A/N: Ok, ok. I know it's been a while.... a looooooooong while. But there was this thing called life, and I needed to tend to it, and so I did, and like now I'm back! Yay, I get a gold star! Good for me! Anyways, here's chappie 7, in this one we find out what everyone's favorite Cajun was up too on the Institute grounds at 2-o-clock in the frikin' morning! AND a classic villain starts to rear his 'red-diamond-stamped-forehead'.... can YOU guess who it is??? If the 'red-diamond-stamped-forehead' part didn't help, then sheesh! You're not a true X-Men fan! Either way, read on and find out! ;)
Angelica
Chapter 7: Week One Part 4
"So you were just keeping an eye on the place, huh Gumbo?" snarled Logan.
"Dat's right, mon ami." Gambit retorted.
SNIKT!
Logan growled and unleashed his adamantium claws, ready to attack the young Cajun strapped down to the chair in front of him.
It had taken not even five minutes for the X-Men to regroup outside the mansion to where Angelica and Gambit were at. Logan was the first to spot the two. Angie was standing in a defensive stance above the Cajun sitting on the floor. When they all got there, Logan called out to her and the Professor put mental blocks on Gambit in order to get him inside. Now, down in the sublevels of the mansion we find a ferocious Logan, a flirtatious Gambit, a fired-up Rogue, an alert Angie, and a drowsy Professor.
"No, Logan. There will be no more violent antics for tonight." ordered the Professor.
The burly man muffled a curse and sheathed his claws.
"What are ya REALLY doin' here, Swamp-rat?" questioned Rogue.
"Like Gambit said, Cherie, I was keeping an eye on de place." Gambit gave Rogue a wink then turned his attention to everyone else, "And by da looks of it, Gambit say he was in da right place at da right time."
"Dude, you got caught. And by ME of all people! How in the world is that being in 'DA right place at DA right time'? Hmm?" Angie mocked the Cajun's accent.
"Well fo' one ting, petite," Gambit gazed into Angelica's hazel eyes, "if Gambit hadn't been here in da first place, he wouldn't have been able to trick de alarm to warn everybody of de intruder."
"You sayin' you're not the culprit?" Logan scoffed, "I'm not buying it."
"Yeah! Tell us the truth, Swamp-rat! You were here for me, weren't ya?" shouted Rogue.
"Why Chere, I'm flattered. I didn't know you felt dat way about me. How about you come over here and give ol' Remy a kiss." He closed his eyes and puckered up.
SNIKT!
Gambit's eyes shot wide open. "Okay, maybe not."
"Logan, please refrain from any violent behavior." The Prof reminded him.
Logan gave a low growl and sheathed his claws again.
The Prof then turned to Gambit, "Mr. LeBeau, if you could be so kind as to stick to the facts, I'm sure we would all appreciate it."
"What's wrong Professor? To tired to read my mind?" Gambit smirked.
Logan gave a slightly louder growl than the one before.
"Mr. LeBeau I'm not the kind of man who goes around prying into other individuals' business, but if you present me with no other choice I'm afraid I'll--"
"He's telling the truth." Angie interjected.
Everyone looked at her, Gambit smiled.
"How can you be so sure, kiddo?" Logan didn't believe a single word the Cajun said, and wasn't too sure about Angie's instinct on this.
"Because the guy I was tracking didn't reek of cheap cigarettes." She eyed Gambit back.
"Ouch. Guilty as charged, petite." Gambit only smirked back.
"Yes, she's right." The Prof took his hand away from his head, "Mr. LeBeau wasn't up to any wrong doings this night. But there's something that made you come here in the first place, isn't there, Mr. LeBeau?" he turned to Gambit, still strapped down to the chair.
"Yeah, dere was." Remy broke eye contact with Angie, "You folks, you X-Men, you all in serious danger."
"Hate to burst your bubble Gambit, but that's old news buddy." Scott informed the Cajun as he came in from the corridor. He turned to the Prof, "the others are upstairs, they're a bit shaken up, but nothing too bad."
"That's good to hear Scott" the Prof confessed.
"So what has our friendly neighborhood thief been up too these days?" Scott glared at Remy, even through those ruby glasses it wasn't hard to miss the disgust he had for him.
"You'll be surprised to find out he actually wasn't stealing anything tonight." Rogue told Scott.
"Oh, so you've seen the error of your ways have you? Well, let me be one of the first to congratulate you on such a miraculous turn of events." Scott was definitely over doing the sarcasm.
"No need to get harsh Scott, I mean the guy said he only came here to protect us." Angie turned her head towards Remy, "Isn't that right Game-bite, or Ramsis, or whatever the heck you like to be called?" Angie gave him a wide grin.
Gambit forced a wide smile back, "That's right, mon ange."
Angie rolled her eyes, then faced Scott, "you see, the boy's harmless."
Logan, Rogue, and Scott all crossed their arms, rolled their eyes, and gave a loud: "Hmph!"
"So what do ya think we should do with our 'visitor', Chuck?" Logan questioned.
"I'm not sure, Logan. From what I sense, he doesn't mean us any harm, and he's quite sincere about the information he presents us with." The Prof put his hand to his chin, momentarily in thought, "I think it best that he stay here for the meantime."
"But Professor!" Scott started to protest.
