Gambit sat with the other four students in his emotion control class on the grass outside by Storm's greenhouse. It was to be the last class of the school year. Soon, half the students would be returning to their homes for the summer. Everyone else would be staying, most of them because this was the only home they had.

"Does anyone have anything they would like to share?" Storm asked them.

Eliza eagerly held up her hand.

"Yes, Eliza?"

"Sooo last week I found out that one of my friends back home is learning how to play guitar," Eliza said. "So we decided that we'd catch up over the summer and play together, and I have been excited about it all week. Only this morning I realised that even though I've been super excited this whole time, I haven't lost control of my powers, even once!"

She held out her arms in front of her. 'See? No stretching! Normal size! I am so happy I started taking piano lessons with Rogue!"

"That is excellent news, Eliza," Storm said. "Well done."

"Thank you!"

Gambit grinned at her. Eliza's elastic body would often change shape with her mood. It was novel seeing her not changing shape.

"Anyone else?" Storm asked. "No?"

She gave them a little longer to respond, then said: "Alright, into the greenhouse."

They stood and followed Storm into the greenhouse, where they set about their usual routine assisting Storm with care for the plants. In this, she shared her hobby, her passion, with her students. Though, with Eliza making such progress, and having found her key hobby, Gambit wondered if she would still be taking the class next year.

Not that not taking the class anymore meant that you were done. Storm had made it very clear to them from day one that emotional control was not something that could be quickly learnt and mastered. She could guide them, and share with them the benefit of her experience, but at the end of the day this was just the beginning of the long journey ahead of them.

She also told them that there were many things that could inhibit getting control of both emotion and mutation. Injury and illness, whether physical or mental could be roadblocks. She could arrange for them to see a mutant friendly psychiatrist if they so chose.

"Have you been to see them?" Gambit had asked her.

Storm looked back at him steadily. "Yes."

He had no desire to go see a psychiatrist. He didn't like sharing his private thoughts and feelings: he was doing far too much broadcasting of those already without paying someone to write notes and offer unwanted opinions about them.

The time in the greenhouse seemed to go faster than usual. Before he knew it, Storm was telling them they could leave.

"And those of you who haven't found a suitable hobby yet," Storm told them as they left. "You may wish to spend the summer trying other options."

The younger students were quick to disperse, but Gambit lingered.

"Something on your mind, Remy?" Storm asked him, regarding him solemnly with a spray bottle in her hand.

"Does this hobby thing actually work?" he asked. "I mean, sure, Eliza's having success but the rest of us…"

"It works. It is not the only means that can be used to teach yourself how to build a core of calm within yourself, but I've found it to be the most efficient way," she replied.

"I just… I already have hobbies," Gambit said glumly. "I have stuff that I like to do, but none of them are 'suitable' for this. And those meditative exercises just don't seem to work for me at all."

"Hmm." Storm considered him for a moment. "Perhaps we should talk to Logan about him running an afternoon tai chi class over the summer."

"Okay, sure," Gambit said, trying to sound upbeat. "Sounds good."

Storm smiled knowingly at him. "You are weary of trying new things."

"That obvious, huh?"

"That, and you are not the first student to reach this point," she said. "Feel free to engage in your other hobbies. It may be easier to do so over the summer when people are not so busy, and the Danger Room more readily available for recreational activities. What's important is that you learn to build the core of calm: the place where you can still feel emotions without being ruled by them—"

"—and not suppressing them," Gambit finished.

Storm nodded. "You will get there, Remy. I have faith in you."

He sighed. "At least one of us does."

Gambit looked at one of the nearby flowering plants he had been tending. It was living matter, so he had solace in the fact that he couldn't charge it. Of course, he could still charge all the non-living matter around it, so it wasn't entirely immune to destruction.

Storm put her hand on his shoulder. "I know this will sound trite and cliche, but it does not make it less true: you only fail if you fail to try."

"You're right. That does sound trite and cliche," he said.

The static byproduct Gambit's powers produced chose that moment to zap Storm, as if in rebuke.

"Nevertheless," she said as she took her hand back and rubbed it. "I have only ever had two students who didn't make progress, and those were the only ones who stopped trying."

"What happened to them?"

"They died. I saw one of them at Alcatraz with Magneto's people. The other lost control while out in public and was shot."

Gambit turned to look at Storm as she fell silent. She sprayed one of her plants with water. As usual, Gambit had difficulty reading her expression: if anything, this emotion control business was really effective in keeping people from knowing what you were thinking. Gambit wanted to learn the skill if only for that.

"Well, that's one way to put a fire under your butt, I suppose," Gambit said. "Try or die."

Storm looked him in the eye. "You already knew those were the stakes."

