Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men. They are the property of Marvel, which is the property of Disney. I do, however, own Cheyenne.
"Ah-hah!" Kitty Pryde exclaimed, holding an unplugged cable up triumphantly. "Sorry about that, should be fine now." She apologized, putting the errant cable in its appropriate socket.
"Thank you, Kitty." The Professor acknowledged as Kitty took her seat next to Piotr at the conference table. He clicked a button on a small remote and an image jumped to the screen resting on the wall behind the head of the table. "What you see before you is the most troubling of what Kitty found amongst the stolen data."
Logan cursed under his breath.
"They are sanctioning the kidnapping of mutants." Storm clarified, appalled.
"It appears they are attempting to gather information on the various underground mutant populations via interrogation and torture in order to eradicate them."
"The typical crazy cultist agenda." Gambit commented, eying the manifesto presented on the viewing screen with disgust.
"You have already sent out varnings?"
Professor Xavier nodded at Nightcrawler. "As soon as Kitty discovered it."
"Then we break in, spring the captives and torch the place." Logan stated.
"Essentially." Hank agreed. "But we're not going to completely destroy the facilities."
Rogue nodded in comprehension. "Give the cops and firefighters something to discover."
"Turn public opinion against the Friends of Humanity and expose their illegal dealings to the law." Storm approved thoughtfully.
"That's the general idea." Professor Xavier concurred.
"Provided o' course, that the cops an firefighters haven't been bought by the F.o.H." Gambit put in.
"Or they aren't members." Bobby added.
"You said facilities." Logan said. "Exactly how many are we talking here?"
"Two." Kitty answered. "But I haven't figured out where exactly they are yet."
"How long do you think it will take you?" Storm inquired.
"Two weeks at least." Kitty estimated. Her boyfriend gave her hand a reassuring squeeze under the table; he would be spending two weeks sketching in the computer lab.
"We must hold ourselves in readiness in the meantime." Xavier cautioned.
Logan grunted in agreement. "I'll form two strike teams and get 'em workin' together in the Danger Room in the meantime."
"Two weeks, huh? Jus' enough time for Puff's uniform to get here, no?"
Cheyenne looked up from the viewing screen, startled from musings on eerie similarities between the Friends of Humanity manifesto and a translation of Nazi propaganda she'd once read.
"It will be safer if every available X-Man goes." Xavier assured her.
"And I'll have you ready." Logan stated. "Team assignments'll be up tomorrow."
"Does this mean no solo Danger Room sessions?" Jubilee asked hopefully.
Logan considered. "Team sessions only. We start tomorrow. I'll get to work on the roster. You're excused, Shadowcat."
"Ah wouldn't celebrate just yet, Jubes." Rogue sighed.
"I helped Logan revamp the team sims last week." Kitty admitted shamefacedly, feeling like a traitor but glad nonetheless that she had to work in the computer lab.
"Awwwww, man!" Jubilee pouted.
Logan grinned like a child who's just been told he's getting a new toy.
"Sadist." Tabby accused.
"He is going to be doing the sims vith us." Kurt pointed out fairly.
"So if anything, he's a masochist." Cheyenne contributed, her aching muscles mourning another trip into the Danger Room.
"OoooOooo! New sims!" Gambit exclaimed gleefully.
"That proves it. You're insane swamp rat."
"C'mon chere, new sims! Aren't yo' a lil excited?"
Rogue held up a gloved hand, lifting a finger about an inch off her thumb. "Very little."
"I think the new simulations will be a nice change." Hank McCoy put in.
"I vas thinking the same thing."
"Me too." Bobby admitted.
"Me as well." Piotr agreed.
Storm sighed. "All men are little boys still at heart it seems."
"All of us are children at heart, Ororo."
"You are looking forward to seeing the new simulations, aren't you Charles?" Storm queried wisely.
The wheelchair-bound man smiled somewhat guiltily. "I'm afraid I am."
