Chapter 5

Over the days leading up to Christmas Marrow, Erg, Anole and Psylocke used the danger room just as much as any of the other residents. Well, Marrow, Erg and Psylocke did. Anole seemed to be happier sulking in the corner. Of course, knowing Anole's problem with Overdrive, there was an unspoken conspiracy to prevent him from sulking in the corner and give him something else to focus on.

On December 23, Logan and Jubilee returned.

"Hey it's about time you folks got back," Rogue informed them.

"Aww, didja miss us?" Jubilee asked.

"Nah, Ah'm just tired of doing your share of the chores," Rogue joked and Jubilee laughed.

Logan and Jubilee were introduced to Gambit's guests. Jubilee greeted them like old friends (much to Marrow's discomfort) and Logan just sniffed.

Late that evening, however, Logan decided to hit his newly resupplied hidden stash of beer. As opposed to the not so hidden liquor cupboard in the kitchen. As soon as he entered the room where his hidden stash dwelled, he knew instantly that someone was in the room. And judging from the scent it was one of Gambit's friends.

"Kid, I know you're here," Logan practically growled.

He couldn't see him, but he could definitely smell him. Logan turned until he was facing the right direction and studied the wall.

"You may as well come out," Logan said.

There was a rippling effect and abruptly two eyes looked out at him. This was followed by his body turning back to normal instead of blending into the wall. One hand was behind his back and when Anole brought it out, Logan could see there was one of his new bottles of Canadian beer in it. To say nothing of the other two recently finished bottles of beer on the ground.

"That's my beer," Logan informed him shortly.

"S-sorry," Anole replied, rubbing his hand nervously. "I was just... umm..."

"I can see what you were doing," Logan said as he opened up the mini fridge and pulled out a beer for himself. "And you're not going to do it again if you still want that hide of yours intact."

"Uhh... sorry," Anole said again. "I'll just be -"

"You been in the danger room yet, kid?"

"Uhh, yeah a few times."

"Good," Logan said in a dangerous tone that made Anole even more nervous. "Then you won't mind using it again."

Anole paused. "What? Now?"

"Yep," Logan drawled. "No one steals my beer and gets away with it. Not even the Cajun."

Which is how Anole found himself running from people with lasers, climbing up walls and jumping ditches of spikes amongst other things in the scariest obstacles course he'd ever done in his life. Come morning, Marrow had no idea about the events of the night before and was most unsympathetic when it came time to get him out of bed.

Rogue and Gambit were woken up on Christmas morning by one of Gambit's two phones. One phone was personal and the other was a secure, untraceable phone issued to him by the Thieves Guild. It was the Guild phone which stirred them from their slumber.

"Gambit," he said upon answering.

"Merry Christmas, Remy," said Jean-Luc.

"Merry Christmas, Père," Gambit replied with a stifled yawn.

"Have yo' broken dat poor fille's heart yet?"

"Non," Gambit replied. "She hasn't broken mine yet either."

"What's this 'yet' business?" Rogue asked.

Gambit chuckled. "Did yo' hear dat, Père?"

"Oui, I did," Jean-Luc replied. "Now I have a few people here dat want t' -"

"Père," Gambit said, rolling over to look at the clock, "have yo' been waking everyone up at indecent hours again?"

"It's Christmas," Jean-Luc replied plaintively as he switched the phone to speaker. "I want my presents."

"Dis is revenge fo' all the times we woke yo' up early on Christmas morning isn't it?"

"Oh I'm sure o' it, mon frère," Henri said. "And here I was t'inking dat I was done wit' early Christmas morning wake ups when Gigi grew out of it."

"No such luck? Hang on..." Gambit said and switched his own phone to speaker so that Rogue could join in. "All right, can yo' hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Remy," said Mercy.

"Roguey's here too," Gambit said.

"Hi, Merry Christmas," Rogue said.

"Merry Christmas," Henri, Mercy, Gigi and Jean-Luc all said together.

