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Slaves to the Cause: Scene 11"Blaze!" Gambit ducked under the belly of the jet and hollered to the redhead who was engaged in a kiss with Indigo. "We got work to do Petite, get over here."
"What gives him the right to…" Indie cursed, glowering at Gambit and Stifle as the brunette went to join Logan. Blaze put a finger to Indie's lips to silence him, got up and went to Gambit.
"What?" She asked blankly, arms limp by her sides and shoulders slumped. Gambit shuddered at what had become of her, and turned his face away.
"Me an' Wolverine bin livin' outta dis heap too long. Before we go anywhere, we gotta check supplies…"
"So get Logan to do it." Blaze decreed, turning to go back to Indie. Gambit folded his arms and glowered, replying. "Logan don't got a photographic memory. I'm countin' on you to know what this junk supposed to be carryin'."
"Alright, fair enough." Blaze sighed. "Lets get it over with."
As they crossed to the far side of the jet, the night closed in around them. The darkness that cloaked them was riddled with dusky starlight. The sky above hummed clear and roofless. If it hadn't been for Blaze's mutant awareness of the campfire she had started earlier, they could have been totally alone.
"I'm worried 'bout you Cherie." Gambit addressed his friend quietly as they started sorting through the gear.
"Good." Blaze quipped with false cheer, thinking about Indie. "Means I'm doing my job properly." Gambit didn't respond, and so Blaze blanked him and started to route through the medical supplies. It took her a few minutes to realise he was stood looking at her, red-on-black eyes intense and unsmiling. "Qui?" She queried, breaking into French. "Ca va Remy? Tu est…"
"Why you come to England? You know it ain't no place for you. Why didn't you stay in the States with the rest of us?"
"I…" Blaze grasped at straws, turning her face away. She pulled the numbness Indie created to be a comfort blanket around her. It let her hide the truth from her friend and the father of her daughter. "Its just a mission, helping Indie and the others. It would have needed carrying out even if things weren't all pear shaped." Silence fell again, and Blaze had the uncomfortable feeling that he knew she wasn't telling him the whole truth. Perhaps a little truth would make amends. "The Professor asked me to come here Rem, I couldn't turn him down." Still silence. Blaze knew Gambit was playing her, trying to get her riled up. Trouble was it was working. Knowing what he was doing only irritated her more.
"And you know what, I'm glad I've come back. I've helped these kids with their powers and their problems. I've met Indigo…" Suddenly Gambit was facing her, though when he had approached her Blaze had no idea. Still it was obvious he was more irate about Blaze's new lover than her being in England or not confiding in him. Some things never changed.
"You don't approve?" Blaze asked in a falsely sweet tone.
"Non Chere. But that ain't never stopped you before."
"Why do you always have to disapprove of the blokes I like?" Blaze snapped accusingly.
"Because they ain't never good enough for you!" Gambit argued. "If you didn't have such a self-hate t'ing goin' you'd know that!"
"You're pathetic!" She spat back at him. "And for your information Indie's fantastic. He's attentive, he's…"
"Empathic ain't he?" Remy growled threateningly. Blaze just looked at him. "Ain't he?"
"Tactile empath." Blaze confirmed. "He has to touch, its how he brings up the tattoos too."
"Dangerous Petite." He muttered, coming closer. "How you know anythin' what you feelin' is even you? I ain't ever seen you get so obsessed with a guy…"
"I'm not obsessed." Blaze protested weakly.
"You letting him in though. You don't let nobody in, 'specially not guys you seein'."
"How is that dangerous?" She could barely put up a fight, the realisation that she'd been fooled creeping over her like an unwelcome frost. "How can it be dangerous to be with an empath?"
"You know what he makin' you feel. Your mind ain't on what's happenin', its on him. You wanna get addicted to what he does for you? How you t'ink you manage if he changes his mind 'bout bein' with you?" He was asking too many questions that hit too close to the core. Blaze couldn't answer him, but she knew Gambit didn't need an answer. Her defences were up against her friend, her arms crossed and her jaw tensed. How much of what she was feeling was real? Was she getting addicted to the numbness Indie gave her, as she had once been addicted to the same properties of alcohol?
"I can't believe he'd manipulate me when I'm with him." She said, shaking her head gently. "He didn't even like me to start with."
"Maybe he don't know he doin' it Laura." Remy consoled her, inwardly thinking that not liking a beautiful girl taking over your authority was a good reason as any to cajole her into bed. "You gotta stop it all though, you the only one who can stop him."
"I…" Blaze closed her eyes, swallowed and fell silent. She couldn't trust her emotions, yet suddenly they were swamping her so completely.
"Hey," Gambit spoke gently, and she knew he was watching her intently. His cool fingers brushed her cheek and lingered on her jaw. "Don't let him ruin you for the rest of us…"
Blaze opened her eyes to meet Remy's. Her heart stopped, her breath caught in her throat and she remembered belatedly that it took one to know one. No wonder Remy thought Indigo was using his powers to charm women to do what he wanted. Compared to Gambit, the boy was an amateur.
"Don't." Blaze moaned, but didn't move. "I hate it when you do this. What are you trying to prove? That you're as twisted as you think he is?"
"I'm nothin' like Indie." If he was offended at the comparison he didn't let it rattle him. He let his free hand rest on Blaze's X-logo silver metal belt buckle, his fingers running from her jaw to her jugular, following Indigo's tattoo marks. His eyes never left her face.
"You're trying to tell me there's no empathic tendencies in you at all?" Blaze was suddenly aware of his body heat, and she felt like she could almost taste him.
"You know I don't know what dis is. An' I ain't goin' to the Professor for him to put a fancy name on it. It better of the X-Men never know, or they t'ink I use it on them."
"You're using it on me." Blaze protested pathetically. "Why?"
"I gotta get through to you. I don't know no other way. I can't lose you to him Laura."
"Remy…" Blaze whined, not knowing if she was protesting or pleading with him. Unfolding her arms she moved her hands palm forward towards him as if to push him away. He hands brushed his stomach and instead of ending the encounter, her slender fingers encroached inside his shirt. Fingertips stroked the solid muscle of her friend's belly, each hand moving in opposite directions. Her physical guard was down, her eyes watching her hands as if their actions were treacherous. Remy lifted her face to his, eyes captivating and hypnotic. Once she'd found them, she couldn't look away.
Remy's hand dropped from her throat soothingly, brushing her curve of her breast and coming to rest on her hip. He stepped into her embrace, sliding his other hand to her other hip. The heat from Blaze's hands on his skin was making his skin blister, but he'd survived worse. Even knowing where this was going, Blaze still gasped and trembled at the playful brush of Remy's lips on hers. She pulled away, at the same time taking a grip on the waistband of his jeans. Her blood was pounding; her cheeks flushed a delicate pink. Uncertain she sought Gambit's eyes again. He made her mind up for her. With her dilated eyes on him, he did something Indigo had never done. Remy smiled, and any stubborn resolve that had been hiding in the recesses of Blaze's conscience disappeared.
This time when he kissed her she returned the gesture willingly. Mouths locked together, eyes closed against reality, Gambit pushed Blaze backwards none too gently. Her spine pressed against the landing gear of the X-Jet. She pulled him closer by his shirtfront. Gasping for breaths of cool air, her fingers fumbled blindly to unfasten his shirt…