(Three)

Gambit walked slowly down the darkened hallway and came to rest in the doorway of the large downstairs common room. He leaned against the doorframe, not quite ready to enter, and stood watching their newest team member take in the sights of Christmas around him.

Seth sat crouched in front of the huge tree, his eyes wide with wonder. All the artificial lights in the room were out except those strung with loving care around the huge spruce. A soft orange glow came from the dying embers in the large fireplace to his right and reflected off of the young pilot's skin. The lights were dim enough that he had set his glasses aside, wanting to see the pretty colors for real. Seth may have spent three years in Fallen's computer, but out here he may as well be a newborn. He reached out and touched one of the tiny bulbs, his curiosity getting the better of him. The lights had been on a while and were slightly warm, making him smile. He looked behind himself to his Mistress, but Fallen was out cold asleep on the couch, buried under a mound of afghan blankets.

"It's pretty, non?" Remy said softly.

Seth startled, but smiled when he saw the new arrival. He and Remy had grown quite close and his presence was always welcome. Sometimes it seemed like Gambit was the only one who truly missed Kimble as much as he did. Their shared pain was a strong bond between them. "Good morrow," he greeted, bowing slightly.

The phrase sent a wave of sorrow through Remy, sharp and intense. Lord, he missed Kimble so badly. It was an ache that would never heal. He buried it, not wanting to show his pain. He made his way over to the tree and crouched down next to Kimble's brother. "No Christmas for de Clan, ey?"

"No. I'm not sure they were civilized enough to enjoy such things."

Remy smiled and pawed at the pretty boxes tucked under the branches. "I see one dere for you."

Seth smiled, looking up into the Cajun's deep red eyes. "Yes. It's too pretty to open. It's a shame to waste such pretty paper."

"True. But Gambit always likes surprises."

"I put one there for Kimble," Seth said, turning back to the packages. "I'll save it for him...if he doesn't come back in time."

"We gonna try, mon petite fils."

"I know. You're trying harder than the others. I know...I know Kimble troubles you. It makes me sad for you...but glad for him that he has such a good friend. I wish I had your skills so I could help you. Maybe the two of us together, we could find him."

Remy was amused by Seth's enthusiasm and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure we could."

The younger man smiled at him shyly. "I know you love him. Why does everyone here think it's wrong?"

Remy danced around the question, still uncomfortable with his own feelings on the matter. "Gambit don' love your Kimble dat way. It's jus' dat when we shared de files...Kimble touched me in a way no one else ever has. Gambit's been alone a long time, guess 'e really needed a friend an' Kimble was dere for me."

"I'll be here if you need anything," Seth offered lamely, knowing he could never hope to fill his brother's place in this champion's heart. He looked upon Remy as some kind of marvelous god with powers he couldn't comprehend. "No one knows him like us. I'm not sure Fallen even knows him so well anymore. Her feelings are...confused."

"She afraid she let 'im down. She scared she gonna lose you, too."

"That will never happen. I'd brave an army of Valentins to protect her. I'd do it for my brother as well, if I only knew where to find him."

" 'E's close. 'E saw de snow same day as us."

"So close and yet so far," Seth complained, shivering. He felt so small and helpless.

Remy reached behind him and carefully eased one of the blankets off of Fallen's mound. He wrapped it around Seth's bare shoulders and laughed softly when Seth automatically leaned against him and fell into his embrace. Seth had been well loved his whole life. Well loved by a man as brave and strong as this one who sat beside him. This was Kimble's legacy, he had helped to create a personality in Seth that expressed himself as readily and openly as he did. Holding Seth was like being Kimble for a moment and Remy honored his friend by caring for his brother, giving Seth some of the love that had been robbed from him by fate's cruel hand.

Gambit closed his eyes and gently rocked Seth until he fell asleep, warm and comfortable in the arms of Kimble's best friend. Remy eased his cigarettes out of one pocket and lit one, believing himself to be alone in the real sense that mattered.

"Don't you be settin' that fine tree on fire, Cajun. Them kids worked awful hard ta set that thing up," Logan growled from the darkness behind him.

Remy turned his head to smile at Logan in spite of being startled. Wolverine had been in the room the whole time and he hadn't even known it. Wolverine was the old man of the crew and often referred to the others as "kids." Since most of those "kids" were older than himself, the expression never failed to make Remy smile. "Evenin', Wolvie."

"Yer up late," Logan said, coming out from the dark shadows to sit next to the fire. He joined Gambit in a smoke. It was against the rules to smoke in the house, but here they were, the two rule breakers comfortably in their proper roles.

