DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.


Chapter 8: These Burning Fragments


One week had passed without any change in Dawn's condition. She slept and didn't respond to any outside simulation. Dr. Rao took over as Dawn's main caregiver since she was well verse in mutant biology and regular healthcare. She was also chosen by Gambit as he saw her as a neutral party who didn't have any connection to him while he was an X-man and the enemy and therefore would put his importance as a father than a mutant first in Dawn's case.

Then another week went by.

The news was still talking about the fire in New Orleans that had exploded out of nowhere and then disappeared just as sudden. The rebuilt French Quarter, would have to be rebuilt, as many houses went up in flames, the fire flying from building to building like a living creature witnesses said. The site of the huge bright spire of energy showed no damages even though people who were there swore up and down that something happened. The authorities official line was there was nothing wrong in that area but they had top men looking into to it. S.H.I.E.L.D. and Mr. Fantastic had yet to report their findings from samples taken from the area.

Cyclops had called on the major teams that needed to know as footage of the X-men started showing up from the Human Coalition and Friends of Humanity with slogans of "Mutant Terrorists!" and "They Started the Fire!" to fuel the confusion and search for truth in the aftermath of the fire. He didn't reveal much other than a new mutant was found and that they have her on the island. The Avengers were happy about the news, feeling the dark shroud that surrounded the team lightening just a bit. The Fantastic Four were ecstatic and Mr. Fantastic wanted to visit to get a sample while Franklin just wanted to visit as a friend. S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to know if she was dangerous.

Cyclops didn't have an answer for them and it didn't make them happy.

Three weeks was on the end of closing when Gambit voiced his fear to the Professor about how long Dawn had been sleeping and why. Laurie was in the cafeteria getting her own meal and a break. She put up a fight with the Professor before Gambit pushed her out the door and told her to not return for an hour. After all, she would need some stories to tell Dawn for when she woke up from her coma.

Although nothing was found to be physically wrong and nothing abnormal in her brain scans other than it seemed her brain was working on different levels than a regular brain, it wasn't the cause for concern. Dawn just slept. Sometimes she seemed like she was on the verge of waking up but he felt a knife stab him in the heart when she would sigh and fall still. Other times, if he didn't have the machine that recorded her heart beat or the brain scan machine telling him that she was alive, he would have thought she was dead, she was that still.

Gambit found the Professor a welcome presence in a place that felt like invading his and Dawn's life down to the last second. Every time he stepped out of Dawn's room or the Professor's, he was being called for, to explain how Dawn came to be under his care, why did he keep her secret for so long, did he know that she would become a mutant...


Three Weeks ago...


"Who is she?" Cyclops asked. Emma was at his side, still in diamond form as she hasn't reverted to her human form since the Professor's announcement of Dawn's telepathic probing that as far as they who knew, was still going on.

The senior X-men Cyclops trusted where there with him, Wolverine who had recently returned from New Orleans on a fact finding mission; Rogue who had absorbed memories from Jessia, Dawn's best friend; Magneto a man who wouldn't be denied anything about the new mutant; Cypher who was in charge of gathering what information he could from all sources; Storm who was there as a member of the X-men and as Remy's ally and Namor, the underwater king who had no interest in Dawn other than what level of use or danger she was to his people. Professor Xavier was offered a chance to sit in but Gambit had him sit down by Dawn with Laurie in the levels below.

Gambit grinned at the man, "Mon ami, I'm shocked dat you would ask such a obvious question. Dawn is my daughter. Can't you tell-we got de same eyes?"

Dawn's eyes had reverted back to the red on black eyes she had at the the school.

"I mean, where is her mother? Where did you find her?" Cyclops tried again. "Her birthday and where she was born."

"What? You don' trust me t' tell you de truth. I have nothin' t' hide." Gambit said, stretching his arms across the back of the padded bench he sat on. It was a lie, he had everything to hide.

Wolverine humphed, "That ain't what the facts tell us."

