(Four)

Gambit sipped at his own cup of coffee, turning his back to the cold. It had started to drizzle, making it worse. Damn this miserable New England weather! Who would want to sit out in this crap? Oh, yeah, a few thousand mutie haters. De fuckin' assholes. Hope dey all freeze to death.

Remy was tucked away beside the stands here at Yankee Stadium, waiting for the shoe to drop. Charles Xavier had taken the threat of Jael pulling some big time mischief here very seriously. The whole gang was here, cloaked and patrolling the stands and the friendly skies, all the telekinetics were hovering very close by and keeping a watchful eye. Along with the X-men were at least fifty undercover SHIELD agents. They had been scheduled to be here anyway, the X-men were a bonus and most welcome. No one was really sure what to expect and everyone was nervous.

Fallen and Seth had built the cloaks they were using. They were all on the same frequency so they could see each other clearly in spite of being invisible to the world and they had headset radios as well. Everything was well co-ordinated and ready.

Gambit was located near Monument Park, on the ramp to Gate Two with easy access to the street. The stadium wasn't at full capacity, only about thirty thousand people were here, most of them out on the grass near where the stage had been set up. The stage was right in front of where Gambit was situated, blocking his view, but it wasn't his purpose to watch the show, he was out here looking for trouble. The majority of the undercover security and X-men were out on the fringes as he was, figuring there would be some kind of shooting aimed at the main speaker, Terrel Jacobs. Jacobs was protected with bullet proof shielding, but with mutants, anything could happen. The crowd itself was laced with as many telepaths as Charles could manage to scrape up, hoping they would read the minds of any ill intenters. No backpacks or purses were allowed for anyone entering the stadium and everyone had been scanned.

Charles had gathered as many telekinetics as he could find and they were flying about, visible only to those who had cloaks. Even Max was here, but kept to the outside. He would assist in evacuations if it came to that. He was under strict orders not to engage any enemies, only to report. He was barely sixteen now and was to be careful. He was young and not as trained as he should be for full combat.

Gambit tossed his now empty coffee cup into a trash barrel and paced restlessly. Would they be lucky today? He had played out over a hundred fantasies in his mind where Jael was taken and no longer a threat to his precious Kimble. If he couldn't get Kimble back, he would at least be happy to remove the possibility of him being used to kill anyone else.

Kimble's angel. He had spent a lot of time thinking about that, too. What was it? Was it an object, a person, a vision? Anya hadn't been too helpful on that, nor had Kimble's own diary. Gambit had finally finished the tiny book, finding nothing there but his friend's own frustrations. If the angel was a weapon, maybe Kimble had found it already. Remy would never be able to get the vision of that flaming orange sword out of his mind, Seamus' death would haunt him for the rest of his days. Perhaps the angel was something else, Leon had explained that conjuring the sword and powering it was Channeling and that Joshua had taught Zander how to do it. That sword alone would not be enough for Jael to do enough damage, the angel must be something else.

Gambit felt a vibration as his cell phone went off. He had shut the ringer off in leu of the vibrator so it wouldn't be heard. He slipped into a shadow under an overhang near the exit and answered it. It was a greeting from Molly. She had been left behind at the Mansion to keep an eye on things since she wasn't trained well enough to be out here assigned with the team. She had stolen from him a promise that he would be in contact with her every few minutes as a way of keeping track of what was going on. Because Molly couldn't speak, Henry had set up for her a keyboard computer phone. She would type and a computer simulated voice played back her message to the listener. Remy had a great laugh over this, she had been given several voices to chose from and she had picked that of a husky, whiskey voiced female. He knew it really Molly talking to him, but it was almost like having phone sex, the voice got him hard if he thought about her enough. It had become her voice, Molly's voice.

Remy laughed at Molly's impatience. He was five minutes late. "Bonjour, chere."

"How's it hanging?" that sultry whiskey voice purred at him.

"Gambit so bored, he'd rather watch Tellie Tubbies on the tube."

"Anything going on?"

"Not really. Gotta ask Chuck for a raise. I'm freezin' my yahoos off."

"Ha ha ha. It's too quiet here with all of you gone."

"Well, as much as Gambit love yo' company, dis ain't no party. Why don't you order some pizza for tonight, s'il vous plait? Gambit will 'elp you eat it. Don't look like much is gonna be happening 'ere."

"It's a date. Call me in ten."

"Absolument, petite. Au revioir."

Gambit hung up just in time to look up into Logan's eyes crinkling in amusement. "Hot date?"

"Molly an' pizza always a hot date, mon ami."

Logan's look hardened. "How old is she again?"

Gambit smiled disarmingly, realizing his mistake. His choice of words could have been better. "She sixteen next week."

"And you are?"

"No threat to 'er virginity, patron."

"Answer the question."

"Twenty-five. Back off."

"I ain't never told ya how ta run yer life -"

"And you ain't gonna now!" Remy finished for him, his face flushing with anger.

