AN: Hey everyone, this is a repost of Chapter 11, but with the reviews this time. I'm still updating on Friday the 26th, so see you all then!

Caliente: Welcome back! The internet is an addicting thing isn't it? Maybe it seemed like you were gone longer because you haven't updated Mutant Diaries in a while ::casts an evil look:: Glad you liked the little RoLo comment, I'm really pretty clueless as to how to write them! Kitty Kurt n Bobby weren't effected but Xavier was afraid of what would happen  ie, bamfing to another dimension, permanent intangibility or freezing organs and dying, that kinda thing!

Girl number 1: Wow, that's the best review I've ever gotten! Style and class you say? *blushes* Sorry it's a little confusing, it'll all be explained soon enough! I think Remy didn't object because she didn't give him a chance to explain, she just assumed the very worst about him. That can't be very nice. That's the story of their relationship isn't it?

Remy's ange: Hehe I LOVE Days! And seriously, could they possibly drag things out any more?!?  Hum…sorry you didn't like the Joseph bits in the beginning, he pops up to the annoyance of Gambit a few more times, and actually almost kills the X-Men at some point *gasp* spoiler! Thanks for the mon ami correction, when I write the fic in my notebook, I write the things I want Remy to say in French, in Spanish so I know to translate, and that slipped past my notice!

T.: Wolverine is definitely the person you want with you if you hafta slap some sense into someone!

Ishandahalf: Ohhh I love Passions too! Charity and Cole and all that drama! Ugh, I haven't seen it in months tho, stupid foreign country not having American soaps! Rogue said she didn't see him there, so she assumed the worst. Lousy huh? Uber seems to have been added to everyone's vocabulary!

The Lankey Yankee: If people tell me what kinda RoLo they want, I will provide! Ohhh I love Ultimate Xmen! Write the fic quickly!

DemonicGambit: Yea, I think Remy would win the fight too…go remy!

Disclaimer: I haven't had one of these for chapters! Whoops…I don't own anything except the plot!

Honor and Consequences

Chapter 11: Fire Drill

By The Sphinx Minx

telepathy

thoughts

emphasis

Joseph looked at his team mates. Mates…ha. They weren't friends of his. But if nothing else, Joseph was able to deal with people. He'd been doing it for awhile now, what with people hurling accusations and critical glances his way. He knew he had nothing to be ashamed of. He had no memories…but somehow…he knew. He knew he wasn't the monster some of the X-Men thought he was. Most of those X-Men were standing here in front of him. Lovely. They'd be watching his every step today. Fantastic. An appealing fate.

Archangel sighed. He looked around, seemed to him that he was the only stable person on this mission. The only one not too involved, or too intent to kill another member. Which may have been why he didn't share in their death glares to each other. Instead he chose to remain a discrete distance away. That was safest, especially since it looked as though he'd be playing peacekeeper. An appealing fate.

Wolverine didn't like it. Not one freakin' bit. And there better not be any crap on this little adventure. He was not the father figure to these men, he had no problem knocking a few heads together. The Professor must be losin' his marbles at his age to send this team. Now, he had nothin' directly against the Cajun, as long as he toed the line and didn't hurt Rogue or nobody there was no need for any…reprimands. After all, the X-Men was a place for second chances. For most people. Not Magneto, amnesia or no, some spots don't come out. Some people have gone beyond second chances. Charley disagreed, but that was no problem, Charley wouldn't be around on this mission. Wolverine could make his own decisions. An appealing fate.

Gambit fingered the playing cards in his pocket. He silently shuffled them though his fingers and pulled out a single card.

Queen of Hearts.

Anyone watching would have thought it was symbolic, romantic, but Remy Le Beau knew the whole time what card he was pulling out. The Queen of Hearts was always the last card he would throw, so it was on the bottom of his deck, made it easy to follow in the shuffle. Often, that meant all his hopes; his very life depended on that card. Which he supposed is symbolic and romantic in it's own way. Or was…Gambit looked at the card.

