All of the characters in the story belong to MARVEL, not me! I am just borrowing them for a while. I will return turn them in good condition with the price tags still attached. So don't sue me because I'm not getting paid for anything I write.
**Author's note: In one of my reviews, someone asked about Gambit and Jubilee's ages. Your guess is as good as mine. No one really knows how old any of the X-Men are except for their creators and of course, they would never tell us, the fans, anything, would they? I think it is safe to say, however, that Remy is about twice as old as Jubilee, give or take a couple years. I figure that when Jubilee was 13 (this is Jim's take on her age, originally she had been 15), Gambit was about 25 or 26. But we all know how weird the comic book time system is...hehe!**
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Remy knew that he would be confronting some inner demons when he returned to Westchester, but he didn't know the ghost of his most recent mistake would come back to haunt him.
He hadn't thought of her in almost six months, not since he decided to put her behind him. He would never forget that night when he saw her with Sinister and the night when he found out who she really was.
Truth be told, she had a lot to do with the reason he returned to the X-Men. Finally, he began to see what kind of damage secrets and lies could do. She betrayed him and didn't even have the decency to 'fess up when he had confronted her about it.
God, she had actually called him the crazy one. Her acting skills were right up their with DeNiro and he almost believed her. But physical proof was physical proof and he had seen her with his own two eyes.
To think he had been stupid enough to fall for her. The thought alone made him sick to his stomach. He despised Nathaniel Essex and his present alter ego just as much as he despised her now. For a long time, his hatred for her had surpased any hatred he had ever felt for anyone.
Now, she was just a ghost. A figment of his imagination or at least, that's what he liked to think of her as.
"Ya know, thinkin' that hard can get you into trouble, LeBeau."
Grateful for the temporary distraction, Remy turned to look at Logan. He was covered in heavy black grease and tiny scratches that healed before his eyes. "Dat's true, mon ami."
"I don't s'ppose ya saw Jubilee run through here, did ya?"
"Maybe."
Logan glared at him. "Maybe?"
"I saw her. Seemed none too happy t'ough. What you do t'her?"
"Nuthin'. Just a little argument."
Now it was Remy's turn to glare. When it came to Logan and Jubilee's arguments, 'little' would never be able to be used to describe them.
Logan leaned up against the wall and glanced at the floor. "I know it ain't none o' my business, but I like ta think of Jubilee as a daughter an' last night I noticed she went ta your room. And-"
"What you t'ink? I did somet'ing t'de fille?" Remy bordered between anger and disbelief. So that's what was going on. Everyone thought he was putting the moves on her.
"I don't know. I asked her about it an' she didn't give the straightest answer. Look, I know she's grown, but I'm not sure that you an' her is the greatest idea."
Remy laughed. "Dis Cajun got enough problems. I'm not addin' Jubilee t'dem. Not'ing happened last night."
Logan let out a sigh of relief. Apparently, the though of Jubilee and Remy was cause for great concern on his part. Remy felt his temper flare a little. Just what was wrong with him, anyway? Would getting together with one of his teammates be that bad?
He remembered how everyone hated the idea of Rogue getting together with him. They sure as hell let both of them know just how against the relationship they were.
He needed to get out of the house for a while. Just him. Both days he had been there were not the easiest to get through and he needed some time to let it all really sink in. He had an hour or so before he had to meet Jean, maybe he would take a walk to clear his mind.
Hopefully, he could get her out of his head as well. Lyra Capelli had no place in his life and certainly not in his mind.
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Lyra twisted her body into a standing arch then kicked her leg up to meet her attacker's face. He fell with a thud and a groan of pain.
Both feet hit the floor and she stood up straight just in time to block a right jab to her stomach. She elbowed the new opponent and grabbed his head, bringing it down to contact with her knee.
"You know, we could just save some time and you could tell me where to find your boss," she told them as she punched a third man.
"Fuck you!" the first man down yelled.
"C'mon, I'll even make it worth your while. Just tell me where he is."
"We ain't sayin' nothin'!"
This was not working. For almost a year she had been looking for this dirtbag and all she had come up with was a few dead leads and a few dead lackeys. She had to come up with a better strategy.
She had been set up. Why she had no idea, but she knew who was behind it. This Sinister character.
For some reason, Remy had thought she had been involved with him somehow and ultimately ended their relationship over it. She didn't even know who this guy was except for a few tidbits she had picked up here and there.
All she knew was that as soon as word got out that she was involved with him, all of her contacts blew her off and she hadn't gotten any work done since.
She intended to find out why this guy was messing with her life. He shouldn't be...she wasn't the kind of person who let things go with a warning. He didn't know who he was dealing with.
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Plopping down on the couch, Rogue flipped on the television.
She was jealous of Jean. It wasn't the first time, but it certainly had been a while. Not since before Scott's death had she wished she were in Jean's shoes.
Now Jean was occupying Remy's attention and she wanted to be the one he looked at with eyes of adoration. She was still in love with him.
What was she going to do? In love with one man and married to another. Would Remy take her back?
No! She was married to Bobby and she cared about him and the life they had made. She wasn't going to go on and ruin the one solid thing in her life. She had a life now, a real life, and it made her happy.
But she would die if Remy took up with Jean.
"Good afternoon, Rogue," Storm said as she walked in as regal as ever.
"Hey, Storm."
"How are you feeling?"
Rogue frowned. She wasn't sure she was ready to talk about this with anyone. But of everyone, Storm was the one person she could talk to without judgement. "Not too good."
"You are confused by Gambit's return, is this not true?" Storm sat down softly on the couch, folding her hands in her lap.
Rogue nodded. "Ah don't know what ta feel. Ah'm glad he's back, but he complicates things."
"Have you tried to confront him?"
"Ye-" Come to think of it, she really hadn't. They never really talked besides the day before and that didn't count considering Bobby and Glory had been there. "No, Ah haven't."
Storm smiled warmly. "Then perhaps you should."
