" The Professor murmured. "What could Magneto be planning? Anyway, thank you for doing this, Shaina. And if you'll excuse me, I believe that it's getting late, and the students have school tomorrow. Good-night."

"Good-night."

The professor then exited, but almost exclusively with the boys. Most of the girls stayed, eyeing Shaina.

Shaina blinked. "…What?"

Kitty rolled her eyes. "You know what! We want to know how Gambit is on dates!"

Shaina sighed. "You know, he actually admitted that this whole thing was a set-up, just so I'd go out with him."

"What a creep!" Jean input.

Shaina looked at the floor, and her thoughts drifted to the red rose in her bedroom. "Actually…he wasn't so bad…"

At that moment, Mary elbowed Rogue with a grin on her face, but Shaina wasn't quite sure why.

---

Back at the Acolyte's base, a different conversation was taking place.

"She ain't bitin'," Remy commented calmly, shuffling his cards. "You shoulda seen her tonight."

Magneto narrowed his eyes. "Gambit, this has to work."

Remy looked up at him. "How am Ah supposed to convert her when she won't even give me the time of day?"

"All you have to do is gain her trust somehow! Once we have her, the rest of the plan will be easy!"

"What 'plan' do ya keep referin' to? Me and the others only know a little bit about it."

"You know all you need to know."

"Yea, well, you're makin' mah job pretty hard."

"Just figure out a way to sway her. I don't care how, so long as she's not injured."

Magneto exited, leaving Remy alone…but not for long.

Almost instantly, John popped up from behind the couch that Remy was sitting on. "Ya know, for a second, I actually thought you liked that woman."

Remy didn't look at him. "'Guess you thought wrong."

Sabertooth popped up, too. "Why not? I wouldn't mind having her on my arm…"

While John chuckled at Sabertooth's comment, Remy remarked, "Wah are you two such losers?"

"So tell us, Gambit, how was your date?" Sabertooth asked.

"Long and drawn out. Ya happy?" He stood up, and walked out the door.

"Is she wild?" Called John.

"Oh yea, she was throwin' herself at me," Remy replied, and at that moment, he charged up a playing card, and threw it into the room. He waited a few seconds, and was then immensely satisfied with the explosion and yelps that ensued.

He leaned against the doorway and laughed, his deck of cards still in his hand. Absentmindedly, he pulled a card from the top and a card from the bottom. He then looked at them.

The King and Queen of Hearts.

Ah. How fitting.