A/N: Thanks for reviewing!!! It's good to know that people are sticking to my story!! J Anyways, don't worry I'll give you some Rogue/Gambit time soon…just be patient!!! Super long chapter here!! Here's chapter 6!
Chapter 6 – Watch Your Back"Cool bike. Is it yours?" Bridget asked as Gambit loaded her luggage.
"Nah. A friend of ours. You don't mind riding in there?" Remy pointed at the extra compartment.
"Sure, always wanted to." She smiled.
"Alright. Let's get going." Said Rogue.
"Take care honey." Mr. Marks kissed Bridget.
"Give us a call okay?" Her mother gave her a kiss. "We love you very much."
"I know mom. I love you guys, I'll be okay." Bridget smiled. "Bye!" She got onto the extra compartment and fastened her seatbelt.
"Here's a helmet." Rogue gave her a black helmet.
"Hold on tight." Remy started the bike as Rogue held him tight.
"Drive safely!!" Mrs. Marks called after they waved back as they drove up the street.
"So where are we going next?" John asked as he stared at his lighter.
"Let's see, Philadelphia." Jean opened up Remy's folder. "Remy's sixteen year-old counterpart Jin Tanaka."
"What's in it for him?" Scott wondered.
"Umm…teleportation and quick speed. Kind of a Nightcrawler and Quicksilver thing." Jean closed the folder.
"He's blue too?" John asked.
"Oh no, no pigment." Jean assured him. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a motorbike's engine in the garage. "I think they're back."
"You're back pretty quick." Said Scott as he checked his bike.
"Don't worry there are no scratches." Remy assured him as he unloaded Bridget's luggage.
"Hi I'm Jean. This is Scott and this is John." Jean shook her hand.
"Nice to meet all of you. Is this your jet?" Bridget looked around.
"Yup. This is the X-Jet. This is going to be your home for the next couple of days till we get back to the Institute. So, make yourself at home." Scott smiled.
"Come on, let's go meet your fellow new recruits." Rogue led her out the garage.
"Talk to the Professor?" Remy wondered.
"Nah. Probably sometime soon I will." Scott examined the muffler. "Very good."
"Now what did I tell you?" Remy smirked.
"This is Jasmine and Ricky. Guys…this is Bridget." Rogue introduced Bridget.
"Hey what's up?" Ricky waved from the couch as Jasmine shook her hand.
"Join the club." Jasmine smiled.
"Well we have time to pick up another recruit…if we move now." Said Scott.
"So who's going?" Rogue asked.
"Remy and John. You guys ought to take a nap…it's good time too. We should be in Philadelphia in 2 hours or less." Said Jean.
"Man…after you, it's my turn." John sighed as he and Remy went to their room.
"Well," Remy took the bottom bunk. "After we get the last recruit, we're home free."
"Yeah…" said John as he laid on the top bunk, looking up at the ceiling. Soon John drifted into a deep dreamless sleep…
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. It was Ricky. "Um, Scott said to wake you guys up. We're almost in Philadelphia." He said as watched the two former Acolytes yawn.
"Yeah…whatever. Five minutes." Said John as Ricky left.
"What he's making the new recruits do stuff for him now?" Remy got up.
"Ah, you guys are finally up." Said Scott.
"How much longer?" Remy asked.
"About fifteen minutes." Said Rogue who was sitting next to Scott in the cockpit.
"Oh." Said Remy. He still thought about Rogue, how it was so close to kissing her. He wanted to of course, but fought the urge to do so. Fifteen minutes later, they were flying over the city of Philadelphia.
"Where does he live?" asked Scott as he was checking the coordinates in a screen.
"Um, 1392 Justice Street, South District." Read Remy looking at his folder.
"Have you found a place to land?" asked Scott.
"Nope…haven't found space nor an empty building." Said Rogue.
"Uh, oh over there. That's an empty lot over there, looks like a mini junk yard though." Scott raised an eyebrow.
"Hey…as long as it doesn't stink!" John complained.
"Can't stand a place that wreaks your odor?" laughed Jean.
"Haha…funny." John said sarcastically.