"Ladies, I suggest we go stock up on Epsom salt."
"Amen to that." Cheyenne groaned, rising stiffly.
"Best to prepare in advance, Ah guess."
"I guess." Jubilee repeated sadly.
"Oh, poo!" Tabby grumbled, pulling herself out of her chair.
"I'll walk with you as far as the comp lab." Kitty offered sympathetically. "You'll come hang out with me while I work?"
"Of course." The artistic Russian replied, rising to wrap an arm around his girlfriend.
"Would you mind getting the salt down for us Hank?" Ororo Munroe paused at the door to ask, smiling back at her colleague.
"Yes! Yes of course." Hank replied quickly, almost knocking over his chair in his haste to rise and move to her side. "Shall we?" He said, gallantly gesturing the others out of the room.
"Anyone care to make a bet on when Fuzzy's gonna finally get up the nerve to ask 'Ro out?" Logan inquired, once the room had emptied leaving just himself, Kurt, Remy and the Professor.
"I never gamble on affairs of the heart." The Professor chuckled and made his exit, bidding them farewell until dinner.
"I could be tempted." Gambit mused. "What do yo' think?"
Logan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Two months."
"Hmmm…I'll say trois months."
"What'll we bet?"
"What say de loser buys winner drinks?"
"Deal." The two men shook hands. "You want in on this Elf?"
Nightcrawler chuckled. "Nein, I just vanted to hear the predictions. As I told Jubilee, I am not one for betting."
"What was the Firecracker taking bets on?" Logan asked.
"On vhen Gambit and Rogue start dating." He grinned. "But you did not hear it from me." He teleported away in a sulfurous poof.
"Now dat's interestin'." Gambit commented.
"Uh-huh." A few moments passed in silence.
"Let moi tell Rogue."
"Why?"
"I have a plan." Gambit smiled deviously. "And don' let on that you know anything about the bet." The look on Gambit's face promised a surprise for a certain Asian girl.
"Alright." Logan fixed him with a penetrating stare. "Just remember one thing, bub. You make Rogue cry - I make you bleed. Profusely."
"If I make Rogue cry, den I deserve to bleed. She's a very special femme and I take dis opportunity to tell yo' that my intentions are serious."
Logan glared at him appraisingly and gave an approving 'humph', satisfied at what he saw in the younger man's eyes. "Make sure that they stay that way."
Text Message to Angela Rodriguez: I'm sorry I didn't take that yoga class with you.
Text Message to Cheyenne Jackson: lol, that was 3 yrs ago - porque?
Text Message to Angela Rodriguez: I found out today that walking and lifting heavy books doesn't = physically fit
Text Message to Cheyenne Jackson: sore, huh?
Text Message to Angela Rodriguez: I just soaked in the tub and now I don't want to move. Ever. From this bed.
Text Message to Cheyenne Jackson: Pobresita! So still think yoga's silly?
Text Message to Angela Rodriguez: Not if it means I won't feel like a little old woman
Rogue had assured her that yoga would be a good pre-emptive strike, followed by soaking after work-outs with salt and warm water to not be quite so sore from Logan's sessions in the Danger Room.
"Ah was skeptical at first too, but it really does help."
"And it has totally made me way more flexible!" Kitty had added.
Thus it was that Cheyenne had joined the yoga group led by Storm to which all of the female staff, and apparently a good portion of the female students, belonged to. The group met twice a week in Storm's garden. Cheyenne was looking forward to it.
'More like looking forward to moving without feeling like my legs are made of over-stretched rubber.' Cheyenne thought. The young mutant was laying carefully on her side, covers pulled up to her waist, in bed with her wings acting as a blanket for her upper torso. It was the only safe position for her to lie under the covers. Laying on her stomach above the covers was alright, but doing so underneath risked her tearing holes in the sheet and blanket. Either way she couldn't lay on her back for fear of puncturing the mattress with her heels. Texting a goodnight to Angela, she yawned and then laughed at the response she received a few seconds later.
