Ch. 2 – If I Never See Your Face Again, I Don't Mind.
Remy expertly pushed a breath of air out of his lungs as he hefted his body up, yet again, with the strength that was left in his fatigued biceps. Slowly, he lowered down and this time he let go of the bar. He turned to grab a towel to wipe the sweat off his face. He gave his unkempt auburn hair a shake and decided he had done enough training for the afternoon. 80 pull ups in a row were quite a physical feat for the day. Plus his stomach rumbled in agreement. Remy's lean, chiseled muscles gleaned with sweat as he toweled his chest dry and pulled a fresh white shirt over his head. Luckily, for any lady that might pass by, the fabric of the shirt was tight enough to reveal the definition of his arms and chest. Remy nonchalantly picked up the phone in the gym to hit the speed dial for Fatty's Pizza. With the mansion basically empty, besides the Professor and Dr. McCoy, Remy was excited to have a supreme pizza with double meat to devour all by himself.
The main reason it was so quiet was that it was Spring Break. Most kids usually went home to visit their families. While all the others with less accepting loved ones, were sheparded out on a trip to Toronto with Bishop and Psylocke. Canada was apparently more understanding of mutant children. Jubilee was determined to finally go out on her own and have a "real" spring vacation. The girl was in Cancun, heaven forbid. And although every X-Man enjoyed forcing Logan to go on the special trip with all those kids, solely based on the fact that he was a native to the country, he had plotted early this year to avoid the torture. He was currently at some undisclosed location hunting down someone from his past. Remy thought it was funny how the feral mutant seemed to have a selective memory. Put some really badass dude slashing around like crazy near his face and he remembered the guy in seconds. Put a smoky eyed woman in his tracks and he needed extra time to recall who she was, and extra time meant extra alone time with her at dinner usually. Remy knew a player when he saw one and he certainly admired Logan's game.
A few other X-Men had gone off on their own private vacations. Just yesterday the rest of the team had been called off to Transylvania to search for a young, distressed mutant the Professor had found through Cerebro. Apparently it was urgent, since the townspeople in the area were convinced the kid was Dracula re-awakened.
"Wait til dey get a look at Nightcrawler", was all Gambit had said when Cyclops asked him to go with them. He'd declined because he wasn't getting anywhere near a demon-obsessed mob armed with pitchforks. Not with peepers like his at least. Plus Cyclops already pretty much had a complete team. Jean was going along to help calm the kid down once they found him and to also spend as much time with her husband as she could. Warren was tagging along to help get an aerial view, since the town was located in a very remote and hilly woodland area. Storm was the final member besides Scott and Kurt, and was going to provide a more 'natural' cover from the locals while the team searched.
Scott had wanted Remy to come because of his past and having lived on the run for a time as a child. He guessed Remy would have good instincts as to where the young mutant might hide. But that just wasn't the case, as growing up in the alleys of New Orleans was far different than hiding out in the wilderness. Plus, Gambit wasn't very fond of bugs, as he had told Cyclops for his final decline to the mission.
Mostly on his own in the mansion now, Remy sauntered upstairs to the main level and pulled a box of cards out of his pocket as he flopped down onto the couch in the front sitting area. He wanted to save time. There was a side door for deliveries, but the pizza boys always ended up messing that up. Somehow, they always managed to deliver to the front door. Plus Remy's stomach was now constantly rumbling in reminder of the dire situation and need for pizza right away. He didn't feel like playing 52 card pick up so instead he nonchalantly flicked the cards onto the coffee table to setup a game of solitaire. Remy methodically picked away at the cards as each minute slowly ticked away on the old, ornate wall clock. Close to ten minutes later, the chime on the front door went off and Remy was so excited that he just grabbed a wad of cash from his duster and bounded over the couch towards the door. This was only going to take a second. Grab the pizza, throw the cash, shut the door and the deal would be done; pizza-eatin' time!