He gave a half-shrug. "True enough, I suppose. Still, sometimes I wonder if I should've just taken the Cure."

Storm gave a sigh and looked back at her plants.

"You don't approve?" Gambit asked, curious at her reaction.

"Mutation is not a disease, and I will never condone anything that treats it that way. We are not sick. There is nothing wrong with us. Likewise, I cannot condone the suppression of powers. The way I see it, trying to suppress power in that manner is no different than suppressing anger: sooner or later it will break free, wreck havoc, and no one will be prepared for it," she said.

She began to walk back down the aisle, spraying as she went. Gambit followed.

"Now, that said, I am all for the use of tools that can enable us to live, have quality of life, and reduce the danger our mutations can sometimes pose to ourselves and others. Look at Nori: her gauntlets allow her to go about her daily life without absorbing every watt of electricity she crosses paths with."

Gambit grunted. Nori, otherwise known as Surge, was one of the younger students. He knew her best from kitchen duty.

"The Cure forces left-handed people to use their right hands," Storm went on. "We provide left handed scissors, and left handed guitars, and left handed…pencil sharpeners."

"I guess you don't approve of Rogue taking the Cure then," Gambit asked, watching Storm curiously.

Rogue's return to the school after taking the Cure had spawned a great deal of commotion, with some being supportive and others not. Storm hadn't commented at the time, that he knew of: she simply welcomed Rogue back.

"No, I do not approve of her decision," Storm replied. "But I do not think less of her, nor of any others who chose to take the Cure. One can disagree with someone without losing respect for them."

Gambit eyed Storm for a moment. "You sound like you've had to explain that a few times."

"I have, with many, including Rogue and Pyro." Storm sighed. "One of these days I will get it through Pyro's thick head."

Gambit chuckled. "I'd be happy to help."

"I would prefer to do so without resorting to violence." Storm gave him a knowing look.

"Rats."

The school year came to an end and with it came a throng of parents to collect their children. Others were driven to the train station or airport to make their own way home. Then they were gone, and the school became the quietest Gambit had ever seen it.

Power control and combat training continued, if in a less formal manner. The chore roster was rearranged to better accommodate those who were staying, though that effected the students more than the staff.

Gambit and Rogue sat on the uppermost parapet of the mansion with their feet dangling over the side. It was raining on the grounds, not on the mansion itself. This was mostly because Storm was flying with the storm, generally enjoying herself while guiding the rain to make sure it soaked the grounds.

The noise of the rain made conversation difficult, so they just sat in silence. They didn't need to talk to enjoy each other's company. There was a good few inches between them, however: this was not the place to risk Gambit's static field zapping Rogue.

After a time, Storm flew towards them.

"You should go inside now," she called. "The storm is pushing this way."

"Alright!" Rogue called back. "Thanks for letting us watch!"

They waved to her, and she waved back with a smile.

It was late when Storm entered the control room of the Danger Room. She was surprised to find Gambit there, though she immediately wondered why, since she knew he was often here at night.

"Oh, Remy, you're here," she said.

Gambit jumped in his seat and there was a bang as a spot on the wall exploded.

"Merde," he said as he leaned forward to investigate the damage.

"Ah, sorry about that," she said. "I had forgotten you are usually in here this time of night."

"Well, you're not usually up at this time," Gambit replied. "What are you doing up, anyway?"

"I had trouble sleeping. I thought I would do something useful, since I was up," she said as she walked over to him and looked over his shoulder at the damaged spot. "How bad is it?"

"Looks mostly cosmetic, actually," Gambit said as he sat back. "Whatever those Danger Room walls are made of, they're resilient."

"They certainly are."

She looked through the window into the Danger Room itself. The primary focus of the grassy terrain was an American Foursquare style house. There was a foundation layer that was brick, while the walls of the two-and-a-half storey building were pale blue panelling. It had a large front porch with wide stairs, and four dormer windows. The roof was a blue-grey slate.

"This is your first building?" she asked while still taking it in. "It is a lot more detailed than I have come to expect from beginning programmers. For that matter, most of us advanced ones do not go into such detail."

"Glad you like it," Gambit replied. "Of course, if you think the outside is good…"

He pressed a button on the control panel, and the roofs disappeared, revealing the attic area, which was filled with household junk. There were a few cardboard boxes around, but also old furniture, piles of unsorted objects, and a thick layer of dust.

"My word."

Gambit pressed the button again, and revealed the next floor. There were four bedrooms, one in each corner, a bathroom, and the stairway. Each room had been meticulously decorated, just as if they were real rooms in a real house.

The first floor had the living, dining, foyer, kitchen, and a second bathroom. Like the other floors, these had been detailed to a degree that astounded Storm. The basement contained a furnace and the laundry.