"Nice t' hear your voice again, Rogue," said Mercy. "How have yo' been?"

"Pretty good, thank you," Rogue replied. "And yourself?"

"Tres bien. I hope dat Remy's not been giving yo' too much trouble."

"Nah," Rogue replied, yawned and added with a wink at Gambit: "His father's a bit of a pest though."

Jean-Luc laughed.

"Dieu, tell me about it," said Gigi. "How's a fille supposed t' get any sleep around here?"

"Well, it helps if yo' have somewhere comfortable to lie down, like a bed -" Gambit began.

"Oh, hah hah hah," Gigi replied.

"I thought so. O' course, it also helps if yo' don't have people yapping at yo'. See, Roguey and me are in bed right now and –"

"And dat's more than we needed t' know," Mercy said firmly.

"Like we didn't already figure dat much out when he said Rogue was there too," Henri said dryly.

"Well, we used t' have separate beds," Gambit said mischievously.

"Do we have t' have dis conversation?" asked Gigi. "I don't want t' picture mon oncle in bed wit' anyone, let alone a fille barely older than me."

"Let alone naked," Gambit said.

"Mon dieu," Gigi complained. "Bad images. Bad images! Get out of my head."

"Ah understand your pain," Rogue said with a giggle.

"Remy," Mercy began and then sighed. "Never mind."

Gambit chuckled.

"Oui, dis is exactly how I want t' wake up on Christmas morning," said Henri. "Père banging on the door, letting himself int' our bedroom and opening up the curtains all while singing 'All I Want Fo' Christmas is My Two Front Teeth' –"

"Dentures giving yo' trouble, Père?" Gambit asked cheekily.

"Watch your mouth, boy," Jean-Luc replied.

"- enduring Gigi's complaints about being woken up in a similar manner," Henri continued, "and den getting an update on Remy's sex life."

"Really?" asked Gambit. "Dat's how yo' enjoy getting woken up on Christmas morning? Well, it's a tough call but I'm sure we can arrange somet'ing fo' next year."

"Smart ass."

"But o' course!"

At a much more comfortable hour later that morning, everyone began arriving in dribs and drabs in the living room where the Christmas tree had been set up. Presents were handed out, wrapping paper flung everywhere, exclamations and laughter were heard from all corners of the room.

Gambit had made a point of picking up some Christmas presents for their guests, not wanting them to feel left out of the celebrations or anything.

After lunch (and a delicious one at that), Psylocke worked up the nerve to approach the Professor.

"I was wondering if you'd mind horribly if I made an overseas phone call?" she asked him. "I'd like to speak to my family in England. I swear, I won't talk long."

"No, that's fine," the Professor replied with a smile. "Talk as long as you want, within reason of course. You may use my office, if you'd like. Merry Christmas, my dear."

Psylocke smiled. "Thank you so much."

Not fifteen minutes later Gambit passed by the Professor's office. The door was open and Gambit could see Psylocke inside with her back to the door and the phone to her ear.

"Oh well, I suppose if Brian really wants to talk to me, I guess I'll let him," she said jokingly. "I love you too, Mum."

Gambit was soundless as he walked away.

Marrow started getting more and more impatient for a response from Genosha. The only reply they'd had so far was a notice that they would be putting together a team to join them. Marrow grumbled when she realised that by 'them' they meant the X-men.

"I told you I don't want to work with them!" Marrow yelled at Gambit when she found out.

"A fine t'ing t' say when you've been living at their place fo' the last week or so."

"Under protest."

"Eating their food. Using their training facilities."

"They have no stake in taking down the Purifiers," Marrow snapped. "It's not their home under fire. It's not their family they've been killing. They've thrown their lot in with flatscans more than once. I don't trust them fighting alongside me."

"It is their people, though," Gambit pointed out patiently. "And regardless, dey have no desire t' see another slaughter, mutant, human or otherwise. Besides, the Genoshans don't know yo'. Yo' need their endorsement. I trust dem. Won't yo' trust me?"

