Combusting Hearts

Chapter 6

The following day, everyone was in the Professor's office, Logan, Scott, Storm, Hank, and Kurt. They were all there upon Charles request.

"Due to recent events, I've decided to place a word of caution on everyone here. Magneto is likely planning on trying to get Elaine to join him. I believe that's why Sabertooth was sent out yesterday, in an attempt to grab her from our hands," Charles explain, pausing for a moment to look around the room at everyone. "She is scared and vulnerable at the moment. One wrong move could send her over the edge again and make her run. We need to give her a reason to stay, to feel safe, and feel like she has somewhere that she belongs. We need to make her feel like family," he said, grabbing mostly everyone's attention.

"But Professor, how are ve to do this? I agree she must feel comfortable, but how are ve to do this on our own?" Kurt asked, looking around the room at everyone else. His tail flicked behind him tensely as he waited for a response.

"We're not Kurt. I've already called in a favor, an old friend of ours from Louisiana," Charles said, catching the look of distaste on Logan's face. "Is there a problem Logan?"

"Yeah there's a problem. You can't seriously be calling in the Cajun?"

"Despite what your feelings may be toward him, I have. The two of you are going to have to learn to get along Logan, whether you like it or not. For Elaine's sake, we must do this," Charles said.

"But why him?" Logan groaned. Scott glared at him for this.

"Logan…Elaine needs something familiar, someone that she can relate to, someone that can understand what she's going through. Gambit's powers are more similar to hers than anyone else's. She needs that familiarity to put her at ease Logan," the Professor explained. Logan just grunted, before walking out of the room.

"Whatever," he muttered, not really caring to argue anymore.

Once Logan left, the Professor turned to Scott.

"Scott, would you mind preparing a room for Gambit? Preferably, one close to Elaine's if possible. He should be arriving late this evening," he said.

"Of course Professor, I'll get started right away," he replied, briskly walking out of the room.

Charles then turned to the remaining three that were still in the room.

"Hank, if you and Storm wouldn't mind checking in on Elaine, I'd like to have a word with Kurt," he said, hinting faintly on the privacy.

T

Later that evening, a man arrived at the mansion, wearing a hat and long brown trench coat. He had kind of medium brown hair, a bit lighter than Logan's, and it was just long enough to place in a small pony tail if need be. The man in question was met at the front door by Professor Charles Xavier.

"Ah, Gambit, good to see you again," he greeted, ushering the man inside the warmth of the mansion.

Gambit stretched his back when he got inside, stiff from the long train ride up.

"You look tired, perhaps some sleep Gambit?" the Professor suggested. Gambit nodded his head.

"Gambit think sleep be good tonight," he agreed, letting the man show him to his room. "So, when Gambit get to meet le petite cheri?" he inquired, trying to plan a few things out.

"Tomorrow perhaps, but for now, rest my friend," he pressed lightly, wheeling off down the hall, and leaving Gambit to his room.

Just as Gambit was about to lie down and go to sleep, he heard a knock at his door.

"Gambit here," he chuckled, placing his hands behind his head. His eyes fell on Logan.

"Well, if it isn't the Ragin' Cajun himself," Logan spoke roughly, leaning against the door.

"What you want wolf man?" Gambit asked, closing his eyes.

"Just came to remind ya to behave," he grunted angrily.

"What's your problem?" Gambit shot at him.

"Professor says we gotta play nice with each other," Logan spat. Gambit just groaned upon hearing this. Being civil with Logan was like trying to potty train a two year old. You can't do it.

"D'en (then) be nice an' leave Gambit ta sleep," he taunted, wanting him out of his room. Logan just flipped him the bird with his claws, slamming the door behind him, the frame rattling a bit. "Tomorrow gonna be a long day," he muttered to himself as he closed his eyes, soon falling asleep.

T

The next morning, Gambit was rudely awakened by the banging of pots and pans out side of his door. The sound was so loud, it startled him, causing him to accidentally hit his head on the headboard of the bed.

"Is too early for d'is," he groaned, rubbing the back of his head and face. Unfortunately, Gambit knew exactly who it was. Mr. Let's-play-nice-and-fake-it. "Gambit up, Gambit up!" he yelled, throwing his hands up into the air. The man was already being a pain in the butt and Gambit hadn't even had time to do anything yet. The banging only stopped when Gambit went to his door and opened it. Logan stood shinning a flashlight straight in the Cajun's face, blinding him for a moment, before he decided to shield his eyes.

"Rise and shine Sunshine," Logan greeted.

"Can Gambit least get dressed before we start d'is?"

Logan looked at the Cajun for a moment, finding him only in a pair of black slacks from the night before. He was also accompanied by a messy head of hair. This nearly made him laugh.

