Disclaimer: I own nothing, nada, zip. Blaze owns me

Scene 06

Much later, as the full moon rose again over Bayville to bathe the town in a silver mist, Blaze said goodnight to Angel at the top of the stairs. She waited, bathed in starlight from a skylight and watched as the winged mutant stumbled apprehensively to his own room. The door shut with a click and Angel was gone. Well, Blaze thought, I've done all I'm prepared to do. I just hope it's enough for him to get a decent night's sleep.

Silence was a soft blanket over the house as Blaze left the en suite bathroom that adjoined the guest bedroom. She had brushed her teeth and changed for bed. She wore a grey satin camisole top with ribbon thin straps, and shorts to match. Her bare feet sunk into the lush carpet as she crossed the room to the window. Other than the moon and stars in the clear, crisp sky above, the only light came from a little orange lamp by the side of the bed.

Knowing that the security system was armed, Blaze slipped her fingers under the window ledge until she found the wire connecting the sensor to the alarm circuit. A sharp tug disconnected it, meaning that Blaze could caress the wooden sash window frame. With a heave she flung the windowpane upwards, opening the room up to the night. The smell of wet grass and of the thick climber growing up the wall below her wafted in to accost her delicate nose. Blaze breathed deeply, enjoying the fragrances as the curtains wafted gracefully around her in the soft breeze.

Her need for air placated, Blaze let tiredness overwhelm her. The big double bed beckoned her over like a long lost friend. Blaze left the window with the curtains still open, crossed the room again and slipped in between the smooth, cool cotton sheets. The pillowcase was crisp and smelt of detergent as she laid down her head. A manicured hand reached out and turned off the bedside light. Moments later, Blaze was asleep.

She awoke sharply in the darkest part of the night, just before the dawn. The moon had dropped to the horizon, swollen and oozing like a yellow pustule. There was someone in the room. Even without seeing the person, she knew it was true. Every instinct she had was screaming at her, and the thief trusted her instincts. Blaze forced her sleepy muscles to work, pushing herself into a sitting position. She blanked to focus her eyes in the darkness, looking right at the open window that was to the foot of the bed. Blaze's heart stopped for a beat as she saw someone sat on the ledge, one leg inside and one leg outside the room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a voice serrated with sleep. Blaze emphasised the 'you' as she recognised her lanky visitor.

"You missed a spot," commented Gambit, pulling his trailing leg into the room and turning to face Blaze. He waved a hand to indicate the open window.

"I disabled the sensor so I could leave the window open," Blaze explained exasperatedly. "I did not miss a spot. Why are you here Rem? It's four am for crying out loud."

"I wanted to talk to you Cherie," Gambit explained in a hiss of a whisper.

"Ugh!" Blaze exclaimed, diving back under the covers and pulling them up over her head. "Talk to me in the morning, I'm trying to sleep!"

Silence fell. Under the sheets Blaze held her breath to see if she could hear Gambit leaving. She didn't know if she wanted him to go or not. Biting her lip, she strove to resist the childish temptation to take a peek to see of he had gone. Suddenly the mattress depressed just behind Blaze's curled up form, as if a Cajun had just perched himself in protest on her bed. Irritated Blaze thrust back the covers and sat upright once again. Hair like a wild halo about her, she pinned Remy with a shrivelling gaze. "You just don't give up do you?"

Gambit thought for a moment, the corner of his mouth kinking upwards in a sly lopsided smile. He reached out a hand to Blaze's left arm, where her strap from her top had slid from her slender shoulder. With two fingers he smoothed the strap gently back to lie where it should on her collarbone. As he did so, he said, "Do you want me to give up?"

Dropping her eyes from Gambit's face, Blaze looked sheepish and did not answer. Of course she didn't want him to give up. What hot-bloodied female didn't want to be chased after by the Cajun? Gambit transferred his touch to tangle in a strand of her hair. He thought he had her right where he wanted. His smile got broader and a wicked twinkle came into his unique red-on-black eyes. But before he could say anything else, something unexpected happened.

"Did you hear that?" Blaze demanded, pulling away from Gambit and looking towards the door.

"Hear what?" Gambit lied, trying to maintain his position as the centre of her attention.

"That," Blaze was getting out of bed already and walking cautiously to the door. The handle turned easily in her grasp as Gambit joined her. In pitch-blackness they crept down the corridor in pursuit on the noise. It led them straight to Angel's bedroom door, and sure enough a strange diffuse green light was shining underneath the door. Blaze glanced over her shoulder to see Gambit nod in the ethereal glow. In his hand was a card ready to be charged. Blaze reached out and turned this door handle too, until the catch clicked softly. She opened the door just wide enough so that they could see what was happening inside.

Just because they could see it didn't mean they could quite believe it. Angel lay in bed on his back with his wings spread-eagled either side and his covers tangled about his legs. The green light seemed to pulse around him, emanating from a great glowing circle that hovered three inches above the floor. The disc was large enough for an adult to step through comfortably, which was just what two people had apparently done.

A young woman with lashings of white hair and a kitsch outfit of bottle green shirt-dress and knee high brown lace-up boots stood over Angel. In her hand was a syringe and needle, which she injected into Warren's bare arm. On the other side of the bed, a tall man in a long loose fitting grey jacket with flared sleeves and shoulder length curly hair leaned over Angel. With a pair of tweezers he plucked a single blond hair from Warren's head. Warren didn't move or in anyway react. This time, whatever he had been injected with appeared to be working perfectly.

The man put the hair into a small plastic vial that was not even as big as Blaze's little finger. This he slotted into an adaptor on a PDA, which whirled into life. Coloured diagrams and graphs flashed across the device's screen, eventually turning a decisive shade of red. The man looked at the woman and shook his head. "The transformation's not complete Vertigo, he's not ready yet."

"Give him another dose," the woman called Vertigo suggested with a shrug. "We can't keep coming back like this, we're getting behind schedule." The man nodded, taking another syringe and needle from inside his coat. This time it was injected into Angel's neck, but he was still paralysed. "All done," the man confirmed, putting his equipment away in various pockets.

"Lets get out of here Ruckus," Vertigo told her partner. As the man made his way into the portal and disappeared, Vertigo drew her lavender eyes over Angel once more. "I'll see you again tomorrow night, handsome," she told the paralysed man. Then she turned and stepped through the portal. The circle of green light bloomed stronger for a moment, and then was gone.

Ashen faced and horrified, Blaze and Gambit glanced at each other helplessly. One thing was sure; this was not good.