"A fine line coming from you," Marrow replied cryptically, but she stalked off before Gambit could question her about it.

Warren flew down to the front doors of the Xavier Institute and let himself in. He got as far as the rec room before anyone noticed his arrival.

"Hey Warren," Rogue said, waving as soon as she spotted him. "When did you get here?"

"Just then," Warren replied as he walked inside, with a glance at Marrow and Psylocke who were with her.

"Cool," Rogue said. "Oh, Warren, this is Psylocke and Marrow."

"Hey Flyboy," Psylocke replied, holding out her hand. "You can call me Betsy."

"Nice to meet you," Warren replied, shaking her hand.

"So Betsy," Marrow said maliciously. "Is this is part where you admit to throwing his father off the roof at Alcatraz?"

"That's was you?" Jubilee exclaimed as Warren and Psylocke froze.

"Well, me, Arclight, Quill. Seemed like a good idea at the time," Psylocke replied as Warren dropped her hand. "Heat of battle and all that."

"Your father," Marrow said scathingly, "is a filthy, disgusting flatscan, who doesn't deserve to live."

"Marrow, you don't think any flatsc- humans deserve to live," Psylocke pointed out.

"Yeah, well, Worthington is one of the ones who deserves to die slowly and painfully," Marrow said. "If I ever get my hands on him, he'll wish you never rescued him, Angel."

Warren was silent for a good long moment, his eyes never moved from Marrow's.

"At least I know who my father is," he said finally.

"Oookay," Rogue cut in, knowing that Warren would have no idea about Marrow's history and she certainly didn't know enough about Marrow to know if her father had been one of the Morlocks or not. "Let's just leave this one alone, shall we? Ah'm sure that whatever happened at Alcatraz, Betsy no longer has any homicidal feelings towards your dad... umm... right?"

"Right," Psylocke replied quickly. "I didn't realise his son was a mutant at the time and -"

"Well what possible difference could that make?" Warren snapped.

"A lot actually," Psylocke said. "It meant that he had a personal stake in the Cure and it wasn't simply blind hatred of mutants. The fact that you were also willing to save him says a lot too. It meant that even though he was completely wrong about mutation being a disease, his heart at least was in the right place."

Marrow snorted derisively. "You're just trying to save face 'cause you've got a crush on him."

Psylocke glared at Marrow and tried to ignore the blush that filled her face. Jubilee cracked up laughing.

"See?" Jubilee said gleefully to Warren. "I told you that you were the guy every girl was going to get a crush on."

After the New Year, those who went home for the holidays started returning to the school and Rogue and Gambit's had their first anniversary.

"Never know," Jubilee said to Rogue that morning. "Remy might decide to celebrate your anniversary with a proposal."

Rogue groaned.

"Getting that a lot, are you?" Psylocke asked.

"Remy took me ta France and Monte Carlo for a holiday last June, July," Rogue told her. "Ever since then Jubes has been obsessed with the idea of us gettin' married."

"Have not," Jubilee replied. "Paris is just such a romantic location. I could just picture Remy proposing there so well… and now I just keep bringing it up because it annoys the crap out of you two."

"Pest."

Psylocke laughed.

"Still," said Marrow, eyeing Rogue thoughtfully. "Remy dating the one girl for a whole year. I think that says something."

"He's in looooooove," Jubilee said gleefully, clasping her hands together.

"Shut up, Jubes," Rogue said.

"But he is," Jubilee insisted. "You're in love too."

"That doesn't mean I would necessarily say 'yes' even if he did propose today. Ah'm in no rush ta get married," Rogue said, shaking her head. "Marriage is serious business and too many people these days are gettin' married on a whim, or go into it thinkin' that divorce is an option if things don't work out. Ah happen ta believe that unless you're prepared ta keep your weddin' vows no matter how hard things get, then ya shouldn't be makin' them in the first place. They're vows; they're not supposed to be broken. Ah have no interest in gettin' married unless Ah'm sure Ah'm ready for the responsibility, and Ah sure as hell don't want Remy proposin' if he's not sure."

