Sorry if this isn't has long as you wanted, but I can only do what I can. But anyway I want to do something new, if any of you have ideas for future incidents or ideas you think would go good in the story or you would like to see, please review and tell me. I'll be more than happy to try and fit it in the story.Thank you!

Chapter eight

The slick jet slowly circled the clearing above their heads. Finally finding a landing space big enough for the sheer size of the plane.

The wind continued to whip the hair and clothing of Gambit and Alex. They stood millimeters of each other, one watched in awe and the other in pride. Brian had slowly stirred from his sleep and watched has the immense aircraft attempted to land in the dense canopy of trees.

The landing was quite smooth for a jet of that size. The propellers were the first to shut down and slowly wind down. A switch inside was activated and immediately a ramp was lowered to the ground, allowing easier access to the entrance of the jet.

Alex was still standing in the same spot. She was immediately rushed with a mix of emotions, excitment and confusion were among the strongest. She had been told of this "X-Men" team by Gambit. He had explained that it was part of a superior schooling institution for mutants owned by a Professor Xavier, who in returned formed a team of strong and trustworthy mutants to carry out and complete missions carried out by the Professor. Missions that helped other mutants and humans as well.

Gambit had quickly rushed forward towards the ramp when a band of people began to pile out, along with a man in a wheelchair. Each and every one of them greeted the presence of Gambit. Alex could tell that they were his friends, no one greeted you with a sincere smile if they didn't like you.

By the constantly hand gestures Gambit was making towards her and Brian, she could only guess he was talking about them. The quiet huddle of friends was a thing of the past when the group broke up to take care of the tasks ahead. A few men including a blue man beast rushed towards Brian's weak demeanor, huddled against a tree.

Alex seemed a bit startled by the sudden movement. A few men had not only rushed towards Brian's side, but a couple of people were assisting with Gambit's wounds. There, she stood, the only still and silent one in the mess.

A sudden gasp to the side of her, snapped Alex out of her blackened state. The men assisting Brian had tried to move Brian and had successfully hurt Brian in the attempt. "Hey." said Alex, while she made her way towards the group of men, but a voice from behind her made her stop in her tracks.

"He's going to be quite alright, Alex." replied the calm voice. Alex turned around to find the man that she had seen earlier being pushed down the ramp in a wheelchair, sitting patiently watching her.

"Who are you?" questioned Alex. She had a good guess who this might be, but she wanted to be sure.

"I'm Professor Xavier, or X if you want to. I'm here to help you." he replied again in his calm and inviting voice. It consisted of neither anger or arrogance, and if Alex didn't know better it would seem that this man had never witnessed a bad thing in his life.

"What do you mean, you're here to help me?"asked Alex. She had needed help in the very beginning of her journey, and now it was all just a huge mess. Brian and Gambit had both gotten hurt and her little brother had yet to be found. She blamed herself for everything.

"No, Alex. None of this is your fault. Finding your brother is the best thing you could do, and you're doing it now," Professor X explained. Alex could've sworn that's exactly what she had been thinking,"In this journey, you have managed to make companions and get yourself out of tricky situations that most would have given up on. The weather had different plans for you and constantly tried to make you turn around, again you continued on. You're a very brave and selfless woman, Alex."

Alex looked stunned from the Professor's explaination of her journey. All those things had never crossed her mind, just her brother and her companions. She needed to keep them alive and out of trouble, while looking for her brother. All of that had proven to be more difficult than she had thought it would be. "How did you know all that?"

"I have my ways."smiled the Professor.

Through the entire conversation, the rest of the clan had managed to pick up and relocate Brian while a couple more were still trying to help heal Gambit, who looked to Alex was putting up a fuss. "What are you doing to Brian?"

"Don't worry, we're here to help him. He certainly isn't any help anymore with his ankle, and he seems to be getting quite sickly. We'll take him back to the school to help fix him and get him back to the cheerful boy, he was." Again the Professor smiled. Alex watched him throughout the whole speech and found that he almost looked like a child. He still held innocence in his eyes that sparkled when he spoke of nothing horrible and forbidding."And it seems that Jean and Storm are trying to fix up Gambit and he is constantly acting like the little boy, he is."

"I heard that professor!"shouted Gambit, from across the clearing. Annoyance clearly being directed towards him."The bullet's deeper than you think!" he commented one last time, before one of the women chastised him for moving.

