(Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel.)

Golden Slumbers

Chapter 4

Alice and Professor Xavier watched the chaos as it took place just below them. Through the glass they were safely watching the entire battle while it was happening. As soon as the team finished with their simulation it would be time for Alice's second training session in the Danger Room and she was getting a little nervous again.

Over the time she had been staying at the mansion she had gotten to know Jubilee the best and this was the first time she saw her use her fighting skills. She couldn't help but be impressed by how well her friend could fight and how much control she had over her powers. She hoped maybe her time with the X-Men would teach her the same things.

Suddenly she let out a gasp when she saw a robotic figure charge towards Jubilee from behind, preparing to attack. Just as it reached her Alice spotted a glowing card as it flew threw the air and hit it, blowing it to pieces. She watched her new teacher drop down as if out of nowhere and land next to Jubilee with a cocky grin on his face. She couldn't tell what they were saying in their conversation, but could see that Jubilee was annoyed and arguing while Gambit continued to smile, possibly even more due to her annoyance.

Then her attention was caught by Wolverine's body as it was sent flying through the air. She winced when he slammed into a wall and dropped to the ground, but it didn't take him long to get back to his feet and get his revenge on the robot that had knocked him there. The blow only seemed to fuel his rage as he slashed through it, leaving shreds of metal on the ground in front of him.

Then she looked in another direction when the sound of explosions errupted all around Cyclops, who quickly dodged them and took out the last robot of the simulation with a powerful blast from his visor. Xavier was satisfied and pressed a button in front of him, causing the destroyed robots and surrounding world to disappear.

"Good job, that will be all for now." Xavier spoke to the team through the intercom before turning his attention to Alice. "Shall we pick up where we left off yesterday?"

"Sure..." Alice replied, not reassured by Xavier's positive smile.

She was still humiliated by what happened last time they tried and almost blowing up her teacher was no way to start, even though he didn't seem to mind it too much.

Alice nervously waited outside the Danger Room doors with the Professor while the team walked out. Gambit and Jubilee were the last to come out and Jubilee appeared to be complaining to him. He just grinned to himself as he listened and casually ran a card through his fingers in one of his hands.

"Is there a problem?" Xavier asked with a slight smirk. It wasn't a rare occurance that Jubilee would go on one of her complaining rampages with Gambit.

"I was doing perfectly fine in there and then he had to jump in." Jubilee answered, crossing her arms in a fit. "I can take care of myself."

"Now, now, Jubilee." Xavier replied. "Every teammate is meant to look out for one another, that is the whole purpose of the exercises."

"Besides..." Gambit added as he slipped the card in his hand into his duster. "If it not for Gambit you be cooked by now, non?"

Jubilee just huffed at his remark and stomped away. Alice watched her storm off and then looked back over at Gambit, who was clearly emused by her little tantrum.

"Well, let us get started." Xavier said before turning to head back for the control room.

"Right dis way." Gambit slightly bowed and held his arms out, gesturing for her to lead the way into the Danger Room. She shyly smiled and started in, Gambit following close behind.

"Sorry about yesterday." Alice apologized again. She had done it plenty of times before, but was still feeling imberissed about it.

"Yesterday?" Gambit curiously asked.

"Blowing up your jacket..." She managed to answer after a short hesitation.

"No worries, p'tite." Gambit replied as if he had just remembered. "Gambit got plenty more where dat come from."

Alice was still nervous, but the tension she was feeling eased after she realized he wasn't thinking about the day before nearly as much as she was. He walked to the center of the room and she joined him, preparing for whatever was going to take place during this training session. They looked up towards the control room and waited for Professor Xavier to get situated and once he was ready he started a program for them to practice in. Once again they found themselves in the middle of a jungle as it faded into exhistance and surrounded them. Now it was time for Gambit to give his idea a try. When he was called to Xavier's office to schedule the session he had explained a theory he came up with. Now it was time to see if it would work.

