(Regarding the last chapter - Gambit wasn't cheating on Rogue with Neria in Paris. They are "just friends". Beside I don't know if you even can call the kiss a kiss, but much more about that later ;)– JoBO)

11. Never Cry Wolf

The swan landed on the lake and her reflection was erased by the violently movements in the water. It made her wake up from her thoughts. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and looked over at the swan, which majestically began to rearrange his feathers after the flight. For a second it stopped and looked over at her, who wished that her life could be like a fairytale, but she knew better. There wasn't any happy ending for her. She was bound to live with her curse, since she wasn't an ugly duckling, who was going to evolve into a swan.

"Rogue?"

She looked up for a second and saw that Jean was standing beside her, but quickly her eyes began wander out over the water to the swan again. Jean could see that something was wrong so she sat down beside her.

"We were getting worried about you. You have been gone for a long time…"

She looked around like she was searching for something.

"…Where is Gambit?"

Rogue looked down to hide the tears, which once more came up in her eyes.

"I sent him away."

"Why?"

She didn't answer her, but Jean, who read her like an opened book, laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's not what you think. I could feel their feelings, when she died, and they have never been a couple."

Rogue looked up and their eyes met for the first time.

"I know… It's just… how can he be so close to one, who he only have known for fourteen days, when he can't…"

She stopped in the middle of the sentence and looked down, but Jean understood the connection.

"I don't know."

Rogue looked up again.

"Have you ever thought about, how it would be, if you didn't have your powers? That you just were normal?"

Jean was just about to shake her head, but then she nodded.

"Sometimes, but then I think about all the good things that I have been able to do, because of my powers, and then I'm grateful for them, but still it's hard. Knowing that if Scott and me ever were married and got children, that they would also get the same problems as we have."

"You and Scott made it look so easy."

Now it was Jean's time to let her eyes wander out over the lake to the swan, which still rearranged his feathers, as she thought about her love.

"Maybe it looks easy, but love is never easy. Scott and me have just so far been lucky, but no one knows have long that will last, but we know that our love is strong enough to help us through the problems that will come…"

She looked over at Rogue.

"… You should trust your love more. He doesn't just stay because of the free meals…"

She stood up and offered Rogue her hand.

"… Come let us go back. Maybe he is already waiting for you there."

Hesitantly took Rogue her hand and Jean help her up. Together they walked back to the mansion, where a worried Xavier met them in the hall. To Rogue's thankfulness he didn't seem to notice her red eyes.

"Where is Remy?"

Before they could answer him came Storm into the room.

"Professor, my friend has just called me back…"

She stopped as she saw the others, but a gesture from Xavier made her continue.

"… He had found out some very intriguing things concerning the papers Louis gave you."

Xavier nodded.

"I was afraid of that. Call the others together in the briefing room."

Storm looked clearly surprised over the professor's decision.

"Shouldn't Gambit get the news first?"

Xavier looked over at Rogue.

"I'm afraid that it's already too late for that."

Rogue, who had seen the look in Xavier eyes, quickly flew up the stairs to Gambit's room, where she pushed the half-opened door up, but only to discover an empty room. The only trace, which showed someone once had lived there, was an x-men-badge, which lay on the floor.

o-

"Fool, I should have done it myself!"

The older man walked over to the fireplace, where he threw the incriminating papers into the fire. The younger man, who was packing something down in cardboard boxes, stopped and looked over at his boss.

"Take it easy! They doesn't think that the plane crash was nothing more that just an accident, besides even if the find out it wasn't an accident, then here is no way that they will be able to trace it back to you."

The older man turned around and the younger one pulled away from him as he saw the gun in his boss's hand.

"Exactly, there is no way they are going to trace it back to me, because the track ends with you!"

He fired the gun only once, but it was enough. The younger man felt down to the floor as the blood began to flow out of the bullet wound in his forehead. The older man walked over to the body, where he admired his work for a second.

"I told you, Justin: No one deceives me!"

He wiped the gun free from fingerprints and laid it in his victim's hand. He then afterward walked out to his car like nothing had happened and stepped into it. He was just about to start it, when something jumped up on the hood. First he thought it was just a big dog, but then he realized that it was a black wolf. There was only a thin windshield between them, when their eyes met as the wolf bare its teeth and growled deeply. The man fumbled with his keys as the fear got a hold of him, but then he found the ignition and started the car. He quickly reverse and the wolf, which lost its foothold, felt down from the hood. The man drove away in high speed.

Back on the scene jumped the wolf up and was just about to begin the pursuit of the car, but stopped in it's tracks, when it saw that the car vanish at the corner. Instead the wolf turned around and disappeared between the trees in big leaps. Each muscle in the body worked in perfect harmony bringing the animal closer to it's destination, but then suddenly it felt a sense of danger and stopped just inches from falling down a steep cliff.

From the top of the cliff it could see the car drove on to the superhighway. The black wolf finally accepted that it had lost the battle and howled out to the full moon in despair. The echo flashed back on the black wolf, but then something happened. The muzzle became shorter and the ears shrank in. The whole body of the wolf began to changed and soon stood a young woman in its place. The wind blew her long black hair away from her face, which would have been perfect, if it hadn't been for the big scar, which cut through the left side of her face as a constantly reminder of her past.

She looked up on the moon as her thoughts wandered away. If she had been able to cry, then she would have shed a tear, but it was a long time ago since she had lost that ability.

"I'm sorry, Remy. I should never have forced you into this, but I will revenge you even if it's going to take the rest of my life."