Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men or the related characters and places. Marvel does.

"Why do I have to stand all de way back here?" complained Gambit from a distance a good six feet behind where all the others were throwing their darts.

"Because of your freaky aiming ability," the blue furred mutant called out from behind a bag of pretzels he was munching on.

"Dat's ain't a mutant ability, dat's a skill," defended Gambit.

"Prove it," smirked Rogue.

"Fine, no one believes me, now I'm bein' punished unjustly for my sins."

"Quit whining and throw already," Scott said good-naturedly grabbing a two-liter to pour refills for the room.

Rogue was sprawled on the couch in the Rec Room waiting for her turn. They were playing couples (boys vs. girls) so it took a bit longer to get around to her turn. She heard the thunk of darts and popped her head up, a triple sixteen, a double twenty, and a true bull's-eye.

"That's it, back up!" shouted Jean.

"Sorry Jeannie, but de room don' get any bigger, unless y' want me to go stand in de corner."

"I'm thinking about it," she threatened.

"You're up Jean," Scott said handing her the darts she'd left behind on the table.

"Fine," she said airily. Her arm launched smoothly, three bull's-eyes.

"Who's cheatin' now?" scoffed Gambit as he leaned back against the wall.

Rogue scowled from the couch, she was the only one who sucked at this game. Or at least she was the only was who sucked and still consented to playing. Kitty was out on a date, and Kurt had wisely declined.

Two more rounds of darts and the girls had given up the game for a lost cause. Poker was denied, as was Twister and any other number of games the guys suggested. They ended up with Jenga and a movie, Jean having been outvoted on Scrabble. It was only about one in the morning when they put in the movie, but Sweet November put Gambit to sleep in minutes. With Gambit hanging around with them all the time he didn't really seem like the enemy so much anymore, but still, seeing an Acolyte drooling on the side of the couch was just too funny.

Jean giggled and nudged Scott, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise to see him in a similar state. She looked over to Rogue, "It's not that bad is it?"

"What?" Rogue asked sleepily, her voice smothered by a yawn.

Jean stretched her back and moved into a more comfortable position. She should be getting everybody up and sending them to bed, or in Gambit's case sending him home. On weekends he wasn't supposed to be over any later than one-thirty. Well that's what she should be doing, not what she would be doing. She smoothed Scott's arm out of the way and propped a pillow against the cute lug, it didn't take long for her to fall asleep either.

Logan prowled through the house, a good game of pool, good beer, and a good brawl in an out of town bar rejuvenating him for a week of nurse-sitting a bunch of teenagers. He had to admit they were getting better. He'd probably be the last one to admit it, ever, but Gambit was a good influence on the kids. He knew when to have fun, and he knew when it was time to work. It's all the time in between that he was annoying. He'd be an even better influence if he'd cross over the line all the way and escape out from under Magneto's thumb.

Logan passed through the house, the hiss of static incredibly irritating to his ears. Kids probably left the friggin' set on again. He followed it to the Rec Room, a little more surprised than he really should be at the sight. At least no one was in any compromising positions.

Scott looked like he had just fallen over where he was sitting, his brown hair tousled out of his usual casual fashion, shoes kicked off, and sunglasses firmly in place. Jean's upper body leaned against Scott's, her long red hair piled gently behind her. She looked peaceful, the pinch in her features she carried during the day to keep her telepathic powers under control having eased during the long night.

Rogue simply looked relaxed, sleeping deeply, curled up on a cushion by herself, her legs taking up half of the center cushion. A streak of black marred the pillow she was sleeping on, her makeup having smeared in her sleep. Well, it's not like Xavier couldn't afford another one. Gambit shared the couch with Rogue, but like Scott, he looked like he'd fallen asleep mid-activity. Going on a hunch Logan leaned over to catch the movie title. No wonder the guys conked out first. He snuck another glance back at the Cajun, looking out of place with his boots still one, and his jacket within arms reach. The stubble that'd grown out during the day made him look older, but he had a feeling if you shaved it off completely Gambit would look much younger than anyone working for Magneto had a right to be.

Wolverine was debating the merits of waking the kids up when the annoying little chirp that seemed to haunt the mansion sang out. Gambit's eyes popped open immediately, while the others slept peacefully on, deep in REM sleep. Remy took a split-second to take in his surroundings, noting Logan's presence before answering the phone and leaning back deeply into the cushions.

"Go ahead," Gambit said, only a slight thickness to his voice alerting anyone to the fact that he'd been asleep. The Cajun listened for all of five seconds before he slammed the phone shut and began packing up his things quickly. He threw on his coat, and gave another sweep over the room, which after a short-lived popcorn fight was a little worse for the wear.

"Sorry bout de mess, homme, an' for fallin' asleep, it won' happen again," Remy promised running out the door, almost rebounding off the door frame.

Wolverine had a lot of time to study Gambit's phone habits, they all had. Remy had never reacted that quickly to anything. Whatever was going down it wasn't going to be good, it wasn't going to be pretty, and it was going to be fast. He clapped his hands loudly.

"Up and at 'em," he shouted.

"What, Wolverine what is it?" asked Jean sleepily tugging at her eyes.

"It's not what it looks like," Scott shouted out immediately, and it gave the others a moment to wonder what he had been dreaming about.

"Gambit was just—" Rogue halted her sentence seeing him gone. She focused her somewhat bleary eyes on Logan, "Gambit left hours ago, I swear."