Remy whipped the front door open with a dramatic flair. He was in motion to underhand toss the money when he looked up and stopped dead in his tracks. Glowing, icy orbs of blue were locked onto his eyes; the same ones from last night. For a brief second Remy wondered if they would melt if she stared too long into his hot coals. 'Merde!' he thought, he'd abandoned his shades downstairs while he'd been working out. Remy ducked is head down as fast as he could and clumsily shouted out, "Deliveries go to de side door homme." And without wasting another moment he slammed the door shut and leaned heavily against the back of it just in case for some reason the strange, yet very beautiful, woman was to try and rush in anyway. He immediately realized that he was breathing heavily. He just stood there pondering. 'Dat was de femme from last night! How'd she find me and what de heck is she doing here!'
Remy's heart was beating a million miles per second. If this woman had tracked him down from the bar to here and had gotten enough time to notice he was a mutant, then he'd be in big trouble with the Professor. The school itself was a cover within a cover. It was not only a place for young mutants to harness their powers while having a safe place to grow up, but underground was the base for Xavier's team; the X-Men. For all the outside world knew, it was just a school for gifted youngsters, as in higher learning. Not flying and blowing up shit as well.
The front door chime ringed again and Remy snapped back into action. "Um excuse me?", came the woman's voice. It was smooth as honey even as she attempted to shout through the thick front door. "Uh. I'm not a delivery unfortunately. Well…and plus there's no signage as to where this side entrance might be." There was a long pause as Remy continued to decide what to do. "Anyway, um, I have an appointment with a Professor Xavier…" she halted again, seeming unsure, "at one o'clock...I'm a bit early…."
Remy sighed, she sounded so desperate and forlorn. He glanced around and then remembered that Cyke always kept a spare pair of shades in the coat closet. He dashed over to grab them and pushed the glasses up over the bridge of his nose just to be sure of their placement over his odd eyes. His heart and breathing had mostly slowed down so he opened the door again. The woman had just begun to turn away but snapped back in his direction at the sound of the door groaning with the motion of being opened. The sun was bright today so she had to cover her eyes with her hand in order to see Remy. 'Good', he thought, 'she prob'ly didn't catch dis ole' cajun's eyes.'
"Ah yes, hello!" she spoke.
"So de Professor, eh?"
"Xavier, yes," she nodded.
Since Remy now had a chance to get a good look at her again he noticed that other than her eyes, she looked very different from the night before. Her long tousled, raven black hair was now slicked back and imprisoned in a tight bun. Her eyes were framed by a pair of dark, square spectacles and she wore a black blazer with a knee length skirt. The only skin showing was her shapely calves and just a bit of her décolletage. She looked very executive, but Remy didn't mind, she was still the hottest looking nerd he's ever seen! Plus she was still sporting a pair of black mile high heels, which helped to put her just about to Remy's eye level. 'Damn dis broad is tall!" he thought to himself. From the way she was now looking at him, with her brow furrowed and head cocked to the side, it was obvious she didn't recognize him. That also meant that she really was here on business.
"Won't I come in?" she spoke. Remy blinked and realized that he'd been staring too long.
"Ah, Oui. Won't you?" He stepped to the side and gestured inside with his arm.
"Don't mind if I do. Thank you." Her heels clicked on the marble flooring, but she didn't go any farther than just inside the door. She felt almost uncomfortably close to Remy and he finally noticed she was carrying a briefcase.
"Here let me take dis for you." He offered. She blushed a bit and replied, "Oh, I'd prefer not. Professor Xavier? Is he available now perchance?"
'Man dis is getting awkward' thought Remy, 'Better go get Charlie.' "Sure, let me go get him. Just wait here." He said. With that, Remy calmly turned the corner and as soon as he was out of her sight, dashed over to the Professor's study.