Alex laughed at him, she finally felt relieved enough to let herself relax. This whole trip, she felt cornered between the loyalty to her brother and the plain feeling of overexhaustion. She wanted nothing more than to crawl under her covers and safety of her bed, but she needed her brother with her safe, before she could even think about that.

"I know that you think that we're here to help you, Alex," paused the Professor. He hated having to tell her this, but he had no choice, "This is your journey, Alex. Nobody's but your own. You were destined to do this. This will prove to yourself and everyone else that you are strong and that nobody stands in your way. If I'm correct, you have the compacity to become the strongest mutant alive. Which ever side you choose, will determine the outcome of us all."

Alex stood stunned. This was far more than she expected. She wasn't the world's most powerful mutant, she was just Alex Alderidge.(Harry Potter...tee hee) And yet was even more confusing for her was the fact that she, her alone, was supposed to make this journey. It was meant to happen, it had been all planned out for her. Her future. "But.....I can't do this alone." she was able to spit out rather quietly.

"Oh, I believe you weren't. It seems that Gambit is rather determined to stay with you, throughout it all. Through thick and thin. And might I add that you did a good job of taming him, " smirked the Professor. The look on her face, must of told the professor that she was confused.," He has quite a bad boy reputation at school. Logan and him have diffiently caused enough damage at the school," Again the Professor paused to recall past memories,"Remember with great power, comes great responsibility."(Spider-Man....tee hee)"Whenever you need help, we will be there to help you. In the end result of reaching your destination, we will be there to provide you with our assistance, but the journey must be made with you two alone."

The conservation between Gambit and Alex had come to a complete halt after the Professor's last comment. It seemed that Alex wouldn't be seeing Brian for a little bit. Slowly she made her way inside the jet, where Brian lay on a pull out cot snuggled inside bundles of blankets. She could tell he was finally relaxed, he was going to get medical aid by a certain blue haired man named "Beast", who was nothing like his name would require. She had found Beast to be a well-mannered and calm demeanored man, and fully trusted Brian's care with him.

"You keep yourself out of trouble." cried Alex, as she kneeled down next to Brian's weak form. He in returned snorted and laughed.

"Don't worry. I may be new at this, but I think that maybe I'll be staying in bed a while."

"Oh, believe me,you will be." smirked Beast, while he continued to make Brian comfortable for the flight to the institution.

"You hear that, Brian. He'll tell me if you're being a pain." smiled Alex, through her tears. Brian looked up a Alex and immediately felt sorry for her. He knew her well enough to know that she was blaming herself for what happened.

"Alex, it's not your fault." whispered Brian. By now, Beast had left the room to give them privacy. Alex lowered her head and sniffled.

"But none of this would've happened if I wouldn't have let you come on this trip. I should have gone on it myself!"Alex explained, rather loudly. Tears streamed down her face, washing away any sign of happiness she had been feeling.

"Alex, you know better than me that I would have gone anyway."Brian chastised. Slowly as to not injure himself, he reached up and wrapped his arms around Alex. She let her head fall to his shoulder, and hug him.

Minutes passed more quickly than Alex wanted them to. Before she knew it, she was saying goodbye to Brian and watching the rest of the team depart to the jet. Gambit could be seen approaching her, while he tried desperately to put on his cloak without pulling out his stitches in his arm.

Alex sighed and ran up to him to assist. Slowly she lowered his arms to his side and pulled off his cloak. "You have to put it on this way, Gambit." She eased the jacket sleeves up his arms without irritating his stitches and pulled his cloak over his shoulders. "There."

"What would I do without you?" smiled Gambit.

"Probably get shot again."replied Alex sarcastically. Gambit's smile immediately vanished.

"That was under special circumstances!" replied Gambit through gritted teeth.

"Alex, remember you will always have help when you need it, at the end." winked the Professor as he was loaded into the jet with the help of his motorized wheelchair.

The jet lifted off the ground in a matter of minutes, sending more dirt and pines hurtling through the air. Gambit stood with Alex in his cloak, huttled inside away from the flying debris and wind. The black jet exited the night sky with a loud whistling noise, before it speed off into the sky with incredible speed.

"While, I guess we better be going." replied Gambit, as he pulled the cloak tighter around Alex's body to shield her now from the harsh and unforbidding icey winds.

"Yeah, we should" agreed Alex.

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