"Hear, hear," said Psylocke.

Little did Rogue know about the conversation Gambit had a few hours later with Jean-Luc:

"Have yo' broken dat poor fille's heart yet?"

"Non, Père," Gambit replied tolerantly.

"Hmph. How long has it been now?" Jean-Luc asked.

"A year today," Gambit said, knowing full well that Jean-Luc had probably marked the day in his calendar, just so he could make a point of ringing him today.

"A year already, imagine dat," Jean-Luc replied. "So when's the proposal happening?"

"Mon dieu, don't yo' start," Gambit said irritably. "I get enough o' dat from the Firecracker."

"You're not getting any younger, and neither am I for dat matter," Jean-Luc said. "I'd like some time t' play wit' my grandchildren."

"Yo' have a grandchild: Gigi."

"I said 'grandchildren' plural. And since Henri's only given me one, I want another one from yo'."

"Père -"

"Besides, yo' wait much longer, you're not going t' have the energy t' keep up wit' dem," Jean-Luc went on merrily. "I don't care how much stamina yo' t'ink yo' have, mon fils, children always have more."

"Père -"

"You're probably pushing it now."

"Père -"

"How old's Rogue? Twenty? She's not going t' wait forever, Remy," Jean-Luc went on, thoroughly enjoying getting on his son's nerves. "And these are her best child-bearing years –"

"Jean-Luc!" Gambit exclaimed.

His father laughed.

"I'll propose if and when I'm good and ready, and not before," Gambit said firmly. "And should we ever get married and decide t' have kids, it'll be on our timetable, not yours."

Jean-Luc just laughed some more.

"Now, is dere a reason fo' dis call?" Gambit asked. "Or were yo' just calling t' annoy me?"

"Calling t' annoy yo' is a reason t' call, Remy," Jean-Luc replied. "And a good one, if yo' ask moi. But no, I called t' congratulate yo' on lasting dis long wit' the one femme, and do pass on my congratulations t' Rogue also."

The next day, the team from Genosha finally arrived along with the last of the X-men. There was quite a gathering on the hanger floor as the ramp lowered and the Genoshan team exited their jet. First out the door was Pyro.

"Hey!" Rogue exclaimed. "Long time no see!"

"Hey!" Pyro replied. "You have hair!"

"Shut up, flame-boy."

"You look cute with short hair," Pyro said. "Much better than being bald."

Close behind Pyro was a young man who's statue and set of his jaw bore an uncanny resemblance to Scott.

"Hi Havok," said Bobby. "How's Lorna?"

"She's good," Havok replied.

He was followed by another young man who was almost a splitting image of Magneto.

"Hi Pietro," Jubilee said, waving at him.

"Hi, niceta see yas again," Pietro said, zipping up to all those who had visited Genosha before during the liberation and giving them hurried shakes of the hand.

Pietro was followed by a young woman with a black spot over her eye.

"Guys, this is Domino," said Pyro.

"Hey," Domino said in greeting.

The fifth and final member of the team stepped out of the door and Marrow, Erg and Anole stared in astonishment.

"Skids!" Marrow exclaimed. "You've been hiding out in Genosha all this time?"

Skids gave a cheeky two-fingered salute.

"Hey guys," she said. "Long time no see. I see you've moved up from the sewer."

"It's only temporary," Marrow replied stiffly.

"Shame. Erg, Anole. Hi Remy."

"Bonjour petite," Gambit replied. "How's life been treating yo'?"

"Much better these days," Skids replied cheerfully, trotting over to give her old friend a hug. "But boy, was I surprised to hear you were with the X-men."

"I found a reason t' hang around," Gambit said, smiling at Rogue.