AN:

I just have to say, I planned the scene with the LeBeaus when I was still writing I Mock Your Shiny Toothpicks, I kid you not, hahaha. Such a relief to finally have it written!

Chapter 9

"Ya'll done with that wall yet?" Rogue asked.

"Yep," Bobby replied. "Just now."

"Excellent."

Rogue picked up the wall they'd just finished putting together and lifted it into place. The X-men were working on one of the houses that Warren had arranged. Rogue held the wall steady while Bobby and Gambit secured it in place. It had been some weeks since they'd come back from Florida and Gambit's burns had finally healed. There was some minor scarring over his hands and ankles, but as he usually wore boots and fingerless gloves, only the scarring on his fingers was seen.

"Yay, we have a wall!" Kitty cheered, and promptly took a photo.

"And we're about to have a second one," Psylocke said smugly.

Rogue chuckled from where she floated in the air while Psylocke lifted the second wall telekinetically. However, as Psylocke had told Gambit, her fine motor control wasn't very good and Rogue helped line it up properly in place.

Gambit looked away while this was happening, and frowned as his eyes settled on the road.

"Huh," he said. "Looks like we've got company."

A van with "W-ARC TV" printed on the side started slowing down as they approached.

"Yeah?" asked Jubilee, looking up to see.

"News crew," Gambit said.

"Oh good," Warren said. "I was wondering when they'd get here."

"Hmm, and dat would be my cue t' leave."

"Aww, you're not leaving us so soon, love?" asked Psylocke.

"Oui," Gambit replied with a joviality that masked his seriousness. "Dis handsome face shows up on TV, I'll be inundated wit' modelling contracts like Angel here was."

It had nothing at all to do with wanting to get away from Psylocke's telekinesis or personal security reasons. Really. Ahem.

"Okay, sugah," Rogue said, floating down to give him a kiss good bye. "Ah'll see ya at home."

"You got a modelling control?" Psylocke asked Warren, taking advantage of the opportunity to question him about something that had been bothering her.

"Uhh, I don't like to talk about it," Warren replied uncomfortably.

"Adieu, mes amis," Gambit said.

A mish mash of goodbyes followed him as he made his way to his motorcycle and took off.

"I used to be a model," Psylocke admitted. "Until I got blacklisted by stupid mutant hating bastards with too much power for their own bloody good."

"Oh yeah?" Bobby asked with a waggle of his eyebrows. "Pin up?"

"Fashion."

"What happened?" asked Kitty.

"You remember that world wide incident a few years back where first all the mutants started collapsing and passing out, and then when they recovered all the humans went through the same thing?" Psylocke asked.

"Yes," said Bobby. "Definitely remember that."

"Well, I was busy doing a fashion show in Prague at the time. Everyone saw me collapse in the middle of the catwalk," Psylocke said grimly. "Then I recovered and all the humans had their turn. Unfortunately, there were a few too many bigwigs with power watching me that day. When the mutant/human thing was figured out, not only was I outed, but I was also blamed for the whole thing."

"That's stupid," said Bobby. "It wasn't your fault. It was –"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I should go say hi to our visitors," said Warren.

"Good luck!" Rogue called after him.

While the X-men told Psylocke all about "Dark Cerebro", Warren flew over to the news crew which was wasting no time in getting set up. As soon as he landed, the reporter approached him.

"Hi, you must be Mr Worthington," she said. "I'm Trish Tilby."

"Nice to meet you, Ms Tilby," Warren replied. "Please, call me Warren. Mr Worthington is my father."

"Warren it is then," Trish replied with a smile. "And you can call me Trish. I see you're already hard at work."

"That's right," Warren replied and then went on to talk about how far they'd gotten so far. Trish listened with interest and then arranged for an opening interview.

"Okay," said one of the crew. "We're ready in five, four..."

Warren watched as he counted down the last three numbers on his fingers.

"Good evening, this is Trish Tilby with W-ARC TV," she said. "I'm here with Warren Worthington the Third outside of one of the many homes that he and his team of volunteers are building for families in need. Warren, can you tell us something about what you're doing here?"

"Well, this is the first of what we hope will be many houses," Warren said and when went on to basically say the same things he mentioned to Trish earlier about their progress.

"Now there's something very special about your group of volunteers," Trish said.

"That's right. A little over half of us are mutants, and I have to say, Trish, it's been really great to see everyone working together so well, regardless of whether they have the x-factor or not."