"We try somet'in different today, p'tite." Gambit said as he pulled a card out and tossed it onto the ground. Then he took a few steps away from it and turned to her. "When you try an' charge it dis time, you try not ta focus too much, eh?"

"What do you mean?" Alice asked with a puzzled expression.

"Gambit notice how much you focus yesterday." He answered. "Maybe you try an' relax a bit an' you get it, non?"

"Huh?" Alice was still confused.

"You see, Alice..." Xavier began to explain through the Danger Room's speakers. "When Gambit charges an object he does it more out of reflex than out of concentration. Perhaps if you strain your mind less you will learn to use it out of reflex as well."

Alice didn't understand what they were trying to say. She didn't know any other way of charging something other than focusing as hard as she could. Gambit gave her a reassuring look before pulling out another card.

"First we charge de card..." Gambit said while the card began to glow. "Den we blow it up."

He threw the card straight up and it exploded a safe distance above them. Alice flintched when it went off and watched the smoke in the air clear before looking back over at him.

"You wanna give it a try, p'tite?" He asked, nodding towards the card on the ground.

Alice felt even more nervous, hoping not to have a repeat of the day before, but reluctantly agreed.

Rogue and Jean went to pay Storm a visit as soon as they finished in the Danger Room. Even when she was still uncontious it wasn't very often Storm was without a visitor at her side.

"How ya feelin', gal?" Rogue asked as they walked up to her bed.

"Much better, thank you." Storm greeted them with a smile.

She actually was feeling a lot better. In fact, she almost felt like she would be able to get up and move around before too long.

"Her recovery is moving along at a very steady pace." Jean and Rogue hadn't even seen Beast until he spoke up. He was busy with something on a nearby computer. "Quite remarkable, actually. She'll be good as new in no time at all."

"That's good to hear." Jean said, turning her attention back to Storm. "We look forward to having you back on the team."

"Well, I look forward to coming back." Storm replied. "It shouldn't be much longer."

They stayed and talked for nearly an hour before Storm started to get tired and began to drift off. Beast told them it was the effects of the medication she was on and that they should continue their conversation at a later time when she was feeling better, so they left. It was only a matter of minutes before she was asleep and Beast continued to occupy his time by typing away at his computer.

Gambit's theory seemed to be working. They had been in the Danger Room for just over an hour and they were making some progress. It had taken some work, but after several attemps Alice had finally managed to charge a card without even getting dizzy, although she still couldn't control when it would explode. Her nervousness was now replaced with anticipation. She was already able to control her powers more than she had ever been able to in the past and it was only after an hour of practicing. There were many close calls from unexpected explosions, but they had come a long way in a short period of time. Near the begining she nearly passed out when attempting to charge one of Gambit's cards, but she was urged to keep trying and she did. Now she was glad she did. At first she didn't understand what they meant when they told her not to focus so hard and learn to use it as a reflex rather than creating a charge through deep thought, but she was quickly learning. She was even getting comfortable around Gambit and was begining to relax while they trained. However, she wasn't prepared for what was coming next. Gambit held a card up in front of him and told her to charge it.

"In your hand?" Alice was clearly shocked by his request.

"Come on, p'tite, you can do it." He answered with a smug smile. "Gambit trust you."

"But I can't control the charge." She pleaded, not wanting to accidently blow his hand off. "What if I--"

"It be fine, p'tite." Gambit interrupted before she could finish. "Don' worry."

Alice looked up towards the control room, hoping Professor Xavier wouldn't approve of the idea, but he just continued to watch with great interest. She sighed to herself and turned back to Gambit.

"You don' want me ta give you a F, non?" He smiled as he made his joke, but it didn't ease the tension Alice was feeling.

She was afraid she would lose control and the card would explode in his hand, but he didn't seem to be backing down and she realized she was going to have to try. She sighed again as she prepared to charge the card. She just hoped she was as good as he thought she was at controlling her powers. She began to focus, but not too much, just as much as she had before when she successfully charged the other cards. She had a better idea of how to use her abilities without as much thought and act more out of reflex now.