"Affirmative. Intel you gave us, has been proven false. They don't match. Irregular." Cypher agreed from his spot near the computers. "Even her birthday doesn't match in the data."

"So?"

"Everything matches. Everything fits. Dawn does not fit in the information."

Gambit flipped a card in his hands, his eyes dark as he twirled in in his fingers, a hum of energy running through it. "Dawn fits. She belongs where she belongs. Understand?" He fixed his eyes on Cypher. "I don' wanna hear you say otherwise."

Cypher nodded, his body giving a slight twitch.

"Where is Dawn's mother?" Storm asked gently, moving the conversation forward and to get Gambit's glare away from Cypher.

Gambit played with the card in his fingers before answering in a subdued tone."Dead. Killed in a fire before I could reach her. Dawn doesn't like t' talk bout it, so I never really questioned her. De lady was Dawn's whole world and vice versa. From what I learned, Claire was a good momma. She didn't deserve what happened t' her." Gambit frowned as he thought back to the woman who was Dawn's mother.

He had done the best he could for her when things had quieted down with him and Dawn. He had taken care of all the expenses and had taken her final wishes to heart, taking her ashes and spread them out in the mountains and sea she loved while giving Dawn the necklace of the saint that was given to her by her mother. The necklace that was missing now. The house was still there, rebuilt and ready for Dawn if she ever decided to go back to the town she lived in but it was unlikely. Barely anyone lived in Cooperstown anymore since the incident five years ago.

He flicked the card with the tip of his finger before slipping the card back with the others in his pocket and leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs. "Next question."

"How did you find out about Dawn? You don't seem like the type to keep up to date with your past *ahem* lovers?" This question came from Magneto of course.

"Claire contacted me. Of course she was married den, a whirlwind courtship with a wedding party of two and she just wanted me t' know. De man she married was a decent guy, I thought dey would have been perfect raising her." Gambit replied with a shrug as he looked on his hands thoughtfully. "Let's face it, I'm not de ideal father material, especially back den. Too many shadows haunting me, too much sin on my soul, and not lookin' t' settle down or curb my wild ways." He waved off the last comment with a hand.

"So what changed?" This question came from Rogue, standing besides Storm and Magneto. Her injury was heal and though ordered to rest, she came to the meeting. She didn't want to admit it but she was stung by how he was acting towards the team and her. They haven't spoke once since New Orleans.

"De moment I saw her. When she put her arms around me and cried because she thought she was alone in de world." Gambit said instantly. He knew the exact moment his life changed. Nothing had ever affected him like that...not since he fell in love for the second time. But unlike that time, he didn't have any regrets with any choices he made. He would make them all over again, especially keeping Dawn away from this place.

Cyclops opened his mouth to ask another question when there was a "THOOM!" and the room shook slightly as alarms went off. Gambit was on his feet and out of the room before Cypher announced a fire in Medical, in the private rooms. Room 316...where Dawn was being kept.

When they got to Medical, they found Laurie with burns over her entire backside and Professor Xavier on the ground being attended to by Prodigy, coughing and holding on to his right arm. Gambit, they learned had ran inside the room, to get Dawn.

With Storm's help calling up some wet wind and rain, they entered the room to see Gambit holding on to Dawn as she cried, rocking her as several glowing spheres flew around her, humming with energy. Everywhere they went, they left a black scorch mark or burned holes, disappearing when they did only to be replaced by another.

"Bad men. Bad men. Bad men!" Dawn repeated over and over again as she clutched Gambit's coat. She was in his lap as if she were trying to crawl inside him, her legs pulled close with her back towards the wall and her eyes looking around for signs of danger.

"Shhhh...it's fine now Dawn. You're safe here." Gambit said softly, stroking her hair. He pressed his lips to her head. "It's safe."