Text Message to Cheyenne Jackson: Night! P.S: I told u yoga was good 4 u! :P
She held down the off button, giving a small groan as she stretched out her hand to place the darkening screen on the cover of the book she was currently reading, which was resting on the nightstand. Another groan and the bedside lamp was off.
Soaking in the warm water of her very own tub in her private bathroom - having a bathroom that she didn't have to share, she'd decided, was something that she could definitely get used to - had been heavenly and the Epsom salt had done wonders for her abused muscles. Her time in the tub, however, couldn't undo the years of an academic lifestyle that included minimal physical exercise.
'At least I'll just have the Danger Room to deal with tomorrow.' She snuggled into her pillow, focusing on her breathing. 'I've been busy all day today - kind of like freshman orientation.' First it had been going down to the lab after breakfast so Hank could give her a physical, then getting measured for her uniform, then the Danger Room, lunch, discussing a religious cult that had genocide as one of it's long-term goals, joining a yoga group, meeting with the Professor and dinner.
Cheyenne had opted to go straight up to her room after dinner rather than hit the rec room with the others, craving a hot bath and soft bed above company at that point. 'I need all the sleep I can get.' She closed her eyes, making each breath deep and even as the Professor had instructed her. He had likened her mutation, during their meeting, to a spring.
"You've spent so many years repressing your powers, albeit unconsciously, since they first developed - constantly compressing the spring if you will, that now the spring is resisting compression. You need to acclimatize your body to be able to keep your wings retracted without thinking consciously about it." He had gone on to produce the medical report Hank had drawn up from that morning. From the tests and full body x-ray, Dr. McCoy had come to the conclusion that her hearing and sense of smell were clearly above the normal range, though not as acute as Wolverine's, and that she should be able to exert specific control over each talon and her wings. In other words, Cheyenne possessed the ability to extend her wings without extending her talons and to extend one talon without extending the others, or her wings.
The Professor had thought it best to start with focusing on being able to retract everything at once before moving on to working on her specific control. He wanted her to try to retract and keep her wings in for the duration of various activities during the day and until she fell asleep at night.
"Just relax, focus on your breathing and retract them for a little bit - say, while your buttering your toast or while you walk down a hallway." He had said.
'Makes sense.' Cheyenne thought drowsily, feeling pleased as she felt her wings and talons withdraw into her body. Cautiously she rolled onto her back, closed her eyes and continued to focus on deep, even breaths. Very soon she was asleep.
"That smells delicious!" Cheyenne sniffed appreciatively as she entered the kitchen.
"Thank you, Cheyenne." Storm replied graciously, serenely flipping pancakes.
"I can attest that they are indeed delicious." Hank McCoy had a generous plate full of pancakes before him and a loaded fork in his hand. Storm smiled at him and Beast smiled back somewhat bashfully. He returned his attention to his breakfast, raising the fork to his mouth with one hand and rubbing the back of his neck with the other.
'I bet he's blushing underneath that fur.' Cheyenne theorized in bemusement, nodding to the two other occupants of the table as she took a seat next to Wolverine and across from Hank. "Good morning!"
"Good morning." Xavier replied pleasantly, his twinkling eyes betraying similar amusement.
"Mornin'." Logan took a sip of his coffee. "Training schedule and team listings there." He nodded at a piece of paper in a plastic cover in the middle of the table.
Remy LeBeau wouldn't have ever considered himself a morning person. The familial line of work had conditioned him to be more of a night person. As he walked out of his room, and caught sight of the back of a curvy lone figure clad in jeans, boots and a t-shirt with long gloves, however, he decided that mornings weren't all that bad.
"Mornin' chere!" He called, shutting his door.
"G'mornin'." Rogue turned and gave him a smile.