"This is definitely a far cry from the attack on you November last year, when someone tried to kill you because you were a mutant."

"Definitely, and I much prefer this," Warren said, gesturing to the house being built behind him, "over getting stabbed any day."

"I understand that he was let out on bail, and never showed up to court?"

"Yeah. I hope they catch him. Next time he tries to kill a mutant, they might not be as lucky as I was to have a knife-proof friend."

"And is she here today?"

"Ahh, yes, actually," Warren said, and in an effort to get off that awkward subject, turned the conversation back to the project.

After the interview was concluded, the news crew moved in to talk to the volunteers and film them at work.

"You mean to say, after all these months, you're finally finished?" Kitty asked Pete eagerly.

"Da Katya," Pete replied. "Although it might have been finished a lot sooner if you hadn't kept dodging sitting and fidgeting when you did."

"Umm, sorry," Kitty said bashfully. "But it's done? I can finally see it?"

In answer, Pete lifted the cloth off the canvas and Kitty's face lit up as he eyes fell on the portrait of herself.

"Oh Pete!" she exclaimed. "It's beautiful."

"No, Katya," Pete replied quietly, wrapping his arms around her tiny waist. "You are the one who is beautiful."

Rogue looked up from her motorcycle magazine to see Kitty and Jubilee grinning at her.

"Okay," Rogue said. "What did ya'll do this time?"

"You might want to see this," said Kitty, holding out a sheet of paper. "I just printed that off from a news page on the net."

Jubilee giggled while Rogue took the paper.

"Ya have ta be kidding me," Rogue said as her eyes fell on the picture of herself and Warren on the work site. Warren had flown up to resupply Rogue with more nails, but the angle of the picture was such that it suggested something else. "Of all the pictures..."

"So Rogue," Jubilee said gleefully. "What's it like having two boyfriends?"

"Shut up, Jubes. You're not helping."

Jubilee just laughed at her.

Bobby had it all figured out. It had taken months of "dating just to keep everyone off our backs", but he had finally figured out the way to win Jubilee over.

"Hey Sarah," Bobby said. "I was wondering if you might do me a favour?"

"What favour?" Marrow asked sceptically.

Bobby explained the situation and his plan. Marrow looked at him like he was an idiot and finally replied:

"This dating stuff is a load of crap, you know that right?"

"Uhh...I don't think so..."

Marrow sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. It doesn't require any real effort from me anyway."

"Yay! Thank you!" Bobby replied happily.

Later that day in the rec room, Bobby waited until Jubilee and Marrow were both in the room. He took a breath, excused himself and walked over to Marrow.

"Hi Sarah, I was wondering," he said, loud enough for Jubilee to overhear, "if you'd like to go out with me sometime?"

"Aren't you dating Jubilee?" Marrow asked.

"Nah," Bobby replied. "It's just pretend dating because everyone else thinks we should –"

He never got to finish his sentence for Jubilee had stalked over to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Pretend dating my ass!" Jubilee said as she dragged him out of the rec room. "I'll show you 'pretend dating'."

Since Jubilee couldn't see it, Bobby's face burst into a huge grin and he gave Marrow two thumbs up as Jubilee hauled him out the door. Marrow just rolled her eyes.

"Betsy?" said Pete. "Phone for you."

"Me?" Psylocke asked in surprise.

"Da. It's Warren."

"Why on earth would he be calling me?" Psylocke asked.

Pete shrugged. "I guess you'll just have to ask him."

"Thanks, Pete."

Pete nodded and walked off while Psylocke took the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Betsy," said Warren. "Umm, I was hoping you might clear something up for me."

"Sure."

"Your name's Elizabeth Braddock, right?"

"Right."

"Okay, because I was doing some looking, and the Elizabeth Braddock who got outed as a mutant in Prague is Caucasian, not Japanese."

"I see. So now you're probably wondering why I would say that was me."

"The thought did cross my mind."

"I tell you what, I'll answer your question, if you answer one of mine."

"Which is?"

"Why are you checking up on me?"

There was a pause, and then Warren said: "Deal."

"This is going to sound farfetched," Psylocke warned him. "But do bear in mind that I am a telepath and we are both mutants."

"I'm listening."

"A few months after I was blacklisted, I was kidnapped. By ninjas."

"I can see what you mean by farfetched."

"It gets worse. You see, one of their number was a woman named Kwannon, who had recently been declared brain dead," Psylocke said seriously. "Her husband didn't want to lose her, and was advised that a telepath may be able to save her, which was why they kidnapped me. They forced a body swap: Kwannon got my body and I was stuck in hers."