Charles Xavier was at his desk preparing his third quarter lesson plans for the psychology class he taught. True, his X-Men, like Logan and Gambit, taught the students how to fight for themselves and hone their mutant skills. However, he preferred to teach them to expand their minds. He did his best to intellectually challenge the children, so he always meticulously charted out intense class sessions. His work was suddenly interrupted by a very familiar, Cajun voice. "Hey Prof. You got somebody wait'in for you out front."
Xavier closed the binder he had been flipping through and replied, "Ah yes, my meeting with Professor Vargas." He glanced up at the wall clock in is study. It was barely noon. "He's quite early. I wasn't expecting him for another hour." The mansion's resident thief chuckled a bit and then tapped on his noggin. "Looks like you ain't payin' much attention. It be a she." At that statement, Xavier scanned the grounds as light as a feather with his mind and smiled when he realized he had been caught off guard since he now only sensed a new female presence. "Hm. Curious.", he said to Gambit as his hover chair silently maneuvered its way into the corridor. As they made their way down the hall, Xavier filled Gambit in on the situation. "I see you had sense enough to put some sunglasses on and I would suggest that they remain on until after this appointment is through. These are just regular people I am dealing with today. They have no idea who and what we are. Normally, I wouldn't even allow such a meeting on the grounds but with mostly everyone gone, I didn't see a problem. Plus, I have some questions that I need to ask Professor Vargas, or whoever it is he has sent in his stead." Gambit nodded to the Professor as they turned the corner and entered the main front room where the mysterious woman had sat herself down in the exact spot Remy had been playing solitaire. She was gently lifting the cards and setting them into place. By the looks of it, from Remy's vantage point, she was close to winning the round.
The Professor cleared his throat and she went rigid as if she had been caught stealing candy. The woman stood and walked around the couch in order to offer the Professor her hand while the other carefully clutched her briefcase. "Hello Professor Xavier my name is Claire Banks and-,"
"My meeting was to be with Professor Vargas," he interrupted without accepting her outstretched hand. She immediately realized her error in being so forward and so withdrew her hand. Yet she had not quite yet given up. "Correct," she replied, "However, my employer had to leave for Egypt quite unexpectedly. An excavation project of his over there had a major development that he had to attend to. I'm his personal assistant, and before he left he provided me with all the necessary materials for this meeting."
The Professor sensed no lie in her explanation so he backed down a bit on the intensity. "Well, as much as I appreciate that Miss Banks, I'm a very busy man, even during school recesses. I would have preferred a phone call more. I'm sure the good Professor could have arranged one of those as well."
She sighed, "I do apologize, sir. I'm positive he could have called but I'm quite sure that he intentionally did not in order to keep this meeting from be cancelled or rescheduled. He's a busy man too and he's on a tight schedule. It's imperative that we meet."
"Alright then, follow me." Xavier gestured for Gambit to follow as well. "Miss Banks, this is Mr. Lebeau, the head of my security detail." She turned towards Remy and held her hand out at the introduction. "Pleasure," she said. "Oui," he replied as he gently shook her hand. 'Oh god, her hands are as smooth as dey look' he thought absentmindedly. Xavier took over the conversation as he led the group down the hallway. "Mr. Lebeau will be waiting outside while we are in our meeting. Once finished, he will escort you out."
"Agreed," said Claire.
They all arrived at the study and the Professor ushered Miss Banks inside, all while sending Gambit a mental message to stay alert. Remy wasn't fond of letting Charles mentally project anything to him, but if it meant more time learning about this woman, then he was happy to oblige. Something about her just sent him all a-twitter, and he simply couldn't get enough.
Xavier shut the door behind him as Claire seated herself in the modest leather chair in front of his desk. She gently set her briefcase down on top and she graciously waited for him to adjust his hover-chair just behind it. Then she began, "Well you see Professor Xavier, my employer is in need of a detailed list of all documented mutants and he is under the impression that you may have one."