Well chere, looks like you won' be wit' Gambit on dis one eh? He folded the card and put it in his back pocket. Out of sight, out of mind. Unlike the homme standing next to him. Gambit didn't have to worry about offending Rogue now, she wasn't having anything to do with him. If Joseph tried anything, Gambit had 52 other cards in his deck….Don't forget the joker. An appealing fate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, who's flyin?" Gambit looked at the three other men and decided it was best to get the basics out of the way. The rest of the journey continued much on the same line. Talking only when necessary and with short, to the point sentences. They approached the cabin where they had vacationed and Wolverine spoke.

"All right, two groups, one for blood samples, one for dirt and whatever else the Professor wants. Cajun, you're with me, people patrol. Wings? Take the newbie you're the gardeners today." No one responded, only stood up and silently exited the jet.

"Alright bub, how'dya wana do this?" Wolverine and Gambit were standing outside one of the public schools containing a student effected by the mysterious light.

"Well, if Gambit has an idea, but Charley won' approve...what d'you do?"

"Floors all yours Gumbo."

"Lil somethin' ol' Remy learned from Jubilee…" Gambit walked over to the fire alarm, charged a card and stuck it between the plastic casing and the wall. Seconds, a small explosion later, and sirens and lights were flashing in the school. Moments passed, and then hundreds of students filed out of the school chattering and laughing, delighted at missing class and wondering who pulled the fire alarm this time. No one saw the mutants hiding in the trees of the forest that surrounded the school.

Joseph and Archangel worked in silence. They were walking around the woods, looking for anything suspicious and so far hadn't found anything. Joseph sighed; "what exactly are we looking for?" Warren glanced up before responding

"I don't know…mutant birds flying around with four wings?" Joseph didn't reply to Archangels attempt at humor. They remained silent for the next while. It was Joseph who spoke again. "Why don't we just grab some dirt, leaves, and call it a day, there's nothing-

-unusual here bub…everything looks normal ta me."

"Ah yes homme, but dats de best part, no? We all look normal, but we're not, are we?"

"Point taken Cajun, so any hot ideas on how we're gona get to this kid?"

"We're not…" Gambit nodded his head toward two men striding out of the fire exit door, his hair flopping over the restraint his mask put on it. "dey are."

Sure enough, the Dean and the Principal strode over to a teacher, and with heads bowed, they spoke in hushed whispers. The teacher stood up straight and called into the group of teenagers massed before her. "Alan! Alan Morrison? Come here please!"

Wolverine and Gambit watched as a tall scrawny dark haired boy stepped forward. "Yes Miss Lyson?"

"Um…Alan, please go with Dr.Cruz, he has some things to ask you."

"Cajun, how the hell is this gona help us?"

"Homme, if its one t'ing Gambits learned, its dat some t'ings, dey never change, n when Gambit was young, if you a mutant…somet'in goes wrong? You de first on de list of suspects."

Dr Cruz and Alan left the crowd and walked to the back of the school in the deserted parking lot.

"Why did you do it Alan." It wasn't a question, it was an accusation.

"Do what sir?"

"Damn it Morrison, don't play games, we all know about your…latest…freak incident." Alan stepped back from the Principal "wh-? I don't…there's not…noth-" Dr. Cruz stepped closer and minimized the gap. He lowered his voice so only Alan …and Wolverine could hear.

"Listen you little freak, I know you pulled that alarm, you mutants are always looking for attention. Well let me tell you something punk. Not…at…my…school." With each word, Cruz pushed Alan back a little more until his back was against the wall of the school building. They were hidden in shadow.


"Right Gumbo, that's our cue." Gambit had been waiting for Wolverine's word, since he could only see some of the confrontation, not hear it. As soon as Wolverine spoke, the two men snuck out of the trees, up behind the Principal. Alan's eyes widened as the Cajun appeared towering over the short man in front of him. His jaw dropped when he saw Wolverine. He still has his eyes on Wolverine when Gambit tapped Dr. Cruz on the shoulder. Cruz spun around, furious at being interrupted in his interrogation. He looked into Gambits flashing red and black eyes and blinked. "Homme, he is not a mutant. I am a mutant," and to prove his point, Gambit reached into his pocket and drew out a card. It enflamed with energy and the shadows danced on the principals face. Remy snapped his fingers "'Ello? did you hear me? I am a mutant n'…"

"he...h…he…is not" Cruz finished.

