Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men. Ilehana Xavier belongs to Corrinth and is used with permission. Blaze, Shockwave and Iona belong to Lamby and should not be used without my permission.
Scene 02They took a cab from the end of Greymalkin Lane, just out of eyeshot of the mansion. Sam, feeling positive and totally at ease having earned her stripes long ago in sneaking out to go to bars, demanded the driver take them to the nearest watering hole. Ironically the driver tipped his imaginary chauffeur's hat at the girl, and ditched them not five blocks away.
The bar, Diego's, was busy and bustling, making all the girls relax as they felt their anonymity assured by the crowd. With Shockwave as their leader and spokesperson, they headed to the bar. Diego himself was the barman, a slightly rotund cheerful soul in his late forties. He watched them patiently as Sam took her friend's orders.
"Um, a coke?" Wolfsbane asked hesitantly.
"Sweet, Wolfie." Vertigo, now that they'd actually got here, was relaxing and becoming more confident. Anything Sam could do… "Whiskey and coke Sam, thanks."
"Iona?" Sam asked, raising a well-manicured eyebrow as if daring the youngest of them to screw this up.
"Same." Iona spurted, as if by saying the least she could draw the least attention to herself.
"Four whiskey and cokes, and whatever you want for yourself…" Sam advised the barman, leaning over the polished bar a little too far in her low cut top, peeling notes from a wad of cash.
"Right," Diego replied, stepping back and not taking the money. The barman actually grinned as Vertigo and Iona at the back of the group felt a strong hand rest decisively on each of their shoulders. "Take 'em away Gambit."
"Busted…" Wolfsbane moaned as all four teenagers turned to address the X-Man the barman knew by name. Remy le Beau just grinned lopsidedly at them, red-on-black eyes sparkling.
"You got it, Petite."
"Were you following us?" Vertigo accused menacingly, but Gambit was used to strange eyes; he met his own in the mirror every morning. "Or were you just lucky?"
"Whatever help you sleep at night, Vertigo." Gambit shrugged, starting to direct the errant pupils towards the door.
"You were stalking us, weren't you?" Shockwave accused, eyes flashing. "There are laws about that kind of thing you know, Gambit. Not that you'd care, right?"
"Right now, I don't care if you the Queen of France, Shockwave. You goin' home."
"Buy a girl a drink first?" Sam switched tactics, anything to try and get out of him marching them back to the mansion like prisoners of war. She turned on all her charm, knowing it had nearly worked on him before. But he was wise to her now, and he wasn't going to fall for that again.
"You be lucky I pay for your cab." Gambit retorted, swapping his hand from Iona's shoulder to Sam's, knowing Shockwave might just bolt rather than face the consequences of her actions. That seemed to quite Sam, and in no time they were heading home.
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They'd left through the window. They arrived back through the front door, only just not kicking and screaming as they were pushed straight towards Xavier's office. Telepathically aware of his approaching audience, Xavier sighed and lowered his book. The bookmark was one a young Jean Grey had made for him, a small scrap of linen cross-stitched with the Xavier family crest. Shaking his head sadly, Charles set his mind to a sterner stance and turned to greet his motley collection of pupils.
"Thank you Gambit." Xavier addressed the younger man, who nodded singularly in reply, leaning against a back wall. So much for Remy's night out… The Professor turned to the teenagers, his eyes abruptly disappointed as the girls lined up across the carpet.
"And so it seems not a thing has been learned since our last meeting." The Professor addressed them coldly, seeing Wolfsbane wince at the abruptness of his tone. Well, they had brought this on themselves. "Again, you put your lives and the lives of others in danger…"
"We never put anyone in danger!" Sam argued the toss, almost not realising who she was arguing with.
"Oh no?" Xavier replied. "I'm pleased to see how much faith you have in Cyclops' level of control. Do any of you have any idea what you put him through that night? And now this! If someone in that bar had tried to hurt you…"
He left the sentence unfinished, knowing Sam at least knew what he was alluding to. She'd taken out a bar full of very rough men with her mutant power when one of them had taken a fancy to her, and though she'd never admit to having been afraid, her dreams were still troubled with what had happened.
"What do you want me to do?" Xavier suddenly asked, something in his voice demanding that they look at him. "Is punishing you enough? Will you take on board this time what we are trying to teach you?"
"Yes Professor…" Four subdued voices chirped in unison. Remy smiled darkly at that, the kids had just signed their own death warrants…
"Your privileges are revoked. You will not leave the school grounds. Any time out of lessons will be spent doing homework, chores, or in sessions with your tutors. The tutor sessions will be doubled. As for the chores." Xavier flicked his wheelchair into forward to approach the girls, lowering his voice. "We'll begin with re-alphabetising the school library…"
"But there's gotta be a zillion books in there!" Sam moaned, wincing as Wolfsbane elbowed her in the ribs.
"Then I suggest you start first thing in the morning, Samantha." Xavier responded, turning his back and so dismissing them. "Now go to bed."
There were some restrained scuffling noises behind him, and someone stifled a sniff as the door opened and closed. Only when the catch had caught with a click did Xavier turn back to Gambit.
"I just don't know what else to do with them…" Xavier, the invincible, all-knowing leader of the X-Men admitted.
"An' I'se sure Vixen, Storm, Cyc an' Blaze gonna love the idea of spendin' more time tutorin' 'em." Gambit observed in his New Orleans drawl. "When the filles back anyways?"
"The day after tomorrow," Xavier filled in, "If you wouldn't mind collecting Laura and Ororo from the airport?"
"What, so they can rub it in what a great time they'se had without Gambit?" Remy put humour in his voice, but he wasn't entirely joking.
"They have been on a mission you know, cleaning up in Hawaii after the incident with the X-virus…" Xavier smiled patiently.
"I'se sure they workin' very hard," Gambit observed, "On their tans at least, non?"
"Well if you don't want to run to the airport for them, you can take over Logan's physical education class and he can go get them…"
"Easy, Professor." Gambit met Xavier's smile with one of his own. "Don't go threatenin' t'ings you might regret…"
"Thank you, Gambit." Xavier dismissed his X-Man with a twinkle in his eye. "I'm sure that Storm and Blaze will be very happy to see you."