Gambit decided then and there that whatever part of the day that had Rogue smiling at him was the best by default. That smile had been his undoing the first time he'd seen it and every time he'd seen it since he'd only fallen harder. He had dug a pit that he would never get out of - something he'd realized only a few weeks into his stay at the mansion. The thought had struck him at how long he'd been away from his carousing lifestyle and then another thought had struck harder : with the sassy emerald-eyed femme around, he neither missed nor wanted it back in the least.
He caught up to her and draped an arm around her shoulders. "Present fo' yo'."
Rogue shook her head, bemused, as Gambit made a slip of paper appear seemingly from behind her ear with the hand not occupied in rubbing her shoulder. Her expression turned to one of delight as he handed the object to her and she realized it was not one slip of paper, but two.
"Tickets to the classic film festival!" Their leisurely stroll to the stairs halted as Rogue jumped up and down in excitement.
"So yo' approve of my plans fo' our first date?"
"Definitely! Ah've always wanted to go but…" Rogue's excited brain fully processed Remy's last question. "First date?"
Remy took Rogue's hand in his and pressed a gentle kiss to it. "Rogue, will yo' do me the honor o' going out with me?"
Rogue had repeatedly told herself that she and Gambit were friends, nothing more. Remy LeBeau was just a touchy-feely, flirtatious person. There was nothing more to it, she had repeated to herself, when Gambit brought her coffee or complimented her or flirted with her. Just Remy LeBeau being Remy LeBeau. Remy LeBeau though, despite a rather skewed moral sense, was a dedicated and loyal friend and Rogue was confident that he wouldn't be asking her out from pity.
"Mah skin -"
"I don' care. It's yo' o' no one else." His voice was fierce and determined.
"If this is out of pity-" She started hesitantly.
"Yo' o' no one else." Gambit repeated, utterly serious. "Unless yo' don' want to go out with me-"
All of the feelings she had repressed about the red-eyed Cajun welled up and tumbled out in one word. "Yes!"
Remy's face fell and Rogue rushed to clarify. "I mean yes-yes Ah will go out with you!"
Gambit let out a whoop of delight and pulled a laughing Rogue into one of the hallway's decorative alcoves, pulling a silk handkerchief out of his pocket as he did so.
"Lizard Girl?" Bobby hazarded.
"I have absolutely nothing in common with a lizard."
"Well, dragons are really just big lizards with wings." Bobby defended.
"The vings and talons are all she has in common vith a dragon." Kurt pointed out, gesturing with his fork.
"She isn't green or scaly and she doesn't have a tail." Tabby agreed. "So not a lizard."
"Thank you." Cheyenne replied, taking another bite of fluffy pancake smothered in syrup.
"What's not a lizard?" Rogue inquired, catching the tail end of Boom Boom's statement as she entered the kitchen with Gambit and a yawning Jubilee, whom they'd met in the hall, in tow.
"Me." Cheyenne fixed her eyes on Gambit as he settled into a chair at the end of the table. "This is all your fault you know." She accused good-naturedly.
"Dat yo' not a lizard?" Gambit poured out three cups of coffee, handing the first to Jubilee, who looked considerably more awake after a sip. "I think yo' are confusing me with God, Puff. Although I have been call divine befo'." There were assorted giggles and groans at this.
"She's talking about this." Piotr passed the plastic sheet containing the training schedule and team listings down the table, while gently patting his girlfriend on the back. Kitty had been in the act of swallowing when Gambit had prompted her to giggle.
Rogue leaned in to look as Gambit received the sheet and began to scan over it. There were two teams of six. The first consisted of Storm, Beast, Wolverine, Iceman, Boom Boom and Nightcrawler. The second team was Gambit, Rogue - Gambit smirked, pleased - Colossus, Shadowcat, Jubilee and Puff. Remy blinked and read the last entry again. Then he laughed. "Shouldn't yo' be more grateful fo' me coming up with yo' codename?"
Logan shrugged, polishing off another pancake. "I had to put something down."
"I refuse to be called Puff as my official designation."