"Bad men!" Dawn said vehemently with a vicious shake of her head. It sounded like she was trying to yell it but the lack of use made it sound whisper soft. "Coming. Coming. Coming"

Gambit cupped her face between his hands and turned her face to him. "I've never lied t' you cherie. I promise you, no bad men will get you here." He wiped the tears that slipped out of her eyes with his thumbs. Dawn closed her eyes and let out a sigh and when she opened her eyes again, they were yellow and black.

"They hate me because they're scared of what I am. You're not scared of me are you?" Dawn's question threw him for a bit, her tone and the way she asked it so different from what he knew but he answered perfectly. "No. I'm not afraid of you."

Dawn stared in his eyes for a long while before deciding she liked what she saw in them. She closed her eyes and slumped in his arms, out like she never woke up. The Professor would later explain it as a form of talking in your sleep. Her brain never ventured out of the normal sleep state and her actions in the room with the blind attack that left a long burnt slash near the entrance was a form of waking nightmare.

And so that week ended with Dawn being moved to a new room and Gambit deciding that he would need more allies on his side as Cyclops grilled Laurie and the Professor about what happened in the room. A day later he disappeared through a terrasect, which raised all sorts of alarms before he reappeared two hours later with Tante Mattie and Birdie Dog in tow.


Two weeks ago...


The second week of Dawn's self induced coma went by rather eventfully. Tante Mattie didn't keep quiet about their treatment of Gambit and Dawn's present condition or her living conditions. She set about making Dawn's new room into a home of sorts. Interconnecting pictures Dawn had drew over the years and hung around her room were put up on the white walls and a TV with a DVD player was brought in and quickly filled with seasons of Dawn's favorite show Supernatural, starting from season one. It played constantly on low volume until night where Dawn's favorite music was put on.

Blankets from Dawn's bed replaced the covers, her gray and red Gloomy Bear puppet placed within reaching distance above her left shoulder, pieces of home brought to her in hopes that these personal objects would stir her from her sleep. Birdie Dog, ever the loyal pet, would sleep at the foot of the bed, waiting patiently for her owner to wake while offering licks of encouragements to her other masters.

Tante Mattie sat with Dawn when she felt that Gambit or Laurie had spent too much time in the room, "Bringin' bad juju with all your wayward thinkin'." and chase them out. They needed to reconnect with the people Dawn would need to know when she woke up.

Laurie was surprisingly easy to convince. When she left the X-men, it was on slightly better terms than Gambit and she found that most, if not all, of the younger X-men had missed her while she was gone. They pulled her in with open arms and asked about her life outside of Utopia.

Where did she go? Where did she live? How was the food?

Did she really fight against a Super Skrull and win?

What was it like being an Avenger?

Why did she answer to the name Laurie and Laura?

"Because of Dawn." she replied to Pixie's question. The girls were holding a sleep over of sorts and had so far grilled her about her love life and all the hunks she had been spotted hanging out with while with the Avengers and the recently revealed years she spent traveling with Gambit, the hottest of the X-men and Dawn. "The first year I spent with them, she was quiet. If she spoke, it was important. Every word was carefully thought out. She listened, she heard things children shouldn't hear but she did and she took what she heard and came up with her own opinion. She learned about my-childhood."

"She said that names are what other people give you. That names are words. But words have power and so do names because those names are something people give you as a gift that you take to heart and if you have a heart then you have a soul. Laura, she said, was a name given to me by a woman who though she had loved me, still allowed terrible things happen to me. Laura was a name used by men with no souls to taint the purity of who I was by taking away my humanity. Laura was a name used by monsters who enjoyed beating down a child like it was nothing."

"So I'll take away that power they have over you and make you someone who can smile and laugh and feel free and be whoever she wants to be because she can." Dawn stepped up on the table she had been drawing on when she had first spoken. Gambit stood nearby watching this important moment. She cupped her hands around Laura's cheeks and pulled her close, pressing a kiss to both of her cheeks before kissing her temple. "Laurie. Laura went through the worst and still came out strong, brave and good. I see no reason to send her away when she can be my sister still."