"Alright, got your communicators?" asked Scott. "Justice Street should be a walk up this street and to the right."
"Yup…thanks." answered Remy playing with his deck of cards and putting it back inside his pocket.
"Take care." Said Rogue on her chair, still not turning to look at Remy.
John elbowed Remy. "Er, thanks. You too." He said as they both headed to the door. Rogue smiled.
"So what's the background on this kid?" asked John as he kept his lighter in his pocket.
"Oh he's sort of this rich kid in a way. Not a spoiled one though, it's just his mom is a lawyer. They live in some mini mansion or something." Remy shook his head.
In the X-Jet, Scott, Jean, Rogue, and the new recruits were all sitting around talking.
"So you can melt metal?" Jasmine asked Ricky.
"Yeah…" Ricky muttered.
"Any metal?" asked Bridget. Ricky nodded.
"Hey is the next recruit a girl?" Ricky asked Scott.
"Be thankful. No." said Scott.
"YES!" said Ricky rising up from the couch in between the two girls.
"Great…" said Jasmine as she rolled her eyes.
"Scott? Jean?" the voice in the speaker called.
"Yes Professor?" Jean responded.
"I have news for you. I have just checked Cerebro, and I've seen Pietro wandering the streets of Philadelphia."
"Quicksilver?!" Scott asked. "What does he want?"
"Obviously information. Tell Gambit and Pyro to be on for a lookout. He could be anymore. And specifically to Pyro…tell him to watch his back." Said the Professor.
"Yes Professor, I'll contact them right now." Said Jean.
"Oh and before anything else, how are the recruits doing?" he asked.
Scott looked at Jasmine and Bridget, who were talking nonstop and Ricky, who was sketching some drawings on his notebook. "They're fine. They're here with us."
"Good. Take care of them. I will contact you for any new updates." Said Professor Xavier as he finished the conversation.
"I'll contact John and Remy." Said Jean as she pressed the button on the speaker that read 'Outside communicators.'
"Yeah." Answered John.
"Hey you guys there yet?" asked Jean.
"Just about. Just arrived in front of the kid's crib. Talk about rich…" said John.
"Okay good. Listen, Professor Xavier said to be very careful and watch your back. Pietro's around so keep a good eye out." Warned Jean.
"Alright. Hey we're going in now, later." Said John. "So this is it?"
"Yeah…1392 Justice Street. Looks like a good house too." Said Remy as he rang the doorbell. A maid had answered the door.
"Yes? May I help you two gentlemen?" the polite lady asked.
"Um yes, is this the Tanaka's residence?" asked Remy.
"Uhh…yes. Whom are you looking for?" the lady noticed Remy's eyes.
"Are either Jin Tanaka or his parents here?" he asked.
"Jin is home. He just came from school, they have a one-week break. He's in the workout room right now. Where are you from?" she asked.
"The Xavier Institute. Mr. And Mrs. Tanaka should know about it." Said John.
"Oh I see. Please do come in, while his parents should be coming any moment now." They both entered the rather large house, and had entered the huge living room.
"Wow…" John said quietly.
"I'll inform Jin right now. Please wait here." She had gone up the wide stairs.
"This place is…huge." Said Remy.
"Hell yeah. I'd kill to live here." Agreed John.
The maid had come down the stairs. "Jin would like to see you. There's a couch upstairs in the workout room you can sit on. Please follow me." They both rose from the couch in the living room, leaving the large room. They had gone up the wide staircase, which was very polished and cleaned. They turned left towards a hall, passing by a computer room, which had about three computers on separate desks. Then at the end of the hall, was a workout room.
They entered the room, watching a teenage boy who had spiked black hair wearing a gray shirt that read 'JBHS.' He was practicing with the swing punching bag, throwing kicks and punches every time he got a chance.
"Um, Jin." Said the maid. The boy had stopped the punching bag from swinging, and was breathing and sweating hard. "This is…"
"Remy."
"John."
"Er…from the Xavier Institute." Said the maid in a clueless way.
"Thank you Esther, please close the door." The boy spoke. The maid had left and closed the door behind her. "Please sit down." He pointed to a leather couch beside a treadmill. "Be right back." He went through a door and closed it.