Gambit was satisfied when the card in his hand started to glow and smiled as he watched the charge get stronger and stronger. After a short wait he threw it and it hit its target, blowing a large bolder to pieces. They watched as pieces of rock flew through the air and then dropped back to the ground, spreading across a wide range of the jungle and leaving a pile of rubble where the bolder had been. Alice looked at what remained of the bolder and then turned back to face Gambit.

"Knew you could do it, p'tite." He said as he crossed his arms.

Alice felt a new sense of confidence within herself. She had learned a lot in just this one lesson. She for once felt as if she might actually get control of her powers. Of course, it would still take some work, but she was in a much better position to get a hold of them now. It was the first time since they developed that she felt like she had any control over them at all.

"Bullseye!" Jubilee proclaimed after her dart struck directly in the middle of the dart board. She had talked Logan into playing a game with her while the others finished the pizza Cyclops had brought home for dinner.

"Gettin' too cocky, kid." Logan replied, tossing a dart and striking the same spot as Jubilee. "You're beginin' ta sound like the Cajun."

If Gambit was in the room he would no doubt comment on Logan's remark, but he was off visiting Storm in the infirmary. Alice was watching their game while she finished off her last piece of pizza. She was sitting at the table just behind them with Jean, Scott and Rogue. She watched as Jubilee threw her next dart and let out a frustrated moan when it didn't land as accurately as the one before. Logan released his last dart and once again hit the center of the board, winning the game.

"Aww, man." Jubilee complained after her loss. "You just got lucky."

"Don't feel too bad." Logan boasted as he walked towards the couch to sit down. "We can't all be winners."

Jubilee responded by rolling her eyes and then looked over at Alice.

"Oh, good, you're done." She said after noticing she had finished her last piece of pizza. "Come play a game."

Alice agreed and got up to play. She was starting to feel at home at the mansion. She was getting comfortable with everybody and felt as if she was getting settled in. Before now she would have been too shy to get up and play a game of darts in front of so many people, but now she didn't mind. It just seemed like she was with her friends. There were still times that she felt a little out of place, but not nearly as often as before.

They started their game while the others sat at the table and talked amongst themselves, not including Logan who had his feet propped up on the coffee table and was now searching for something to watch on TV. Suddenly everything was interrupted when Xavier entered the room. They could all read his face and knew something was wrong.

"Professor, what's wrong?" Jean was the first to ask.

"I'm afraid it's Storm..." He answered.

Gambit held her hand while Beast was rushing to administer more tests. Storm wouldn't wake up. Beast couldn't find anything that would cause her to fall into her current state and was determined to find the reason this had happened as soon as possible. Gambit held her hand tighter as a flood of thoughts flashed through his mind. He was worried and nervous, hoping she would wake back up any minute. He was stressed and on edge, still blaming himself for not helping her in time. The guilt had never stopped, but even more was the rage that was consuming him. He felt anger more than anything else. He knew who was really to blame. He knew who was responsible for her condition and he knew exactly where to find them. Not only did he know where to find them, he planned on finding them very soon. He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the rest of the team come into the room.

"What's goin' on?" Fear was evident in Rogue's voice when she asked. Beast was busy running tests and didn't hear her until she asked a second time, more impatient than before.

"I haven't seemed to have found the cause yet." He answered, continuing to work. "We can't seem to wake her up, she's in a very deep sleep."

"You mean like a coma?!" Rogue exclaimed.

"I am not for sure yet." Beast never looked up from the testing he was in the middle of. "We will know soon."

Logan let out an angry growl as he extended his adamantium claws and stabbed them into the wall. Alice was shocked to see his display of anger, but everybody else had seen it happen plenty of times before.

"Logan!" Scott scolded him. "Knock it off, you're not making the situation any better!"