"Ah can't say Ah blame you."
"Aww, but it stands out so nicely from de other codenames!" Remy protested, red on black eyes twinkling.
"That is rather the point." Storm commented, neatly cutting up a pancake.
"So we have been brainstorming." Professor Xavier explained.
"I still like 'Dragon'." Hank put in.
"It's the best that we've come up with so far." Cheyenne agreed.
"Too masculine." Kitty dismissed.
"There are female dragons." Bobby protested.
"Name one." Jubilee challenged, alert after downing three-fourths of her coffee.
"The witch from Sleeping Beauty!"
"That would be Maleficent." Rogue identified. "And you said yourself, she's a witch."
"Who turns into a dragon." Bobby muttered.
"Plus she's evil so Cheyenne doesn't want her creepy name." Boom Boom said, swirling her last piece of pancake to collect any leftover syrup on her plate.
"Not to mention I'd probably have to pay Disney if I did."
"Royalties." Gambit agreed sagely.
Bobby snapped his fingers. "The dragon voiced by that chick from the Mummy!"
"Her name was Saphira." Cheyenne said. "She didn't go by 'Dragon'. It was such a good book." She shook her head in disappointment.
"I thought it was an okay movie."
"Yes, but it took a fall from the standard of the book."
"They would have been ahead to just title it something else and say that it was loosely based on the book." Rogue agreed.
"Hmm…" Xavier contemplated. "We're all agreed on a dragon themed name, aren't we?"
"If we aren't then this entire conversation has been a waste." Logan remarked.
"Yes." Cheyenne confirmed.
"Then what do we know about dragons?"
"They breathe fire." Logan looked at Cheyenne speculatively.
Cheyenne laughed. "If I could breathe fire then you might have ended up fried after the Danger Room yesterday." She teased. Logan grinned at this, chuckling.
"Heh. Canadian barbeque." Gambit remarked, causing Rogue to giggle.
"They are mythological creatures." Piotr mused.
"Ah!" Xavier snapped his fingers. "Myth!"
"Myth." Cheyenne smiled. "I like it!"
"Hey guys." Cheyenne greeted, taking a seat in the middle of the long couch in the rec room. "Ultra Galaxy Battle again?" Kurt was at one end of the couch and Bobby was at the other; both were clutching video game controllers in their hands, pressing buttons purposefully with their eyes glued to the television. In the case of Nightcrawler, buttons were also being pressed by his flexible tail.
"Yep." Bobby answered, cheering as one of Kurt's starships exploded. His cheer deteriorated into an 'awww' as his base planet exploded and the words 'Game Over. Player One Wins!' flashed on the screen.
Kurt chuckled, flicking his tail smugly. "So how vas the Danger Room today?"
"Better." Cheyenne replied, adjusting her wings around her in her favorite blanket position so as to be more comfortable. "I'm not as sore today." She leaned into the back of the couch, feeling rather pleased with herself. She had managed to keep her wings retracted throughout her entire fifteen minute, post Danger Room soak. This had been her fifth time in the Danger Room and she'd begun a definite routine. She would change in her room into one of the five pairs of mutilated sweat suits she now owned - Rogue had happily provided her with more school sweat suits so she wouldn't have to either visit the laundry room every day or face working out in stinky clothing and Logan had been kind enough to slice them up for her when she'd asked, looking pleased at her grateful thanks despite Gambit heckling him about moonlighting as a tailor. Then she would endure whatever Logan had planned that day, something she was slowly coming to see as fun in an odd sort of way now that her body was beginning to adapt. It was probably largely in part due to the fact that it gave her an excuse to fly. Flying had unquestionably taken its place as one of the things she loved most, right alongside history and books. After they finished in the Danger Room, she'd skip a shower in the locker room in favor of heading up to her own bathroom for a shower followed by a nice soak with some Epsom salt. Cheyenne would then don what was quickly becoming her customary outfit - a skirt, t-shirt with manually added wing holes and flip-flops. Before her mutation had manifested she had tended to wear skirts more anyway, but now that putting on jeans required coordinated effort and thought to prevent being ripped by the spikes emerging from her heels she found herself in a skirt on a daily basis.