"We'll talk about that little fib later Rogue. I just saw Gambit run out of here like the hounds of Hades were after him. Something big is going on, I want all o' ya suited up and in the bird in twenty."

"What's going on?" asked Scott snapping into leader-mode.

"I tell you when we get there," Logan snapped back, not entirely sure of the situation himself.

They had always wondered what it would be like to face each other in battle but neither of them thought it would really happen. It'd been too long. But here they stood outside a shell of a building, men who were decked out in armor obviously the guards of the damaged facility littering the ground. In the end it was simply each team on either side of a line. And it was no metaphorical line; it was a series of fuchsia lines charged and glistening with the ability to explode – no one would be walking across it anytime soon. Of course those with flight, Storm, or those with long range powers, Scott, would be able to battle across it with virtual impunity. Kitty and Kurt's powers gave them some degree of safety as well, as long as they didn't let themselves be flung directly on top of them. The only real person it kept out was Rogue and Wolverine. Though anyone looking at it knew it was an obstacle designed for her. She'd either use it as an excuse not to battle him, or she'd charge against it and force him to let it explode.

The aerial assault of Storm left Gambit otherwise occupied however, his powers and his mind only tenuously attached to that piece of asphalt. It wouldn't do for anyone to know that though.

Piotr was stalking closer to Summers, his optic blasts almost melting across the heavily metaled man. Pyro was keeping everyone else busy, molding fire from everything from dragons to dogs to chase the X-Men around. Kitty ghosted out, running across the mutant-powered mine field, trying to reach the canisters on Pyro's back and detach him from his fuel source. Gambit shouted out a harsh warning and John dodged jerkily and Kitty stumbled and fell, disappearing as she phased into the asphalt below.

Kurt bampfed out in a cloud of brimstone, reappearing suddenly behind Sabretooth who'd been taunting the diminutive Cajun to try his luck and cross over. Nightcrawler landed a hard punch to Creed's side but Sabretooth shook him off easily, tossing the startled youth back towards the X-Men. Too stunned to react appropriately Kurt smashed into one of the transport vehicles the guards had pulled out earlier in a doomed attempt to prevent the assault on their facility. Unconscious, the blue furred mutant lay still, his arms collapsed beside him. Wolverine growled viciously, calling out his own share of epithets, but wise enough not to charge Gambit's line. It would only result in him arrived already injured to fight one of the few people who could give him an equal fight.

Gambit had to sigh in disgust, as he surveilled both teams, it really was a pointless battle. The X-Men didn't know it, but they were already a day late and a dollar short. Gambit had rushed because time really had been of the essence. The other Acolytes had already been on the job when it'd fouled up. They'd done as they'd been taught - get the target out, then worry about yourselves. So the material they'd sought had already been recovered, what had been stolen from Magneto returned. Gambit had only come to keep his friends from being beaten to a bloody pulp by the glut of guards that for some reason secret government facilities seemed so fond of. And for all Gambit's good intentions, he was now facing off against another group of friends, the aforementioned guards, or those who were left awake and alive, fleeing at the sight of a brewing super-powered throw down.

Ororo in particular, was wrecking havoc on the day. With her high vantage point and tenacious weather abilities, she was always an important factor in any battle. If he wanted to end this anytime soon, and in a relatively bloodless way, he'd have to take her out. The others, he knew, would gather around their fallen. From there it would be all too easy for Pyro to encase them in a fiery cage to ease the Acolyte retreat.

As Storm swooped down low with an icy wind at her back, hail pelting the ground, Gambit threw a series of cards near her flight path, hoping to force her to the ground. Experienced in flight she made a few quick gyrations to avoid the cards that, really, hadn't been close enough to harm her. A sudden lighting strike blurred out sight and came down nearly on top of John. The discharge sent the red haired mutant crumpled in a heap, his hair smoking a little.

The next pulsing card that went up at a physically impossible velocity slammed into Ororo's chest in an explosion she had no way to recover from. Startled she cried out as she fell, the weather pattern's returning to their original state swiftly. Logan lunged upwards for her and the pair tumbled, Logan turning back and forth to place most of the impact on his easily healed body.

Everyone was looking around in shock. They'd befriended Gambit the way the foolish would a tiger. Knowing it was dangerous, but always so sure it'd never hurt you. An uncanny silence enveloped the impromptu battleground, and Piotr gathered the unconscious Aussie in his arms and started back, realizing the odd, but thankful cease-fire.

Both teams took their wounded and exited, Acolytes blending into the night as the X-Men boarded their plane. Gambit's glowing gridwork shrunk and then disappeared as Rogue stared out the window with stormy eyes.

What now?

A/N: I know this chapter is a little rough, but I'm officially MIA until the second week or so in January, so I thought I'd at least get it posted.

Gracious thanks to my reviewers: Aethena, BlkDiamond, BJ2, Chica De Los Ojos Cafe, coldqueen, Dark Elf 3, Elmothecajunpuppet, Gambit's Belle Rogue, gryphenvoid, Ima Super Mute Ant, ishandahalf, IvyZoe, Kitsu Lebeau, lelann37, Lumberjane, Nettlez, Puppybaddog, Samson28, Streetwise Girl, sheisbeautiful-sheisnotme, Shifting1, tinuviel-telcontar, Wildcard186, and X-Storm.