Author's Note: So sorry it took so long!!

Sorry to hear about that, sych77. Hope you're having better luck these days.

Thank you legolasfreak2

I'm sorry to hear that you don't like Jean or the Phoenix, Silent Doom. Truth be told, I don't quite like her myself, but that's the way the movie was heading and I thought it would be something interesting to write about.

novthoniel, Gambit . . . dumb? Sorry, that was never my intentions. You have to understand though, he probably got poor schooling if he even got schooling at all down in New Orleans. I, myself, am I huge Gambit fan, even a bigger one since he comes from my home state. Sorry if I made him sound dumb.

Chica De Los Ojos Cafe, you'll have to read on, lol!


Chapter Nine

At dinnertime Scott, Storm, Nigthcrawler, and Beast were in the living room watching the news and eating their dinners. Logan, Gambit, Rogue, and Bobby were eating in the kitchen. Logan hadn't gotten much out of Charles, like usual. He was in a sullen mood as he ate his fried chicken. Gambit was also quieter than he normally would have been, especially in Rogue's presence. With his homeland far behind, he had a thirst that only the Big Easy could quench. Since Logan and Gambit weren't talkative, Rogue and Bobby quietly talked. Rogue looked at Bobby most of the time, but for some reason, she couldn't help stealing glances at Gambit. He looked awfully handsome closer up, after you got over his rough New Orleans' look.

'So, ah, do anyone play cards?' Gambit asked after a while of picking over his chicken.

'This is a school,' Bobby said.

Gambit looked at him, the look on his face said plainly, 'So?'

'I play, sometimes,' Logan said.

'Do ya? Wanna go fo' a round?' Gambit asked, leaning back on his chair.

'What're we playin'?'

'Well, Gambit not sure you know how t'play Bourre', so poker sound good?'

'Sure, but we ain't got no chips and I'm broke.'

'Ah, dat okay. Gambit came off wit' a few chips last time he was in a bar,' Gambit said as he leaned back down and pulled out a small bag of chips from one of his many pockets.

'A few?' Rogue couldn't help but question as she saw all the chips.

'Owner didn' know a t'ing, but den again, I did give 'im so many drinks dat he had hard time countin' dem,' Gambit explained as he winked at Rogue, who blushed.

Bobby cleared his throat and both he and Rogue left them at their game. They went into the living room just in time to hear the latest news.

A guy in his middle thirties was on the television. He was wearing a full body suit like the kind people wear when an area was being quarantined. In answer for the suit, there were numerous other people in the same suits running here and there behind him. He appeared to be on muddy land with a lot of junk bending him.

'Hello, I'm Matt Steward here in Alberta, Canada. Yes, you heard right. I am here to report an unexplainable phenomenon that took place only a few hours ago. If you will, try to recall that about six months ago, an abandoned dam collapsed and took out most of the surrounding forest, including an ancient looking complex that the dam was built on. Scientists have confirmed that it would take years for all the water to fully dry up, if ever. Due to constant snow and regular rainfall, it would be a miracle. Well, you are now looking at one. I am now standing where the water used to be. I kid you not. If the camera will pan just over there, you'll see the places where the water used to be. Everywhere else there's snow and trees, but here there's nothing but mud and debris.

The scientists we have here are baffled. They're working behind me as I speak on a logical explanation for this. For safety reasons, I've been required to put on this body suit. There are all kinds of things around here, but no bodies or any of that sort have been found here. We'll talk more with a scientist tonight at ten.'

'That's . . . isn't that where we were at?' Bobby asked, after a commercial came on.

'I'm going to have a talk with the Professor,' Scott said, looking unusually pale.

'Whatever is the matter with Scott?' Beast asked after he left.

'The Professor didn't happen to mention anything about the things that went on in Canada?' Storm asked Beast.

'Not that I recall. Why do you ask?'

'Are vou up for a long story?' Kurt asked.

About thirty minutes into their story, loud banging and shouting could be heard from the kitchen. They all got up and rushed to see what the problem was. They came into the kitchen and found Logan and Gambit were both on their feet. The chips and cards were everywhere, namely on the floor. The table and chairs had been flipped over as well.

'I shoulda known! Who th' hell wears a damn trench-coat in a house anyway?' Logan was yelling.