"I do not believe I have ever seen a house this detailed before. Not even by Kitty," Storm said, then frowned. "How much memory is this eating up?"

Gambit shrugged. "Probably more than you'd like, but I've saved multiple versions of the house. This is my preferred version, or it will be when I've finished."

"It is not done?"

"Just a little tidying up." He threw her a grin. "And I do want to cut down on the memory requirements, so there's some refining in that area particularly going on."

"Fascinating," Storm said. "This suburbia program will probably be the most sophisticated one yet. Though with this level of effort, I imagine it will be quite sometime before it is complete."

"Maybe, maybe not," Gambit said. "While I hate the idea of copy-pasting buildings, there are certain design elements and objects which I'm creating from scratch now, that can be reused in other houses."

"True enough." She turned and offered him a smile. "I suppose there are an awful lot of 'copy-paste' buildings in our simulations."

Gambit grinned. "I get it. The sims are about combat, not the scenery. I mean, sure, the lay of the land is important in a fight, but no one's going to be stopping to admire the decor."

"Indeed. And if you do not mind me interrupting any further, is there anything else you are working on?"

Gambit shook his head. "This is the first building, but I can show you the landscape if you want."

"Please."

He pressed a few more buttons on the control panel, then the view of the simulation seemed to zoom out. Storm looked upon a wide landscape of grass. There were hills off in the distance, a river than ran through the neighbourhood, and a network of roads.

"I am going to stick more trees and stuff in, and there's going to be a footbridge over the river," Gambit said, feeling rather proud of his work. "But I'm waiting until I'm done putting in buildings and parks and stuff. And yeah, like the house, there are lower-res versions of it."

"Well, perhaps we will get lucky and the memory and data processing capacity will be upgraded by the time this program is ready."

The following morning, Storm found herself with some spare time shortly after breakfast. She had a lot more spare time during the summer. She still had work to do as headmistress, but not having to teach gave her a lot more time.

Having been intrigued by Gambit's work the night before, she decided to go down to the Danger Room and have a closer look at his progress. The relevant files were only available for her to view, but that was okay: she didn't intend on doing any editing anyway.

Once the house was loaded, Storm headed into the Danger Room proper. The street, grass, and footpath were the same stock standard ones that they used. She took a moment to look around, then walked up the stairs. She smiled as one of the steps creaked beneath her foot. A welcome mat sat in front of the door with a layer of dirt over it. She tried to turn the door handle and found it locked.

"Huh."

She looked over the porch, and the porch furniture, then looked in through the windows. The curtains were drawn, but one layer was thin enough that she could see through to the living area.

As Storm walked back down the stairs, the Danger Room doors opened. Logan walked in.

"Hey 'Ro," he said. "Didn't expect to find you here."

"I could say the same about you," she replied. "I have a few moments of space time. I thought I would give Remy's work a closer look."

Logan nodded. "I'm going to be meeting Kitty in a few. We're working on that Reaver sim."

"Ah." Storm paused, then began walking around the back of the house. "I am still not sure if we should be engaging with the Reavers."

"Just 'cause you don't seek 'em out, don't mean you won't end up having to engage 'em," Logan replied with a shrug.

"There really is not much difference between the Reavers and regular bank robbers, and gang members," Storm went on. "We leave their crimes to the police."

"Don't stop us from including them in our sims."

"True."

Storm stopped in her tracks and looked around at the back yard. There was a trampoline and a swing set, and a few kids toys scattered around. She shook her head.

"He certainly has an eye for detail," she said, and spotted the back door. "I suppose this is locked too."

"Locked?" Logan asked as he followed, and snapped his fingers. "Oh, that reminds me. I've been meaning to tell you: I think Remy can pick locks."

Storm paused with her hand on the door handle and looked back at him. "Oh?"

"Yeah. We haven't given him keys for maintenance rooms 6, 7, and 8 yet, but I know he's gotten in there. I forgot to unlock the doors for him a couple of times, but he still managed to get the repairs done," his expression darkened. "And the kid's good at dissembling too. I tried asking him about it once: didn't realise until hours later that he never actually answered my question about how he got into the damn room."

"Ah." Storm tried the handle and found it locked as well. "I wonder…"

She pulled out a lockpick from her sleeve and inserted it into the lock.

"You can pick locks?" Logan exclaimed.

"I certainly can. Now the question is," Storm said as she worked, "just how much detail did Remy put into this sim?"

The back door opened. Storm nodded.

"He either researched how locks work, or he already knew," Storm said and looked at Logan. "I think it is about time we had a chat."

"I don't think he's going to admit anything, not voluntarily," Logan said warily. "And well, we all know how he gets when he's uncomfortable. Maybe you should confront him down here."