"The only thing that would make this any better would be ta use these on the FOH!" Logan held up his claws as he made the statement. He clearly had the same thing in mind as Gambit.

"Just knock it off!" Scott ordered. Logan growled and stormed out of the room, leaving the others to watch Beast work on an uncontious Storm. Beast continued for another minute before looking up at the occupants of the room.

"I'm afraid I'll need to ask you to vacate the premises." He announced. "I need space, it's too crowded in here."

Even though they were all worried they understood and began to exit the room. Gambit held Storm's hand for another moment before he got up to follow the others, leaving Beast and Xavier to attend to her. When he stepped out of the room he pushed through everybody waiting outside and started down the hall.

"Where are you going?" He heard Scott demand from behind, obviously still mad from his encounter with Logan. "Gambit!"

Jean put a hand on Scott's shoulder to calm him while Gambit continued to ignore him and walked around the corner, disappearing from their sight.

Gambit stepped out of the mansion with one thing on his mind. The Friends Of Humanity. His steps grew faster as he found himself thinking about them. He didn't want to waste any more time.

"Where you goin'?" He heard a voice coming his way and turned to face a still very angry Logan.

"Mind your business, mon ami." Gambit quickly answered and continued on his way. He was stopped when he felt Logan grab him by the arm.

"If you're goin' where I think you're goin' I'm comin' along." Logan growled. "I ain't sittin' on my hands, Cajun!"

"And where you t'ink I'm goin'?" Gambit asked, pulling his arm out of Logan's grip.

"I think you plan on payin' the FOH a little visit." Logan declared. "And if you're not, I still am."

Logan walked away and started towards the direction of the garage. Gambit watched him for a second before stopping him.

"We get dere faster if we take your jeep, non?" He finally replied.

They stayed hidden in the shadows as they moved, undetected by the many guards standing outside the building. It appeared as if the Friends Of Humanity had bumped up their security after the attack against them a few days earlier, but that didn't make any difference. Gambit and Wolverine had a plan. They watched a group of armed guards smoke cigarettes as they stood on patrol, watching over one of the doors that led into the building. Gambit kept his eyes on them while Wolverine crept around for an ambush. He patiently waited for Logan to get in place, counting in his head as he prepared to make his move. When he felt he had waited long enough he walked forward, stepping into the light and revealing his position. He smiled when the guards spotted him and began to point their guns in his direction, just as he had hoped they would. Before any of them were able to pull the trigger they were attacked from the side as Wolverine quickly sprung into action. He effortlessly took them out with only a few moves and Gambit rushed over to help drag them into the dark so they wouldn't be found by any of the other guards posted outside. Then it was time for Gambit to make the next move and he looked up towards the roof. He didn't have Rogue to fly him up this time so he jumped onto a nearby dumpster, springing straight up off of it and grabbing onto the fire escape just above. He began climbing without wasting any time or making a sound, reaching the roof within seconds and looking up to see if anybody was there. There was a guard on patrol and Gambit pulled himself up after seeing that his back was turned to him. It was the perfect oppertunity to strike.

The moment his feet landed on the surface of the roof he took off towards the guard in a full run, the lightness of his steps making no sound as he came up from behind. He pulled his staff out and extended it to its full length, knocking the man out cold before he even realized he was there. Then he cautiously moved towards the door on the roof. As he started down the stairs and into the building he thought about what happened last time he was there. He knew this time things would be very different.