"Pretty soon you'll be just like the rest of us." Bobby deposited the game controller on the table and stood up, stretching. "Only tired and mildly sore."
"Not up for a rematch, Bobby?" Kurt winked at Cheyenne. "Of course, I can understand if you're giving up."
"What! Oh, it's on Kurt." Bobby shook a finger at him. "I have to fix lunch now, but after we get done with the team session and dinner - we battle!"
"Get your butt kicked again, Bobby?"
"It was a close fight!" Bobby defended as Rogue and Gambit entered the room. "I took out his Druthinian Battle Cruiser."
"It vas very close." Kurt said charitably.
"You're jus' being nice." Remy pointed out.
"Hey!"
"I could beat yo' blindfolded, Iceboy."
"That sounds like a challenge to me - tournament?"
"Sure thing."
Kurt nodded.
"Alright then. I'll be defeating you two in galactic warfare later." Rogue and Cheyenne traded amused glances.
"Druthinian Battle Cruiser." Rogue muttered under her breath, chuckling.
"So what's for lunch Bobby?" Cheyenne inquired, interrupting the three men exchanging game faces.
"An amazing buffet of sandwiches!"
"As usual." Rogue remarked.
"Homme, I am going to have to give yo' cooking lessons."
"I'll have you know that I am a sandwich artist."
"It's true." Rogue agreed. "He worked at Subway one summer." Gambit snickered and Myth giggled. Kurt just looked confused.
" 'Sandwich Artist' is the official title of the people who make sandwiches at Subway." Cheyenne explained, catching Kurt's puzzled expression.
"Or at least that's what it says on their nametags." Rogue contributed.
"Ohhhh!" Kurt smiled in his enlightenment, comprehending the joke.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go work my magic."
"Well, now I'm looking forward to lunch." Cheyenne remarked as Bobby walked out the door. "If only to see Bobby's 'amazing sandwich buffet'."
"He does make a good variety." Kurt swiveled nimbly in his corner seat to face Cheyenne, Rogue and Remy.
Myth laughed suddenly. "Rogue, those sandwiches we had after y'all picked me up, Bobby made them didn't he?"
"And now you know where all the sandwiches around here come from." Rogue grinned.
Kurt placed the game controller in his hands on the low table dividing the entertainment center from the couch. "I do not think I have had to make myself a sandwich since I arrived."
"Me either." Gambit began playing with a strand of Rogue's hair.
Kurt and Cheyenne exchanged a brief look as Gambit gave Rogue an unrepentant smile, twisting the hair idly around a finger. The look clearly said 'those two are so going to end up together, it's only a matter of time'.
"So vould anyone like to be my practice for tonight's tournament?" Nightcrawler gestured at the TV.
"Actually," Rogue said, forestalling Cheyenne, who had been about to say that her videogame experience was limited to everyone's favorite red-clad plumber, "we wanted to ask for y'alls help on something."
'They look like a pair of cats that ate a whole flock of canaries.' Cheyenne mused, taking in the identical looks of mischievousness on her fellow southerners' faces. "Help with what?" She asked suspiciously.
"Lunch is ready." Cheyenne announced cheerfully as she walked through the open door.
"Awesome," Tabby remarked as she blew on her nails, "I could go for a sandwich about now." Tabby and Jubilee were laying across Jubilee's bed with the small TV resting on Jubilee's desk blaring, having just done their nails.
"Yeah, training in the morning always makes me uber hungry by the time lunch rolls around." Jubilee screwed the lid shut on a bottle of nail polish.
"Me too." Myth agreed, leaning against the doorway. "So Jubilee, Kurt tells me you're running a pool on when Rogue and Gambit get together."