Hang On A Sec
Chapter Two – Who's On Second?
"I'm over here! Kurt called, "On the balcony!"
Bobby walked onto the balcony and saw Kurt crouching behind one of Storm's miniature trees, looking out at the driveway.
"Gambit's back," Kurt said in a hushed tone.
"Gambit's back! But what about his date with Rogue?" Bobby almost cried but remembered at the last moment to lower his voice.
"I don't know! Maybe they canceled it or they came back to get something," Kurt said.
"They can't cancel their date! That's not fair!"
"Shush! I'm trying to concentrate."
"Concentrate? On what?"
"On what we're going to – Whoa, who's that?"
"Who's what?"
"Who's that?"
"Who's what?"
"Who's there?"
"Who's where?"
"Behind that bush,"
"Behind which bush?"
"Behind the bush we were hiding behind before,"
"What? Who would be– oh, it's Jubes,"
"Jubes? What's she doing there?"
"Why are you asking me? I don't know!"
Their voices had been rising steadily, but they still managed to hear the door to Storm's room open.
"Uh, oh," they said in unison. Kurt placed his hand on Bobby's shoulder, and teleported them to where Jubilee hid.
"Oh my gosh, you guys! What were you doing in Storm's room?" Jubilee cried the second Kurt's sulfur cloud had disappeared.
"We didn't know it was Storm's room when we entered it!" Bobby said. "We were looking for Gambit's room! We must have looked in every room on that floor!"
"Well, of course you didn't find Gambit's room on that floor," Jubilee said. "He has the suite in the attic."
"Since when?" Kurt exclaimed.
"Since he started dating Rogue, that's when," Jubilee elbowed him.
"What? They moved in together?"
"No, stupid," Jubilee rolled her eyes, "He got in a fight with Scott when he broke curfew to sneak out to Rogue's room. So, he moved to a place with convenient access to the roof. I'd bet that's how he sneaks out."
"Oh," Kurt said. "That does sound like something he would do. It also explains why he usually comes to breakfast from the girls wing."
"He is a sneaky little thief," Bobby said. "Isn't he?"
"Yeah, minus the 'little'," Kurt grinned, showing his pointed teeth.
They heard the rumbling of a motorcycle and dived behind the bush.
Looking through the leaves, Jubilee said, "Okay, that looks like Gambit and Rogue are leaving again."
"Come on, let's go get the cards," Bobby said very seriously once the motorcycle was out of sight. "Kurt! Do you think you can teleport us to his room?"
"Uh, yes, sir!" Kurt mock saluted.
"Jubliee," Bobby called, quietly though so no one would hear them.
"Yes, sir," Jubilee gave her own mock salute (which included a jump, a spin, and a slight bow at the end).
"Can you point Kurt to the right room?" Bobby glared at her seriously.
"Yes, sir!" Jubilee giggled.
"Alright, then," Bobby said, holding out his hand. "Troops, let's go!"
They placed their hands on top of his, and Kurt teleported them to the roof.
"Why are we on the roof?" Jubliee asked, turning to Kurt.
"I can't teleport us if I'm not entirely sure where we're going," he glared at her.
"Righto," Bobby said. "Now, the only question is: how do we get in his room?"
"Through the window?" Jubilee guessed.
"That might work," Bobby tried to open the window without falling off the roof. "Window's locked," he said, trying with all his might to open it. "Now what do we do."
"Oh, move out of the way," Jubilee said irritably, brushing past Bobby and placing her hand on the window sill. "Next time, ask me first."
She moved one hand to the bottom of the sill, where there was a slight crack between window and sill. Running her hand along the wood, she called out to the boys, "Fire in the hole!" and jumped away as her fireworks forced the window open.
"Wow," Bobby said with wide eyes. "I didn't know you could do that!"
"Buh-buh-buh…" Kurt trailed off.
"Are you two just going to stand there with your mouths open?" Jubilee said with her hands on her hips. "Come on, you're catching flies!"
"Sorry, Jubes."
Jubilee rolled her eyes and crawled through the open window. The boys were right after her.
"Okay," Bobby said when his feet touched the floor. "Everyone, spread out. Look for Gambit's playing cards."
They spread out to look through the large suite.
"Mein god! You guys! Come look at this!" Kurt yelled.
"Quietly!" Jubilee whispered. "Do you want everyone to know we're here?"
"Did you find his cards?" Bobby asked.
"Nein. Look!" Kurt pulled open the lowest drawer in Gambit's bureau. In it was the largest diamond they had ever seen.
"Wow," breathed Jubilee. "That must be worth a million!"
"Probably more," Bobby said.
"Maybe we should take this instead?" Kurt offered.
"No," Bobby put on a 'Scott Summers' voice. "We don't know whole Gambit stole it from. We might get in way worse trouble if we take that. Let's stick with the mission we came in to do."
There was a moment of complete silence as Jubilee and Kurt looked a Bobby. Then they cracked up.
"Ha, ha! No, seriously guys," Bobby said. "Let's keep looking for Gambit's cards."
Kurt and Jubilee smiled then went back to looking. Bobby found Gambit's trench coat and took all the cards out of almost every pocket. He left an ice ball in the cards' place. After a few minutes of searching through every drawer, cupboard, and shelf in the room, Jubilee gleefully cried, "I found them!"
Bobby and Kurt rushed to where Jubilee was crouching next to the small set of drawers beside Gambit's bed.
"He must have at least fifty decks in there," Kurt whistled.
"Knowing Gambit," Bobby said, "probably more. Let's start putting the cards in the bag."
He pulled out a trash bag and started taking the cards out of their boxes then dumping them in the bad. Kurt and Jubilee grabbed the rest of the decks and did the same. When they were done, Bobby put the boxes back in the drawer just as they were.
"Okay, we got them!" Bobby grinned. "Are we sure we've got all of them? Do you think Gambit has any other stashes?"
"Heh, Gambit's probably got a gazillion other stashes," Jubilee said with an eye roll.
"You guys keep looking," Kurt said, reaching for the bag. "I'll go drop this bag off somewhere."
Kurt tried to lift up the bag, but hadn't expected how much all the cards would weigh. As he struggled with the bag, his tail whipped out.
CRASH!
THUMP!
TINKLE!
Kurt glanced behind him. "Oops."