"Just don't take too long primping," he chuckled, before leaving Gambit to his morning routine.

Gambit made good on his time as he put on his favorite lavender button up shirt. He looked in mirror as he fixed the collar and straightened the sleeve. He grinned upon combing his hair.

"Gambit look good," he laughed, before placing his boots on, and leaving his room. He figured he wouldn't need his coat, so he left it laying on the chair by the desk, making sure to place a full deck of cards in his back pocket.

When Gambit got downstairs to the cafeteria, he found Logan sitting in the corner with a young girl. They were talking, but barely. As he got closer, he noticed that she didn't look too good. The poor girl had a bandage wrapped around her head, along with her left hand and arm. She looked terrible, well not terrible, she was beautiful, but she looked like a wreck. Her red streaked hair was a bit matted in the back and she looked at bit pale, but other than that, she was beautiful. He just couldn't tell what color her eyes were from where he was standing.

"Gambit," a voice called from his right. Turning around, he found the Professor coming up beside him. "I'm glad to see you up and awake, I was afraid you might miss lunch," he said.

"Lunch?" Gambit's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Yes, it's almost 1 in the afternoon," Charles explained.

"Damn him," he muttered under his breath.

Both Gambit and Charles watched as Scott Summers a.k.a. Cyclops, went over to the girl. He said something to her and she pushed her untouched tray of food away, before getting up and leaving. Logan looked like he was going to punch the guys as she walked away outside into the courtyard.

"He never was good with words," the Professor sighed. "She's only been awake for maybe a couple hours and he already ruined her day."

"So…d'is be petite cheri?" Gambit questioned, shifting his weight onto his other foot.

"Yes, that was Elaine"

That was all Gambit needed to hear as he walked off in the direction Elaine had gone. He swiped an apple from someone's tray as he left.

T

I growled a bit as I kicked pebbles with my feet. Scott's words kept repeating in my head.

"So, I hear you finally decided to get yourself under control"

It irritated me to no end. I just woke up and he was already on my case. I mean, can't anyone EVER give me a break? I was starting to wonder if I should have agreed with Logan, and not just continued to run away. By now, I could have been long gone on that train. I sighed as I slid my back down one of the walls, feeling the roughness of it scrape against my still sore back. It hurt even as I pulled my knees to my chest, resting my head in my arms. I sat there for a few minutes, everything around me was mainly quiet, save for the chirping of the birds. When I brought my head up a bit, I noticed a playing card on the ground in front of me. I picked it up in my hand, inspecting it curiously. Where did it come from?

"Bonjour, Cheri" I jumped upon hearing the voice, knocking my head into the wall painfully.

I dropped the card as I held my head, groaning in pain.

"Sorry 'bout d'at Cheri, didn' mean ta startle ya," came a thick Cajun accent.

I looked up to see a man sitting above me on the ledge, his feet dangling down near my head.

"W-who are you?" I asked, gazing up at him from my spot on the ground.

"Name's Remy, Remy LeBeau, but you can call me Gambit cheri," he said, introducing himself.

I have to admit, he was handsome to say the least, but still…what really caught my attention were his eyes. His eyes were red and black. The iris was ruby, everything else was black. They're kind of like mine, but mine can pass off as normal as long as you're not paying that much attention to them. I have the white in my eyes, the iris itself is red and black.

"Min' tellin' ol' Remy yours?" he asked, smiling at me.

"Elaine…Elaine Conners," I said, looking up at him with slight curiosity in my eyes. "Why are you talking to me anyway?"

"Well, ya seem lonely cheri. No one should be alone," he told me, making my eyes water a bit.

I looked away, brushing my fingers over the card on the ground.

"I'm always alone…" I whispered.

"Gambit fix that one for ya," he said.

I looked at him skeptically.

"People always go away 'Gambit'," I told him, standing up from my spot on the ground. I happened to find out that that was a big mistake. The moment I stood, I got dizzy. Gambit saw this and immediately sprung to my aid, keeping me steady.

"Maybe you should sit back down cheri," he encouraged, guiding me back down to the ground, where he sat down be me. At that moment, my stomach growled. I looked down in embarrassment away from Gambit. He smiled at me though, pulling an apple out from no where, and a pocket knife out of his back pocket.

T

We sat there for a while, not really doing much at all. I keep nibbling on slices of apple that Remy gave me, until he decided to go back inside, and sneak some sandwiches out. I laughed at the goofy look he had on his face upon returning triumphantly with the sandwiches.

"Gambit?"

"Oui, cheri?"

"What…what exactly are your powers?" I asked hesitantly. He grinned at me when I asked him this.

"Why don' I show ya cheri?" he proposed. I nodded my head, wanting to see what he could do.