"Damn kid works out even more than I do." Said John as he sat down.
"You don't work out. You don't need it." Said Remy.
"Well…" John looked at himself in front of a mirror. His body wasn't flabby, nor too skinny. He had a fit body. "I guess so…" he sat back down again.
The boy had came back in, wearing a clean shirt now reading 'JBHS Warriors.' "Sorry, had to change. Anyways," he went back to the door across the room and checked outside and closed it again. "So you guys from that Institute?" he asked.
"Yeah. You're parents talk to you about it?" Remy asked.
"Yeah, couple of times. They're the only ones and my brothers and sisters who know about me…the maids, they have no clue. That's why we don't bring it up that much. Esther was saying something about your eyes too…" said Jin who drank a bottle of Gatorade.
"Yeah…" Remy chuckled. "Anyways, what do you think? You wanna go to the institute?"
"Tell me about it first." His eyes became a little bigger staring at Remy and John. They could tell, he looked very Asian.
"Well, it's like a boarding school for mutant kids." Said John as he took out his lighter, playing with it. Jin looked at his lighter.
"Boarding school you said?" Jin wondered. Remy nodded. "Damn. Shit, I didn't think my parents were telling the truth."
"What's wrong with boarding school?" John asked.
"It's just…" said Jin closing the Gatorade bottle. "I go to a boarding school. I mean it's cool and everything, you get to see girls in pajamas and stuff, but I thought it would be something else you know. Kinda, have some new environment or something. See this?" he pointed at his shirt. "Jefferson Boarding High School. And what, I'm a Junior now. Been there since Freshman year, and before that, been to International Boarding School ever since I was five."
"Why doesn't your parents send you to a regular private school or just a public school?" John asked.
"My parents got money. And they thought 'Hey, our kids deserve the best education, and we can afford it. So why not?'" said Jin. "My older brother and sister graduated from JBHS, and they had you know…powers too. My younger sister doesn't have any, and my parents are happy about it. They controlled their powers, but theirs wasn't as incontrollable as mine. Sometimes, I wake up in the morning in a different room."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Jin?" it was Esther the maid.
"Yes?" Jin asked.
"Your parents are home. They're down in the living room." Said Esther as she left.
"Come on, you're gonna meet my prosperous parents of mine." Said Jin as they followed him.
"This kid's…cool." Said John.
"Yeah…he's got a mouth and knows how to use it." Agreed Remy.
They arrived down the staircase and into the living room. There was his parents, his father, was tall with light complexion and dark eyes and dark hair, that's where Jin gets his Asian look. Then his mother, looked more half Japanese, with chestnut brown hair, light complexion, except with light hazel eyes.
"Hello. I see you've already met Brandon…" said his mom.
"Ma, it's Jin. No one hardly uses my first name anymore." Corrected Jin.
"Gomenasai." Said his mother. "Anyways…" she eyed her husband.
"Oh!" said Mr. Tanaka. "Esther, do you mind?"
"Yes sir." She closed the doors in the living room and left.
"So, um…"
"Remy, and this is John." Said Remy.
"Remy and John, you two are from the institute?" Mr. Tanaka asked. They both nodded. "Professor Xavier has called us before, and were more than interested to send Jin there."
"I can assure you Mr. Tanaka, that the institute is a safe place and your son will learn to control his…powers." Said John.
"Ah I see." Said Mrs. Tanaka. "Jin, do you think you would be okay if you go?"
"Um," said Jin, who was sitting comfortably on a couch across the room. "I think so. I mean, it's like a boarding school right?"
"Yeah pretty similar." Remy replied.
"Okay…I think I'll be okay." Said Jin.
"When can he leave for the institute?" Mrs. Tanaka asked.
"Um Mrs. Tanaka, Professor Xavier sent us her for a reason. He thought that maybe he could leave today, we are trying to pick up all our recruits as soon as possible. We got two teams going around picking up recruits and Jin is second to the last recruit we're picking up. So it's your decision to let your son go now or…maybe a time far from now." Remy explained.