Charles rested his elbows on the sturdy desk and slightly leaned forward. He let his hands touch at the fingertips just below his chin. "I am well aware what it is he is looking for", he said, "What I don't know is why. From what I've heard of Professor Vargas, which is very little, he apparently collaborated a few years ago with a man named William Stryker. I'm not pleased with this. I would like to make it clear to you Miss Banks, I do not approve of any of Stryker's experiments and I am wary to assist any of his former colleagues. Especially with anything regarding mutants."
Claire knew this would be a difficult discussion so she was prepared to defend her position. "I completely understand your apprehension sir, but let me assure you; Professor Vargas never worked with or for Dr. Stryker. He was simply pursuing information. The same information he is looking for from you now: a list of all known mutants. He actually found Stryker's experiments to be very distasteful himself."
Xavier held his ground. "Be that as it may, even if I had a list of mutants, how could I be sure that he has no intention of using it for ill?"
"Well there's no actual way to prove it short of trusting his word." Claire was getting bolder. "Look, Professor Vargas knows that you are a leading man in the mutant rights movement. He is willing to make a trade with you for the list." She tapped her cargo on his desk. "In this briefcase I carry official case documents from Stryker's experiments that my employer has obtained. They are very detailed and they are all legitimate originals either signed by Stryker himself or written on legal government paper. It could all be useful to you in your political fight against him…"
Xavier let the tension build. He knew she had reviewed them and he knew that there was a lot of legally binding information inside. But he also knew, without sensing it from her, that in a court case it would all find a way to fall through. Stryker was the government's most favorite pet and it would do close to anything in order to protect him. Having those case documents could all but be useless to the Professor.
Claire did her best to dangle some better bait and clicked open the briefcase. She pulled out a black, weathered leather journal. It had an infinity symbol burned into the front cover. "I am also in possession of the Destiny Diaries. Heard of them?" She waited only a moment and continued, "Apparently these are journals written by a certain mutant who claims to have the power to see into the future. The diaries mostly pertain to the renegade mutant group called the X-Men, but it does give a very detailed perspective as to what will come of the world. Professor Vargas is more than willing to trade both items for a master list of mutants."
Charles Xavier really deplored scanning too deep into people's minds without permission, but in this instance he had to, if only a little. He combed just under the surface of her current thought process and delved into the sector that held memories and thoughts of Vargas. He saw a brief meeting of the two with Vargas giving her instructions of what to say. He saw Vargas open a vault and fill the briefcase with documents. So everything she held actually was an original; that much was true. Claire was telling the truth, but just under the surface he could feel a mistrust that she held towards Vargas. He could sense that this was because she herself had no idea why he was searching for a catalog of mutants. Xavier pondered all of the information. The Destiny Diaries could prove to be useful to his team. He knew enough about them and the mutant who wrote them to be sure that her powers were quite reliable. The mention of the journals mostly involving the X-Men was drawing in the Professor's curiosity. Could he take a risk in order to obtain them? Without knowing what Vargas was looking for, Charles wasn't sure that he could forge a convincing fake mutant list. There was no point in just openly admitting that he actually didn't have a written list of mutants either. Perhaps if he suggested that he might have one, Vargas would remain interested, while Professor X took the time to investigate him more.
Xavier sighed. "I'm sorry Miss Banks, but there is no way that I could risk the safety of hundreds of anonymous mutants just so I could have some predictions written by a mutant who claims to have the ability to see the future. Even if I had a list, of course."
Claire forced a smile. She knew she was now the one being baited. "Of course."
He gestured towards the door and said, "I'm sorry I could not assist you, but feel free to contact me if your employer is in need of anything else. As of right now though, there is nothing more for us to discuss."
She rose from her seat, took the briefcase back in hand, and began to reach for the door. "I'm sorry too. I'm sure Professor Vargas will attempt to contact you again on this matter."
Just before the handle clicked she was cut off from her exit by the Professor. "Miss Banks?" "Yes?" She turned to face him.