"Correct!" Gambit looked delighted and he threw the card into the ground where it exploded. "Now we don' want you troublin' yo'self wit non mutants. So if we hear you givin' dis kid a hard time, we'll be back, n next time, my friend Wolverine will do de talking'" Cruz glanced at Wolverine and must have decided that he didn't like what he saw because he nodded and stumbled back, breaking into a run as he mumbled "Right…not a mutant..right no talks…right" Eventually, he disappeared around the corner of the building.

Gambit met Alan's eyes. The poor kid looked like he was ready to die of shock.

"Alright kid we ain't lookin' fer trouble…we jus need a favor."

Alan nodded.

"We need a blood sample, we know you're not a mutant but somethin's givin you your extra abilities, n we're trying to find out what."

Alan nodded again, he seemed incapable of doing anything else.

"Remy pulled the needle from the inside of his trench coat and quickly drew the blood. When they left, Alan still hadn't moved.

"Gumbo, Charley ain't gona like dat."

"Charley don' needa know, we did our job, n put a racist in his place…all in a day's work."

Wolverine, Gambit, Archangel, and Joseph met at the jet with their various samples.

"Right, the Professor said that we were to travel to the cabin together, in case anything goes wrong. So we're all here now, let's go." Archangel led the team through the woods and they appeared in front of the familiar cabin. Warily, they looked around, then up and around again. Cautiously they walked toward the front of the cabin when Wolverine roared. "Stop" Go back!" but it was too late. A green light appeared in the sky and as it engulfed the men, turned blue.

Joseph felt more powerful than he had ever felt in his life; he fell to his knees. Metal. It was everywhere. He reached out to it willingly, it was his to control, he wanted to feel his power. He reached out.

And the other men screamed in pain.

Joseph reached out to feel the metal. The power! He reached out.

And the satellite moved from it's place in the atmosphere. It wasn't in space, no, it was much closer than that, and the metal plated technology was moving closer.

As the satellite moved down closer to the earth, responding to Joseph's call, it light intensified over the X-Men as they continued to scream in agony.

Miles away, the Professor, with Cerebro, grabbed his head. They were all in such pain, what could he do? What had he done? He had sent his X-Men to their deaths.

Wolverine was on all fours on the ground. He knew what he had to do; Joseph was somehow pulling the light down on top of them. He had to be stopped. No matter what. Wolverine staggered to his feet and started to stumble toward Joseph but stopped. He looked down. His skin was ripping open and sealing itself again. The pain was unbelievable. Almost unbearable. Then, the worst came. He could feel his bones stretching as they tried to break out of his skin as his claws did. His entire body was screaming. Wolverine didn't realize he was as well. As his body destroyed and healed itself at the same time, he collapsed.

Archangel was laying face down on the ground wishing the Lord would just put him out of his misery. His wings were growing, and enlarging. His back couldn't take the strain, Warren Worthington felt as though he was going to snap in half.

Gambit. He looked at his fallen team mates. They had all completely lost control of their powers, control they had taken for granted. He had seen what Wolverine tried to do, and wanted to help, but as each second went on, he could feel his own control slipping. Gambit knew that unless Joseph was stopped, this light, or rather ironically, their powers would kill them. He stood up, energy flashing out of his eyes "Jus anot'er minute…hold on…" He was facing Joseph, who, still on his eyes, had his eyes closed and his arms raised. Remy Le Beau reached into his pocket to get hold of his cards. He pulled them out. All hope rode on these cards, it was the only way to take down Joseph, the only way to stop the light. His power fled to the cards relieved to have an outlet. The entire pack, all 52 cards, blew up in Gambit's hand.

"Merde."

AN: Now! 2000 words…how's that for a chapter? Please review!