"Scott, I've never given you or any other, reason to doubt me. Trust me on this. Now, I'm sure we've all missed enough sleep for tonight, you should all get to bed. It's late and certainly not the hour to discuss these type of matters. We'll straighten everything out in the morning." The Prof turned to Logan, "If you wouldn't mind, Logan, I'd like you to escort Mr. LeBeau to one of the men's dormitories. I think I'll retire for the remainder of the night." The Prof headed for the door.
Logan let out a big, troubled sigh, "Chuck, I hope those powers of yers aren't failin'." He turned to Gambit, still strapped to the chair, "Well, c'mon Gumbo, don't wait up" and started walking for the door.
Scott gave Remy an angry glare and walked off.
Rogue went up to Remy and poked him in the chest, "Try anythin' funny, and Ah'll get your hide for it, Swamp-rat!"
"Is dat a promise Cherie?" Remy grinned.
"Grrrr," Rogue's hand started making its way to Remy's face when it was stopped by Angie.
"Okay! I think that's enough puppy love for right now!" Angie took her buddy Rogue by her clothed shoulders and they started heading for the door as well. "How about we go upstairs and take a breather."
The two girls were halfway across the room when...
"HEY! Hey! What about yo' favorite Cajun, dames?!" Remy shouted.
"YOU can stay there and rot for all Ah care." Rogue snapped.
Angie sighed, "Sheesh! You two are MADE for each other!" In a split second Angie had raced over to Remy's chair. She unleashed her claws and cut through his bonds. "Happy now?" She asked him.
Remy got up, rubbed his wrists, and gave Angie a smile, "Merci, mon ange."
Angie started walking away, "Shut it, Frenchy."
Rogue and Angie walked out with Remy in toe. He walked up and slipped in between the two ladies, his arms on their shoulders. "So, whose bed will I be sleepin' in tonight? Da Rogue's or De Angel's?"
Both girls shouted the same answer: "LOGAN!!!"
"GUUUUMMMBOOOOOOOO!!!" Logan's voice was clearly heard from down the hall.
"Goodnight, ladies!" Remy hastily said as he ran towards Logan's direction.
"You know? It's amazing how perfect his English is when he knows he's in trouble." Angie noted.
The girls laughed and continued upstairs.
-Thursday, afternoon-
The morning was spent with the senior faculty interrogating "Everyone's Favorite Cajun". And it turned out to be quite enlightening...
"But what would this Essex man want with any of us, Scott?" Jean pondered.
"That's what Ororo and the Prof set out to investigate. Turns out this Nathaniel Essex used to be a student of his. The Prof told me he was some kind of Bio-Engineering/Genetics genius, until everything went all screwy upstairs," Scott pointed to his head. "The guy was a serious basket-case. He had wild theories on mutant evolution and the such."
All five students were seated in the Rec room listening to Scott's every word about what had happened this morning with the "interrogation".
"Did zhe Professor tell you vhat happened to zhis lunatic after he lost it?" Kurt asked.
"That's the thing. No one knows. The guy worked for Stark Enterprises for a while, but got fired after only a couple of months. They said his methods were too eccentric." Scott answered.
"That's why Ororo and the Prof went out to Manhattan, I'm guessing to get some more answers over at Stark, huh?" Angie presumed.
"Exactly, and as soon as we get more information about this character, the sooner we can find out what it is he wants." Scott stated.
"Better yet, how about we ask Swamp-rat how exactly it is he knows Essex?" Rogue exclaimed.
"The Cajun only said 'Don't shoot da messenger' at first," Scott muffled a chuckle for the next bit, "but when Logan 'persuaded' him at bit more he said he had heard it from some reliable sources on the street. He said he tried tracking the info back to Essex, but the guy was impossible to find; covered his tracks like a hunted fox."
"Well then who was that guy that I chased last night? It couldn't have been Essex, could it?" Angie was a bit uneasy about the answer, if it WAS Essex she could have stopped him right then and there. They could have avoided all this danger if she had just tried harder.
"That's another strange factor of this whole story. We don't know. The cameras didn't pick up a single trace of an intruder on the grounds last night, besides the exception of Gambit." said a perplexed Scott.
"Ah say we go beat some more answers out of 'em." Rogue proposed.
"Now Rogue, you know that's not the right thing to do." Jean advised.
"Oh come on, Jean! You know the boy's hidin' somethin'! Ah'm just saying we get as much out of 'em as we possibly can!" recommend a riled up Rogue.
"No one's going to ask Gambit anything!" Scott affirmed, "Now the Prof said that while he's gone no one speak to the guy about the subject. It could bring us more harm than good."
"So vhat? Do you really expect us to just go about our daily lives living with a potential accomplice to a mad man?!" Kurt shouted.
"The Professor said Gambit had a clear conscience, and as much as I'd like that to be the opposite, I trust the Professor on it." Scott conceded.
Everyone looked at each other, mentally sorting out the information they were given it seemed they all weren't sure what to make of the events of the past night. Was Gambit really innocent? Who was that intruder from the other night? And what did Nathaniel Essex want with Professor Xavier's students? Only time would tell...
A/N: Ahhhhhh!!! What's Gambit REALLY up too??? Who broke onto the Institute grounds??? And what's up with Sinister?!?! Where the heck did that come from, huh?! It's all in my twisted little head! You'll have to wait for my next chapter! Muahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! .......uh.......that wasn't me,......it was Sinister,......REALLY.......ok, gotta go! Muahahahaa......opps