"Yer loose. I could give a shit, just so long as ya keep yer dick away from the kid."

Gambit scowled. "Gambit ain't no pervert! You keep y' hangups to y'self, Wolvie boy!"

The two men stared each other down, a silent battle of wills interrupted only by the crackling of their headsets. "If the two of you are finished now, the speaker is about to go on," Jean said, unable to hide a bit of laughter in her voice.

"We on it, chere," Remy replied, his eyes never leaving Logan's face. They were standing very close now, almost confrontational. He could feel Logan's anger vibrating out from his overly bright shine and something else. /He's hiding something about Molly/ Shi'ow-ri whispered, his empathic voice. /It's there in his eyes./

Remy's power wasn't telepathy, he wouldn't crack the exact thing, he could only pick up on Logan's protection gears whirling at full speed. Still, the recognition of something gained flickered across his eyes and Logan took a step back, sensing it.

Cripes! That is so damn creepy! Wolverine thought as he retreated. He's almost as bad as a fuckin' telepath now! Can't block him as well 'cause he's readin' my emotions, not my thoughts. Gotta work on that, protect myself. Don't like givin' myself away so easily.

"I ain't gonna 'urt 'er," Remy said a bit more gently, withdrawing from their battle without backing down. He tossed his head, flipping damp hair away from his eyes and walked closer to the field to better view the stage, giving his back to Wolverine in a show that this conversation was now over. The near confrontation had scraped raw across his overly sensitive mind and left him feeling grumpy and depressed. He had come here to fight the bad guys, not his own teammate.

Logan grumbled softly, feeling a little foolish and followed him. He didn't apologize but stood nearby, his eyes up towards the sky, looking for anything that might signal an attack. He just wanted this to be over with and done.

Remy was aware Logan was there and sensed his guilt, something that took the edge off his anger. Logan hadn't wanted to fight either, the moment between them had passed. Remy reached the walkway railing just as Rogue dropped down from making a sweep overhead. "Hey, Sugah," she greeted.

Remy smiled at her, but kept his distance. She had been very nice towards him lately, too nice for him to trust her. He wasn't sure what was more irritating - her being a pain in the ass, or her being so friendly. He knew Manny was gone from her life, if not the Mansion, and that Rogue was once more on her own. Here was an opportunity for them to resume their relationship, but he found himself keeping his former girlfriend at arm's length. He just wasn't sure what he felt about her anymore. Right now, he just had too much going on his life with Kimble and his father to want to start things back up with her again. That and he couldn't deny that Shi'ow-ri's persistent whisperings about Molly had given him some hope for his future.

Not to be impolite, he nodded a greeting at her, fishing in his pockets for some gum. He had come fully prepared, his pockets were loaded with cards and a small bag of ball bearings. He also had his staff in a tight loop on his belt. Unusual for him, he also had a small pistol tucked in a small holster hidden well under his coat. He didn't like guns, but he just didn't know what to expect here. It might be enough to get him out of tight space if it came to it. If Wolverine had smelled it on him, the man had said nothing.

"You see anyt'ing up high?" Remy asked his ex, just to make conversation.

"Not really. Maybe we'll git lucky an' alla this will just be a waste of our time," she replied.

"Keep yer eyes open," Logan cautioned. "This is much too sweet fer Jael ta pass up. He's here, he's just pickin' his moment Won't be long."

(break)

Terrel Jacobs paced nervously just a few feet from the podium. He was a middle aged white man, blonde and in prime physical condition, everything the proper bigot should be. He was dressed in an expensive Armani suit and tie, a bright and shining American. He was proud to be the head Friends of Humanity, the man at the helm of the anti-mutant cause. This rally was to raise funds for their Presidential candidate and to lubricate the wheels of Congress. He would see that those mutant camps were constructed. At the very least, all mutants should be clearly marked as such and isolated. They certainly shouldn't be allowed to breed.

A makeshift stage had been set up in front of Monument Park and he only had a few minutes before going out to speak. He'd been informed of SHIELD's presence out in the stands, he had been forced to accept it as he wasn't about to cancel this Rally. He doubted Jael was clever enough to pull anything of any significance out here, Jael was a petty thug, nothing more, as far as he was concerned. Besides, anyone killed or injured here today would be martyrs for the cause.

And there were plenty of folks here to listen to him. The stadium hadn't sold out, not by a long shot, but there was a good ten to fifteen thousand people out here on the grass and in the lower stands. This Rally was going to be a rousing success. He was quite pleased with the turnout.

He wasn't worried about any danger himself form this crowd or from outside terrorists, he was wearing a bullet proof jacket under his suit and had a bulletproof shield constructed around the podium. It was clear and ugly, but no one would argue it was necessary, not in this new age of violence and terrorism. He took a deep breath and stepped out onto the stage. "Howdy, peoples!"

The stadium came to life as the crowd surged forward, screaming and yelling their approval. The Rally had begun.