DISCLAIMER: They still aren't mine.
Sore from the long mission they had just returned for, the x-men filed into the kitchen a lot later than usual, not talking to each other any more than necessary, but simply grabbing their coffee and donut or bagel and heading off somewhere else to eat it. Gambit went down at about 10:30, just as Jean was leaving the kitchen with her mug.
"Mornin' Jeanie."
"Hello, Remy."
He groggily opened the cabinet and grabbed a mug, filling it with the last of the coffee and preparing to grab as many donuts as he could carry. As he reached for the donuts, Jean's voice rang through his head
Refill the machine, would you?
Grumbling, he filled the coffee maker and switched it back on. He turned to find Beast peeking around the corner, checking to see if the kitchen was empty.
"Henri? You ok, mon ami?"
"Of course, Remy." He stepped into the room, still looking nervous.
"Non, somet'ing's wrong. An' as much as Remy was hoping to sneak out of here wit' all de donuts, he t'inks maybe you should sit down and tell him what's going on."
"It's nothing, Remy. I assure you. I've just had little sleep lately, and the small nap I was able to grab last night was interrupted."
"By who?"
"Um... no one. No one that you should be worried about, anyways."
"Right...well, den Remy's gonna go ahead an' take dese donuts... you want one first?"
"No, thank you."
"ok. Adieu."
He grabbed the box of donuts and hurried out of the kitchen, trying to find a place to hide while he ate them. He ducked into a conference room that was unoccupied and switched on the television. He watched cartoons for a good twenty minutes but was interrupted by a screaming coming from the kitchen.
"WHO THE HELL TOOK ALL TH' DONUTS?!"
It was a scream he knew all too well. He switched off the tv and tried his best to make the room look as if it were still unoccupied, switching to sit in a seat that could not be seen from the doorway. He stretched out in the seat, continuing to eat the donuts, comfortable in his pajama bottoms. As he raised his coffee mug to his lips, he realized that he was all out.
"Damn."
He hid the box of donuts and headed back to the kitchen to get a refill. On the way, he passed Scott, who had put on a jacket and was looking for his keys.
"Somet'ing wrong?"
"Can't find my keys... someone took all of the donuts. Need to get more before Rogue tears the kitchen apart."
"Good idea. Make sure you get some of de cream-filled ones, non?"
"Yeah. Sure."
"Oh, and here you go."
Remy pulled Scott's keys out of his pocket. He had taken them the day before, hoping to use them in some elaborate scheme to get back at Scott for calling him to go along on the mission, but he figured that if their fearless leader was so worried about the state of the kitchen that he had had enough revenge. For one day anyways. Scott grabbed the keys without questioning him and hurried off to the garage. Remy continued on to the kitchen, where he found Rogue calmly sitting with a bagel and a cup of coffee.
"Hey, Sugah."
"Mornin' Chere. Saw Scooter in de hall. Looked pretty scared."
"Yeah, Ah threatened to tear the refrigerator outta th' wall if he didn't go get me some more donuts."
"Chere... you don' even like donuts."
"Ah know, but he made me go on that stupid mission yesterday."
"Dat's a good enough reason."
He poured himself another cup of coffee, watching Rogue's every move instead of where he was pouring. He learned within seconds what a big mistake he had made in doing so. The hot coffee spilled onto his hand, scalding his skin.
"MERDE!"
"What?! Remy, you ok?"
"Non."
"Did ya burn yourself?"
"Oui."
"Here." Since Remy seemed to be too shocked to even speak in three-syllable words, she decided that he was too numbed to take care of the burn. She turned on the faucet and grabbed his hand, running it under the cold water.
"Rem... its real red. You should probably go see Hank, sugah."
"Henri is crazy."
"Look who's talking. Come on, we're gonna go see him now."
"Non, it hurts."
"Stop whining."
Remy made as grumpy a face as he could muster, to which Rogue replied by muttering something vulgar under her breath and dragging him along towards the med lab.
Down in the med lab, Beast was running tests on Marie, who was still confused, even though Beast had explained to her as best he could what exactly was happening.
"So you're saying that I've traveled in time?"
"If you are who you claim to be, it is the only possible explanation."
"What do you mean, IF? I am who I claim to be."
"You're very convincing, I'll give you that."
"Well, it seems as if I've been practicing for this 'role' my entire life. I'd better be convincing if nothing else."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty four."
"Hmm."
"What?"
"That's the same age as your mother is."
"Creepy."
"To say the least. You say you're a doctor?"
"I'm still studying to become a medical doctor. Under you, actually. But I am the team tech specialist. That's what I was doing. I was examining some shi-ar technology, when it went off, and here I am."
"incredible. Do you think—"
He was cut off by the sound of the door opening and Rogue and Gambit stepping in, Gambit still looking like an angry three year old. When they noticed Beast at one end of the room, talking to a young woman, they approached.
"Oh, Sorry t' interrupt, Hank. Remy here has a boo-boo."
"Don' downplay it. It hurts."
"He's a baby."
"Non! Don' believe her," he said, addressing Marie. "She says all kinds of t'ings dat make Remy look bad."
"Only when ya deserve it, swamp rat."
Marie was stunned. Here, she was looking at her parents, squabbling like they always did, but younger than she had ever seen them, save for photographs. And if that wasn't strange enough, her dad started hitting on her.
"She tries t' make me look bad, but Remy's really good. Really good."
Marie couldn't think of anything to say, so she started to laugh nervously, which caused her bangs to fall from behind her ears, the white cascading down from a sea of brown. Remy and Rogue noticed her hair at the same time.
"Well, so much for me bein' original around here."
"Love de hair, chere."
Once again strained for something to say, she instead looked up at the pair, showing them, for the first time, her red on black eyes. The air in the room tensed up, and no one spoke until Beast cleared his throat and voiced exactly what Marie was thinking.
"Well... this is awkward."
Thanks for the reviews! Again... don't know what's up with the bold thing... tried to fix it but gave up. Laziness wins again.
So leave reviews! I have the next chapter ready... just waiting to hear from everyone out there.