"If I do that, he will just blow up my clothes," Storm said. "And this is a discussion we should have face to face."

A few days later, Gambit got up at about 1 in the afternoon. He dressed and readied himself, then headed out the door.

On his way to the breakfast nook, he ran into Pyro as he turned a corner. The surprise triggered an explosion which scorched the nearby wall.

After breakfast, he headed to the gym. Rogue was in there looking particularly amazing. He blew up a hole in the back of her gym shorts. After making sure she was okay and apologising profusely (Rogue didn't seem as angry as he thought she should've been), he left and headed down to the Danger Room.

The Danger Room was in use. Frustration at that and at the day he was having led to leaving more scorch marks on the walls. It hadn't been that long ago that Bobby had finally finished with repairs either.

He went back to the elevator. The doors opened.

"Hi Remy," Kitty said.

The surprise caused yet another explosion on one of the elevator doors. Gambit cursed.

"Bad day?" she asked.

"You could say that," Gambit replied as he stepped inside.

"Stinky." Kitty pressed the button to go back up. "Storm wants to see you."

"Yay," Gambit said blandly.

Kitty smiled. "It won't be anything bad. If it was, she'd come looking for you herself."

Gambit thought about that for a moment. "Yeah, now that you mention it, that sounds about right."

Storm's office was a lovely room, with pot plants and full windows along the one outside wall that allowed in plenty of sunlight. Gambit hoped that he wouldn't blow anything up in here this time.

"We had some keys cut for you," Storm said, a box in her hands. "For maintenance rooms 6, 7, and 8."

"Great," Gambit said. He liked the lockpicking practice, but it was getting to be annoying. "Thanks."

She handed him the box and went back behind her desk. Gambit frowned as he inspected the box.

"Um," he said as Storm shuffled through papers. "This is locked."

"I know," Storm replied simply.

He looked at her, then back at the box, then back at her again. "Heh. When did you figure it out?"

"Logan came to me with his suspicions a few days ago," Storm replied, setting the papers down and giving Gambit her full attention, now that she wasn't worried about an explosive response to the confrontation. "And I discovered that I could picks the locks of the doors in the house you designed for suburbia sim."

Gambit grinned. "Yeah I wondered if Logan would— Wait, you can pick locks?"

"I was a thief when I was a child," Storm said. She regarded him seriously. "And I cannot help but wonder… You can pick locks, you have an architectural eye, you can scale buildings… Somehow I do not think you learnt how to pick locks just to impress a girl."

Gambit's grin grew wider. "I've been a thief since before I knew what a thief was. Still am, just on a bit of a hiatus while I get my powers under control. That a problem for you, chere?"

"Only if you start corrupting the students," Storm replied firmly. "Or if you start stealing from us. But even then…"

Gambit looked at her curiously. "Even then?"

Storm took a deep breath. "It is extremely important to me that every mutant who comes to this school learns to control their powers. Alactraz… So many people died there because one of us never got control, proper, genuine control, over their abilities."

She looked away. She believed that Professor Xavier honestly thought he was doing the right thing when he locked away Jean's power, but she couldn't condone it. She would never be able to condone it. If anything, the incident reinforced her opinion of the Cure: it was just the chemical equivalent of what Professor Xavier had done to Jean. It wasn't control, it was boxing up power and hoping that it wouldn't burst open later.

"Right, so if I don't behave myself, the minute I get control I'm out of here, huh?" Gambit asked lightly.

"Something like that. I hope it will not come to that," Storm said, giving him a fond smile. "It is a pleasure having you here with us."

Gambit gave her a long look, and after a lengthy silence, said: "You know, chere, I have this crazy idea you might actually mean that."

"I do."

"Even on days like today where I keep blowing stuff up?"

"Everyone has bad days. That might make you dangerous company at times, but it does not make you less pleasant. Which reminds me." Storm leaned back in her chair. "Were you planning on coming with us to Florida?"

Gambit raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You're asking me, the bomb with the emotional trigger, if I want to go to Florida? What do you think I'm going to do while you lot are all having fun doing theme parks?"

Storm spread her hands. "Just thought I would check."

"I think it would be better for everyone if I just stay here," Gambit said. "You guys have fun though. How long were you going for? Two weeks?"

"Yes."

Gambit nodded. This was apparently a regular thing: every summer, the permanent residents of the school would go on a trip somewhere. They thought it was important that they have a chance to see the world and enjoy themselves. A few X-Men would stay behind to hold down the fort.

"Logan's staying, right?" Gambit asked, while at the same time trying to remember who else was on the list.

"Yes, so you will be able to continue your tai chi classes," Storm replied with a knowing smile.

"Oh goody."