"Wait, if Kwannon was brain dead," said Warren, sounding puzzled, "how on earth would swapping bodies help?"

"Her mind was intact, and so was my brain," Psylocke explained. "The only reason why I'm not the one who's brain dead is because my telepathy allows me to bypass the damaged portions of Kwannon's brain. Fortunately, psionic dampeners don't affect me internally, otherwise I'd be in a lot of strife."

"You're right," said Warren. "In terms of farfetchedness, it did get worse."

"My family has trouble... accepting me in this body, so I have trouble going home. Brian – he's my twin brother – he's gotten used to it, but not my parents, so we usually only talk on the phone. However, if you don't believe me and –"

"No, I'll take your word for it," Warren assured her. "I think crazy stories come with the territory of being a mutant sometimes."

Psylocke laughed.

"And as for your question, well, the reason why I was looking into, umm, you, was well... How'd you like to get back into modelling again?"

Three days later, Gambit sat down to dinner and was about to put his first mouthful of food into his mouth when his Guild phone rang. Rogue grinned at him as he sighed and answered it.

"Gambit," he said.

"Bonjour mon frère," Henri said languidly. "Fair notice: if yo' don't open the gates t' the Xavier Institute oh, in the next ten seconds, we're going t' see how far we can get before your security system catches us."

"You're..." Gambit began, then bolted upright out of his chair and looked toward the window. "Excusez-moi!"

Henri laughed while Gambit practically ran out of the dining hall, leaving everyone starring after him.

"Okay," said Pete. "What was that about?"

"Well," Rogue said slowly. "He answered the phone 'Gambit' which means it's probably someone from the Thieves Guild, most likely a family member. Muh guess is Jean-Luc or Henri. Why he's running away, Ah have no idea though."

There was some idle speculation, but no more than two minutes later Gambit reappeared at the dining hall with three people in tow. Everyone watched as Gambit - his face lit up with joy - led them over to their table.

"Hey!" Rogue said cheerfully. "Long time no see."

"Everyone," Gambit said to the X-men, "Dis is mon frère, Henri, his wife, Mercy and ma niece, Georgette."

"Gigi," Gigi corrected, glaring at her uncle.

"A pleasure to see you again," said Storm. "Please, pull up a chair."

"Don't mind if we do," said Henri. "How you been, 'Ro?"

"Well, thank you," Storm replied. "And yourselves?"

"Good, good."

"Oh," Gambit said quickly. "And dese are Logan, Hank, Kurt, yo' know Stormy -"

"Do not call me that," Storm said as Henri snickered.

"And yo' know Roguey. Jubilee, Bobby, Kitty, Pete, Sarah, Betsy, Anole," Gambit said, "and Professor Xavier. Table's getting a bit crowded dese days, heh."

"Yo' forgot about them," Gigi said, gesturing to the students at all the other tables.

"I didn't forget, I chose not t' mention dem," Gambit replied cheerfully.

"I bet yo' don't even remember all their names," Gigi said.

"The students don't have names," Gambit replied with a straight face. "They have numbers."

"You're not serious."

"O' course not, what do yo' take me for?" Gambit asked. "By the way, have yo' eaten yet? 'Cause feel free t' raid the buffet. Dere's plenty."

"Thanks Remy," said Mercy, "but we ate before we got here."

"Oh, I'm always up for a second dinner," Henri said cheerfully.

"Guts."

"Your point?"

"Oh Rogue, I have to tell you about my cousin, Theo," Gigi said mischievously as Henri got up.

"Ha!" Henri said, stopping to lean on the back of his chair. "See Mercy? I told yo' she wouldn't last long."

Mercy chuckled and Gambit raised his eyebrow.

"What about Theoren?" Gambit asked.

"He's like, a distant cousin or something, by the way," Gigi told Rogue. "Some cousin, something-or-other removed. He's 40 something and got divorced last year."

"Okay," Rogue said.

"Anyway," Gigi said with a giggle, "I think he's having a midlife crisis. He bought himself a jetski."

"Dat doesn't mean anyt'ing, petite," Gambit said. "Theo's always wanted a jetski."

"He's also dying his hair black," Gigi said, her grin growing broader. "Annnnd he has a new girlfriend."

"Already? Dat didn't take long," Gambit said.

"Yeah," Mercy said dryly.