'Maybe it cold,' Gambit muttered.

'Yer a cheatin' scum! Comin' from New Orleans makes ya t'ink ya want t'be clever,' Logan said.

'Ya say you were broke anyway. What it to ya if it my money?' Gambit asked.

'Cause I won that money fair an' square!' Logan said, coming around the overturned table. 'Lemme see th' damn jacket, Cajun!'

'Hey, man. Whoa, okay, okay,' Gambit said as a claw popped out of Logan's knuckles. He took the jacket off slowly. Extra cards started falling on the floor.

'Ha! Hand o'er th' money too, bub,' Logan said as he held out his other hand.

Gambit reluctantly gave him the money. Logan threw the jacket back at him.

'You may fool people in New Orleans, but I could smell you were nervous an' tryin' t'be sneaky wit' somethin'. Don' let it happen again an' I'll jus' keep th' money,' Logan said as he turned the table back on its legs again and walked out.

Gambit grumbled, but picked up the overturned chairs, throwing his coat on one of them. He then began picking up his chips and cards. Everyone else headed back to the living room. Everyone, that is, except Rogue. Gambit was on his hands and knees, shuffling his cards together.

'Were you really cheatin'?' Rogue asked.

Gambit, thinking he was alone, jumped and dropped the cards in his hands.

'Don' scare ol' Gambit like that, chere,' Gambit said.

'Sorry,' Rogue said, looking down at her hands. 'But did you really cheat?'

''Fraid so. Ya gotta play dirty t'live de streets, chere.'

'Oh. Well, Logan's not that bad, ya know,' Rogue assured him.

'Ya don' say?' Gambit asked, smiling slightly.

'Yeah, ya just can't cheat on poker with him,' Rogue said, bending down and helping him put the chips in the bag.

'Wish someone told me dat sooner.'

'You two might get along.'

'Easy fo' you t'say. He hasn't saved me.'

Rogue was silent.

'Sorry, if you're touchy on da subject,' Gambit said.

'No, it's okay.'

'You from de south?'

'Mississippi.'

'Ah, I t'ought so. Somewhere near dere. Well, dat look like all o' da cards.'

'All the chips too,' Rogue said, getting up as Gambit did and handing him the bag.

'Right. Well, see ya round,' Gambit said as he picked up his coat and left.

A few extra cards fell out of a pocket. He didn't notice and went on. Rogue bent down and picked them up. Three were actual cards and the fourth was some kind of membership card to something. She ran to give them back to him.

Logan was planning to go back to his room. He was going up the stairs when Scott ran into him.

'Watch it,' he growled, still counting the money to know he hadn't been cheated twice.

'S-Sorry,' Scott said.

Logan stopped counting. 'You never apologize, what's th-' he began, but stopped as he looked up.

'Yeah, well, it's your lucky day,' Scott said as he began to go down the stairs.

'Hey, what's th' matter?' Logan asked. He had never seen Scott this pale before, except once.

'You haven't watched the news, have you?'

'So what if I haven't?'

'Watch at ten. You'll see.'

'What th' hell is that suppose t'mean?'

'Wouldn't be me if I told ya.'

And with that Scott headed down to the living room.

Logan watched him go. He shrugged to himself and went to his room.

At 9:00, with the help of Jones, Logan found an old comedy he remembered that he used to watch. By 9:30, it got old. Logan couldn't remember dozing off, but he did. And just because he was in the living room on the same couch as Jones, didn't mean the dreams would let up . . .

He was in Canada. He could tell by the snow and the trees. He sensed something ahead. As he trudged through the snow he knew he had been here before. He began to see bits of old parts and numerous other things littering the ground. He found all kinds of needles, gloves, and a gas mask that looked to be in tack. He realized the more he saw things on the ground, the more thinner the trees became. With his senses on high alert, he knew there was a drop off up ahead. He got to it and his mouth fell open. There were no trees in the drop off, just mud. It reminded him of a lake. He looked farther down. Even though it was growing dark, his piercing eyes saw the bottom. Rocks and more junk were down there. Also accompanying the bottom was a tank. A tank, to his horror, that looked oddly familiar. He now knew exactly where he was and exactly what this was. He was home . . .