I watched as he reached into his back pocket, pulling out a deck of cards. He held them out to me, spreading them out.

"Pick a card cheri, any card at all," he said.

I picked one out around the middle. He seemed to smile when he caught a glimpse of it.

"Now, pick one more card cheri," he instructed.

I didn't know why he was having me pick another card, but I listened and went along with it. It was the black 2 of clubs that I picked next.

"Now cheri, feat your eyes on d'is," he said, taking the card and throwing it up into the air. It was glowing even before he let it go, then it exploded in the air like a firework. My eyes immediately went to his, staring at him with a slightly painful look. "What's wrong cheri?" he asked in confusion.

I just looked down at my hands, feeling them grow hot as it spread to my fingers as well. They were glowing red and terribly close to the ground.

"Careful there cheri, that's dangerous," he warned, grabbing hold of my hands. I tried to pull away in fear of hurting him, but he just held onto my hands firmly. "Don' worry cheri, ya can' hurt me with that," he said, trying to reassure me, it didn't work though until he took proper hold of my hands. The moment he did that, it's like everything stopped, my power didn't do a thing except get absorbed.

I didn't hurt him.

I didn't…hurt him…

The moment he let go though and my fingertips touched the ground, there was a small explosion, sending me onto my back. I groaned as I laid there.

"Cheri, cheri you alright?" he asked, a bit worried as he knelt over me.

I just stared back up at him, not really sure what to do.

"My head hurts…" I muttered so he could hear me.

"Maybe it'd be better if we wen' inside cheri?" he suggested, but I shook my head.

"I don't' wanna go back in there…" I told him, sitting up painfully, my back groaning in protest. I wanted to stay away from everyone else right now, Gambit was currently my only exception at the moment.

He looked at me for a moment, before standing up.

"Gambit be right back cheri," he said, quickly running off and inside the mansion.

I sighed quietly, watching him leave. He probably wouldn't come back…

"Hey! Conners!" my eyes shot open, wide with fear at the voice. Slick. "I hear they dragged you back in pieces, and that you finally decided to get your act together," he said, taunting me with that sneer of his.

"Leave me alone Slick," I warned, scooting away from him, my back still groaning in pain. He just kept coming closer until he was standing in front of me, taking his foot and pushing against my arm harshly. I bit my lower lip, trying to hold in a cry of pain. He caught on though, pushing me onto my back. This time I let out a yowl in pain.

"If I had to guess…I'd say you still don't have control," he said, growling at me a bit, a smirk plastered on his face though as he put pressure on my stomach with his foot.

I cried out at the pressure of his foot crushing into my stomach, pressing my back into the ground. It hurt…BAD. I groaned when he was pulled off of me and thrown to the ground, my eyes traveling up to find Gambit standing there with an angry look on his face. He had a long coat hanging folded on his arm, and a boa staff in his other hand.

"Stay off o' cheri," he demanded, pointing the tip of his staff at the boy. Slick just glared at him, getting up, and spitting at me. Now, THAT pissed Remy off to no end. A moment later, he spun his staff around and knocked Slick hard in the gut with it, sending him to his knees.

"Bastard," he growled, glaring at Gambit.

Gambit pulled a card out of his coat, charging it.

"Don' make me use d'is," he warned, ready to throw it at him at any moment. The boy quickly got up and ran, not wanting to get hit again. I just lay there looking up at Gambit with pain stricken eyes.

Gambit was reluctant in lowering his arm, taking back the charge, and placing the card back in his pocket.

"You alright cheri?" he asked, kneeling down beside me, placing his coat and staff on the ground.

"I hurt," I whined, holding out my hand, and letting him pull me into a sitting position. I clutched my stomach, leaning forward a bit. Man did that hurt. I watched as he stood up for a moment, throwing his coat on, then holding out his hand.

"Come on cheri, Gambit'll take ya somewhere nice," he smiled.

I looked at him for a moment, before taking his hand. I bit my lower lips when he pulled me up into his arms, allowing me to place my arm around his neck as he carried me, placing his staff on his back.

"Hey, Remy, where are we going?"

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter? I have a favor to ask though. I need help coming up with a code name for Elaine. I was thinking maybe Fire Cracker or Nova, but I don't know. I want something better than that, but I can't think of anything else. Or if any of you like either of those names PLEASE let me know. I'm going to need a code name for her soon so please help me? I'm stuck. Well, Gambit's finally here. I hope I did well when it comes to his accent. Please REVIEW? I NEED feedback from everyone. I want to also thank those that have been sending me reviews. They've been very helpful. Remember, I need names or feedback on names PLEASE? I'm desperate. Thank you everyone! :)