"I have no problem with speaking to Professor Vargas himself, but I will not tolerate any more surprises. Nor will I even consider assisting him until he is willing to come completely clean with me. It's unnerving when someone is willing to offer almost anything in order to get information they want. It's even more concerning when their own personal assistant has no idea why either."
Claire's eyebrow slightly lifted at the last statement. She seemed surprised that the Professor had sensed her confusion towards Vargas' project as well. Somehow he had been able to tell that she was completely out of the loop. In an attempt to cover her shock, she simply nodded and replied, "I will inform him. Good day." Then she swiftly opened the door and exited into the hallway with her coveted briefcase.
Remy had lazily propped himself against the wall across from Xavier's study. He had leaned back so deeply that his back was entirely flush to the wall and his long gangly legs were splayed out far in front of him. It was almost as if he was lounging in a reclining chair, only he was still standing. It was very catlike of him to find a very comfortable resting spot all while remaining in the oddest of positions. He'd closed his eyes and rested his head back and to the side with his chin slightly pointing upwards. Remy had no idea how long this strange meeting would take so he had decided to take a risk and light up a cigarette. Smoking was banned inside the mansion, but the way Remy saw it, no one was here right now so where was the harm?
Just as he was slowly releasing the smoke of a long drag, the click of the door handle and the groan of the oak door, startled him back into alertness. He opened his eyes as Claire stepped out into the hallway towards him. He absentmindedly flicked the cigarette out of his fingers and then, too late, remembered that he was standing inside; on carpet no less. He made a sound to berate himself for such a silly mistake that was half hiss, half clicking of his teeth, and then swore along with it. "Merde!"
He shook his head to clear out the cobwebs of napping and scooped up the cigarette butt that was now scorching the carpet where it had landed. 'Couillon', he thought to himself as he fumbled with the red hot butt and the window latch that seemed to stick, at the same time. He knew he must look either insane or like a complete idiot to Claire as she quietly watched his impromptu juggling display. Finally, the hated cigarette butt had been deposited out the window and Remy turned back towards her as he wiped his ashy, burnt fingers on his pants. "All finished 'den?" he asked. "Yes," she said. And Remy noticed for the first time that she seemed a bit flustered.
He began to walk down the corridor, towards the main entrance. She didn't walk beside him; only trailed along behind. Just before they reached the end of the hall that opened up into the voluminous atrium, he turned back to look at her and asked, "Is every'ting alright petite?"
Her head was hanging lower than before when she had first entered the mansion and she had barely been paying any attention to him. She raised only her eyes up and seemed unsure of what to say. She actually looked as if she was dying to break her silence and spit out everything on her mind. But she didn't. Instead she just nodded and said, "I'm sure everything will be fine soon."
A little part of Remy was cringing inside at seeing the beautiful woman so defeated. He finally escorted her all the way to the front door and opened it for her. He made a gesture with his hand outside and gave her one of his spicy Cajun grins. She barely noticed and just muttered a "thank you" his way, then left. A black car, her ride Remy assumed, had been waiting in the driveway. The driver stepped out as Claire approached and opened the back door for her. She gracefully disappeared inside of it with her briefcase. Remy just stood in the doorway and soaked in every last sight he could get of the woman before she escaped his view. 'Claire', Remy mused.
As the car moved down the long driveway, Remy felt the Professor maneuver his hover-chair next to him. "So what was dat all about Prof?"
He sighed, "Honestly, Gambit? I'm not quite sure as of yet. She works for a man named Vargas, who is currently searching for information on certain mutants. I have no idea who he wants to find or why, but I intend to find out." With that, Professor X turned himself around towards his study, on a mission to make some phone calls to his colleagues regarding Vargas, and his project in Egypt.
For himself, Remy just stood in the doorway. He'd barely listened to Charles. This woman could very well be dangerous, but Remy couldn't get her out of his head. And when had he ever erred on the side of caution in his life? Claire. He wondered if he might be able to run into her again at Luke's…