When he reached the door at the bottom of the stairs he slowly cracked it open to peak through. He saw that Wolverine hadn't finished the next part of their plan so he stood and waited, staying hidden behind the door. He remained there for nearly five minutes before he finally got his cue. The lights flickered and a moment later everything was dark. He figured Wolverine must have wanted to make sure he gave him enough time before he cut the power. Either that or he ran into some trouble that he had to take care of first. Now it was time for Gambit to move in and he started to go through the door when he heard a commotion in the hall. He could hear that it was men rushing down the hall and considered waiting for them to pass by, but instead gripped his staff and dashed through the door. He came face to face with several FOH members carrying flashlights. They reached for their guns, but he rushed towards them, quickly taking them out one by one before they were able to react. He checked both ends of the hall to see if aybody else was coming before he went on the move again. After he crept a short distance he looked back to make sure nobody was coming up behind him, but all he saw were the bodies he left on the floor and their still shining flashlights on the ground beside them. Once he got to the corner of the hall he glanced around it. The coast was clear so he kept going.

He continued until he found the stairs to go down to the next floor. The elevators weren't working since the power was out, but he knew he could remain stealth better if he used the stairs anyway. He pulled the door open and listened for the footsteps of anybody using them, but there weren't any. Then he cautiously made his way down them, not running into anybody on his way. He finally reached the next floor and put his ear up to the door to hear if anything was going on on the other side. He could hear talking. It sounded like a casual conversation so he knew they thought they were just having a power outage and had no idea what was really going on. It was only a few seconds before the conversation was over and he heard them walk away. After it was silent for a minute he swung the door open and rushed through it, ready to strike with his staff. He wasn't surprised to find the hall empty, but he wanted to be sure. He eased his grip and looked around.

He knew what he was looking for, but didn't know exactly where it was. It was up to him now. Wolverine had done his part and was most likely a safe distance from the building by now, waiting for him to finish the job. He slowly made his way down the hall, checking each door as he went. Then his search was interrupted when he heard a door open just ahead of him. Two men walked through it and spotted him immediately. They were too far away for him to use his staff and they already had their weapons drawn.

They pointed their guns in his direction and he tossed his staff aside, pulling cards out as he dodged the shots fired at him. He threw the cards while avoiding the gunfire and they struck the ground and walls around the men, exploding on impact. The two men were left lifeless on the ground, covered in pieces of the hallway. He knew the noise must have been heard by everybody in the building and that he no longer had the element of surprise. He continued down the hall, much faster than before, and came to an abrupt hault when he saw what room the men had been leaving. It was the room he had been looking for. He walked into it and looked at the dials and pipes leading from the buildings gas supply. The search was over and it was time to do what he had set out to do.

He pulled a card out and tossed it at a nearby wall, blowing a hole through it. Then he rushed over to it and looked down at the ground below. He got a quick look at where he would be dropping to and then quickly got back to the gas lines. He held both hand out in front of him, charging the area surrounding them. He held them there until the charge gained its full strength and then pulled them back, knowing he needed to hurry. He turned towards the door just as a group of armed FOH members arrived to investigate the noise. Without hesitating he dashed for the hole he had blown in the wall, jumping through it as gunfire flew after him. He safely avoided getting hit and dropped to the ground outside. The drop was farther than he thought and he felt a slight pain in his heels when he landed, but ignored it and took off running at full speed. He knew his time was limited. Within a matter of seconds there was a thunderous explosion that filled the air and shook the ground beneath him. The force was so powerful that it knocked him off balance and he hit the pavement, landing hard on his shoulder.

Everything continued to rumble as the building errupted and made the night look almost as if it were day, the explosion lighting the entire block. He covered his head while debree from the building fell from the sky and landed out in the street. He kept it covered until the shaking stopped and the sound quieted some. He looked up and then back at the building. What was left of it was now collapsing to the ground and a thick cloud of smoke floated up from it, flames still burning bright. It almost looked foggy through all the smoke and dust that was in the air. Then he heard footsteps walking towards him, the scattered bits of the building that were blown into the road crumbling under them as they moved closer.

"Nice firework show, Gumbo." Wolverine commented as he approached, taking a look at what remained of the building. "Think they'll be outta commission for awhile."

Gambit stood up and brushed himself off, looking around at the destruction. Then they heard the sound of sirens off in the distance. "We gonna have company soon, non?"

They decided it was time to go and headed back for Logan's jeep.