Mr. Tanaka sighed while his wife was thinking hard. And Jin, was looking rather puzzled at his parents. "I think that it's best…that Jin should go now." Said Mr. Tanaka.
"Now?" asked Jin. "Can I have a say in this?"
"Yes honey." Said his mother.
"If I go now, what am I gonna tell my friends? And…what about Alex? What am I supposed to tell her? You know, New York is pretty far from here." Said Jin. Remy and John knew, he had a point.
"Honey, if you don't go now, what are the chances of your ever going there?" said his dad.
"But…can you just give me probably…fifteen minutes? To call up all my friends, you know, tell them I'm not going back to school anymore." He asked.
"Sure honey, go get ready and give them a call." Said Mrs. Tanaka. "Just try to make it quick." He ran outside the living room and up the stairs. "He has got a lot of friends, and it's gonna be hard letting go."
"Mrs. Tanaka don't worry, I'm sure he'll make new friends at the institute. It's a great school." Remy smiled.
"I supposed you're right but the worst of all is, he's leaving his girlfriend." Remy and John raised their eyebrows. "He's a very friendly person and he's been with this girl ever since the school year started, and he's pretty known in school. He's in Basketball, Soccer, and even the Track team."
"Your son is very talented." Said John. "Does he…take up any martial arts? We saw him practicing with the punching bag earlier."
"Yes…um he used to take up Tae Kwon Do, but he decided that maybe Kung Fu was his thing. But I'm proud he made a decision to join." Said Mr. Tanaka.
After fifteen minutes, Jin came down with his bags. He looked like he buried his face in a tub of water. "I…I'm ready."
"I'm so sorry honey." His mother stood up and hugged her son. "It's ok. Everything's ok."
"I'll help you with your bags." John offered as he took the large sports bag and another backpack.
"Jin, be careful. Call us if you need anything." His father gave him a hug too.
"Aishiteru." His mom said.
"Love you too mom." He kissed her on the cheek.
"Take care honey!" she waved as they walked down the street.
"You alright?" John asked.
"Yeah…" said Jin.
"Sorry to break it to you kid, but keep your head up. This place is not that safe at the moment." Remy looked around for any suspicious looking people.
"What's happening?" said Jin suddenly his mood changed.
"Some a-hole is around looking for me. He's one of those bad mutants." Said John.
They were walking rather fast now trying to get to the end of the street to make a turn. But as they were about to pass an alley…
"Hey wassup guys!" It was Pietro. He had dashed out of the alley smirking in front of them. John had pushed Jin back behind him. "Aww come on St. John. Who you got there?"
"Nothing you need." Said John playing with his lighter in his hand.
"Come on…where's Hailey? Just tell me where she is!" Pietro laughed.
"You think I'm just going to tell you just like that?" John said still playing with his lighter. Jin looked around, noticed that hardly anyone was walking in the streets.
"Well look her Quicksilver," said Remy reaching in his pocket with his left hand. "We don't like you. We don't want to join you. Haven't we said enough to tell you that you can't get what you need?" He pulled out a card now flaming and shoved it in Pietro's right jacket pocket and pushed him in the alley.
"Where do we need to go?" Jin asked.
"The next street down come on!" said John as he grabbed the bags.
"Wait hold on!" Jin said as he gripped on both John and Remy and brought them to the next street by teleportation.
"Whoa!" John nearly tripped on Jin's bags.
"Damn kid." Said Remy as they kept walking.
"Who was that?" Jin asked.
"Just an old…friend." Said John. "Come on, we're almost there."
"Hey anyone there?" said Remy speaking into his communicator. "Hey!"
"WHAT?!" yelled a voice.
"Rogue?" Remy wondered.
"No it's the girl with white hair." She joked. "What do you want?"
"Hey just wanted to say we're almost there. We've got a new recruit." Remy laughed.
"Okay whatever." She hung up.
"Rogue?" Jin asked.
"This girl he ditched…now she's dating Mr. Freeze. Can you believe it? She went for Ice Cream man over the poker king." John muttered. Remy had wacked John in the head. "Hey!"