"Bien sur. Gambit's always up late," Remy replied. His eyes were glassy from exhaustion and one hand still stroked the shock white of Seth's hair in an unconscious soothing gesture. If Wolverine hadn't come in, Remy might have fallen asleep here himself.

Logan didn't even question the sight in front of him, the Siskan cradled in the arms of this careful thief. He had come to know that even though Seth looked like a man, he was more of a child inside. If anything, Remy's free affection was more comfort that any awkward embrace he himself could have offered. Logan was not an affectionate man and non-sexual physical intimacy was hard for him. He was pleased Gambit had come. "How's the kid doin'?"

"He miss 'is brother. Would be fine if Gambit could bring 'im de one t'ing 'e want mos' for Christmas. Don' look like dat's gonna 'appen, though. C'est la vie, non?"

"Never give up hope. We still got three days." His statement was a useless gesture. They both knew they had come up empty. Creed had vanished into the wind, spiriting Kimble away with him. He was as good as gone.

Remy smoked quietly for a minute before he spoke again. "Christmas ain't ever as good 'ere as it was back 'ome."

"Why's that?"

Logan was just making conversation, indulging Gambit's need to speak. Christmas had never really meant anything to him because he was alone most of the time. He had a feeling that with Karen around, things might be different this year. They had grown amazingly close so swiftly. The roller coaster ride of the last few months had been the best thing to happen to him in a way. It smashed down all the walls he had constructed, making it easier for her to breeze in and sweep him away. He was grateful and had no regrets.

"Dere ain't no real kids 'ere," Remy answered. "You'd t'ink wit all de luvin' an ' fuckin' dat goes on dis 'ouse, we'd 'ave one or two runnin' around, n'est ce pas?"

Logan snickered at the thought. "Guess we're all kinda busy savin' the world. Maybe later, when things calm down, that'll change."

"Dat's jus' it. T'ings never calm down. We jus' go from one battle to de nex', never takin' enough time fo' ourselves. Look at Jean and Scott. Dey been married 'ow long? It jus' don' seem right."

"Maybe the one all out of sorts is you, Cajun. Seems like you been doin' a lot of thinkin' lately. Maybe it's time to patch things up with Rogue if that's what you really want."

Remy shook his head slowly in a sad denial. "Gambit don' know what 'e wants, jus' dat it don' include fightin' and bickerin' all de time. Fallen an' Seth, dey don' love dat way."

Wolverine smiled to himself. He knew what Remy was getting at. It was easy to be jealous of those two, the way Fallen watched over Seth protectively and was always touching him. There could never be any doubt of their love. It was a lot like watching Jean and Scott...and more and more of what he and Karen were becoming.

"Your time will come, if ya believe what Anya said. Everything that she said would happen, did," Logan said cautiously. He didn't want to go too far in this direction. He wasn't ready to rehash Kimble and the warehouse.

Remy didn't either. "Nex' year, dere better be some little ones runnin' round dis tree or Gambit's callin' it quits on Christmas 'ere. Gonna go back t' N'Orleans."

"Maybe you should go back. Just for a while. How long has it been since ya seen yer dad?"

"More'n two years," Remy said softly. "Not since I firs' come back from Antarctica."

"Then maybe it's time."

"Mebbe." Remy continued to stroke Seth's head and the pilot smiled wistfully in his sleep, no doubt dreaming of his brother.

"Kimble will wait. The leads're dried up," Wolverine said, trying not to sound depressing. "You should go somewhere where ya ain't so sad. You don't look so good."

Gambit smiled at Wolverine's concern. They had grown closer after clearing the air between them, but there was still some distance there. A small part of Remy still refused to forgive him for letting Kimble go and causing the pilot to shatter even further. "Mebbe. Mebbe I jus' need some space."

"I'll call you if anything happens," Logan said, rising stiffly to stretch.

"All right."

"Get some sleep, kid."

"Yes, dad," Remy joked, rolling his eyes.

Wolverine just grunted at him and kept going, ready for his own bed.

Remy carefully extricated himself from around Seth and half carried, half walked him to where Fallen lay. The sectional couch she was on was huge and he lay Seth next to her. The two pilots found each other without waking and automatically folded themselves around one another. Remy stood over them a moment, terribly sad and jealous. This. This is what he wanted. This kind of unconscious automatic love that comes without questions or accusations of crimes past.

He stumbled away from them, weary now and made his way upstairs. He crashed on his bed, sleeping heavily as he finally gave in to the exhaustion nagging him. He slept and less than an hour after he woke, was driving down the long driveway of the house and away from his pain to New Orleans.