"Uh huh," Gigi said gleefully. "She's all of twenty. Soooooo Rogue... how old are you again?"

Gambit threw Gigi a dark look and was about to object to the implication when Rogue piped up:

"Ohmigod! Remy, it explains everything," she exclaimed. "Ah must be havin' a midlife crisis."

"Yo' must be chére?" Gambit asked.

"N-no," Gigi said, pointing at Gambit. "He's the one who -"

"It all makes sense now," Rogue insisted with a nod of her head. "We're all the sum of our experiences, right? Well, when Ah was seventeen, Ah absorbed Magneto and Logan all in one day, thereby increasing muh experience age by... Ah don't know, two hundred years? Not only that, but muh hair also changed colour, Ah stared ridin' motorcycles and then Ah started datin' much younger men. Bobby. You."

Gambit, Henri, Mercy and various others at the table burst out laughing. Gigi pulled a face while Rogue grinned broadly at her.

"Spoil all my fun," Gigi muttered.

"Burst your bubble, did Ah?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah," Gigi said. "Do yo' know how long I've been planning on saying dat?"

"Longer than it took me ta come up with that answer."

"Heh, I'm dating an older woman," Gambit said with a snicker. "Y'know Rogue, I have t' say fo' someone who's two hundred years old you're looking mighty fine."

"Why thank ya sugah."

"Definitely aged well."

"Like fine wine?"

"Well, yo' do have a good body."

"And while Remy's busy flirting," said Henri, "I'm finally going to get that second dinner."

"So," asked Gigi looking at the others at the table. "Anyone else here blow up stuff or steal people's thoughts?"

Rogue laughed.

Marrow sat frowning through the discussion about mutant powers that followed. Gambit had mentioned his family occasionally to her, but he'd never mentioned they were human. Well, didn't he just have everything? A close family that was alive and well, the ability to walk down the street without being treated like a monster, a nice place to live, good food, love, control over his powers.

She hated his guts.

"That's a lie, and you know it," said Psylocke's voice in her head.

"Stay out of my head!"

"Love, you're broadcasting your thoughts so loudly every telepath in the state can probably hear you."

"Says you."

"You can always ask the good Professor for his opinion if you disagree. Now, stop being such a sook and wipe that sour look off your face."

Marrow rolled her eyes.

They chatted their way through dinner and dessert, and eventually everyone started getting up and going off to do their own thing. Marrow was amongst the first to depart. Finally there were only the LeBeaus, Rogue, Storm and Logan left

"So, Remy," said Henri as he stood up. "How about we go out and get some drinks?"

"Sounds like a plan," Gambit replied.

"By the way, there's something I need to tell you."

"Yeah?"

"It's about Père," Henri said gravely.

"What about him?"

"Well," Henri said, taking a deep breath. "See, the t'ing is... he's been looking at... holiday brochures."

Gambit blinked. "Oookay."

"Oui, we're a little concerned," Henri went on. "We t'ink he might not have been bluffing about retiring."

"Retiring?" Gambit repeated and noted the twinkle of delight in Henri's eyes. "Is he..."

"Oui."

"Does that..."

"Uh huh."

"Yo' mean..."

"Yo' can come home, Remy," Henri said with a great big grin. "Bella Donna rescinded your exile yesterday. We thought we should deliver the news in person."

"Whoohoo!" Gambit yelled.

There was some laughter through the congratulations as Gambit proceeded to do a little happy dance. He hugged Henri tightly – being the closest person to him – and then he grabbed Rogue and hugged her too.

"Hear dat, chére? I can go home!"

Rogue was given no chance to reply as his lips were on hers. He kissed her deeply as he whirled her around, her feet flying through the air and almost hitting a nearby chair. As he lowered her back to the ground and finally took his lips away, he said the first thing that came to him:

"Will yo' marry me?"

For a moment there was silence while Rogue stared at him in complete shock. Then she started shaking her head.

"Oh no you don't," she said firmly, wagging her finger at him. "You do not get ta ask me that question when you're high on the news that ya get ta go back home for the first time in almost nineteen years."

There was another silence.

"Is that a yes?" Gambit asked.

Rogue glared at him.

"It's a 'if you me me ta marry ya, then you had better put some thought inta it and propose ta me proper-like', Swamp Rat."

Before any awkward silence could develop, however, Henri tapped Gambit on the shoulder.

"See dat?" said Henri. "Now we know who wears the pants in your relationship."