"And so, I became Laurie. I didn't think anything of it at first but every time she called me Laurie, I felt-happy. She always said my name with a smile and when she smiled, I smiled. We became sisters and with them I have a family."

"So it matters what name we call you?"

"No one has called me Laura in two years." Laurie replied, standing up when she spotted Gambit entering the room. He looked weary as he dragged a hand over his face and through his hair. "Excuse me."

They watched as she went up to him and to their shock, put her arms around him in a hug. Gambit put his arms around her as well, giving her a squeeze and let his shoulders drop. They remained like that for a minute before Gambit sighed and pulled away. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a weary smile. Laurie asked him a question in which Gambit shook his head.

Laurie frowned, crossing her arms. Gambit put both his hands on her shoulders, turned her around and pushed her towards the girls. Laurie turned to protest but he was already gone out the door with a cheery "Have fun!" before Laurie reluctantly rejoined the girls. She hadn't seen him look that weary since she finally ended the Weapon X program with his help.

She was quickly reconnecting with the friends she had left behind and was even invited to train with them in the Danger Room as the days went by. Gambit had made a few connections of his own but everyone still seem to hold back with him. He didn't seem to care as he spent more and more of his time with Dawn as the days went by.


One week ago...


Storm was walking to Medical to visit with Gambit and Tante Mattie in Dawn's room. She wanted to let them know that the apartment they requested two weeks ago had been approved and that within two day's time, they would be able to move in. She knew it wasn't easy to get this request for an apartment that sat separate from the rest of the living quarters.

Remy had been very specific and very adamant that he, Dawn, Tante Mattie and Laurie were to have their own place away from the main base if possible. A wall would be built between them as added security and no one, absolutely no one was to have access to their home or the grounds without express permission. There will be no surprise security in the apartment, no secrets built into it that he didn't know of, and he had the final say in any adaptations or refurnishings of the apartment.

Of course it caused an uproar among the teams. Dawn didn't need to be separated, she needed to be embraced by the mutant community and that meant she needed to live among them. She needed to be protected from danger and the most secure location was at the heart of the base where the island met with the Alantean's kingdom underwater. She couldn't be trusted with the traitor who ran out on his own kind and kept this secret from the rest of the team. Who was to say that she was his real daughter anyways? They wanted a DNA test to prove their blood relation.

Oh, Storm was certain that Remy would have grabbed Dawn and disappear that night when that accusation made the rounds but with great relief a few others had stood up for him. They didn't have the legal or moral right to have a say in Dawn's life. Remy had been raising her all this time and nothing has appeared that said he was an unfit parent. Dawn, it was learned from Cypher's search, had high marks in school, she knew how to ride horses and had several awards from competitions and she was a member of several clubs aimed at kids from working with wildlife at the zoo and aquarium and fostering baby animals to working with the homeless and elderly and dreaming of becoming a great doctor who worked in space while teaching people how to speak English. She was a normal happy girl who had the best things in life and who seemed to love her father very much.

Storm felt a smile grace her lips as she thought of her niece she had yet to meet. A pang hit her heart as she stopped in front the door to Dawn's room. Behind that door, a girl who has such high dreams for her future laid unconscious with no signs of waking up anytime soon. Her family was in turmoil, waiting on pins and needles for her as the rest of the world came up with their own opinions about the newly discovered mutant that was kept hidden.

Until Dawn woke up-

Storm knocked on the door and heard a reply through the door. She twisted the door handle and pushed open the door, a smile on her lips once again. "Remy, I brought great news-"

"Stormy get down!" she heard before she was tackled to the ground and a fiery slash went over her head, slamming the door shut. She brought in a lungful of air as she blinked up at Remy, who wasn't looking to see if she was fine but at Dawn-who was curled up in a ball, floating above her bed. On fire.

She wasn't burning or screaming in pain.

The fire seemed to be coming from her, surrounding her in a cocoon of reds, yellow and orange, flaring about wildly as glowing spheres spun around her person. Tante Mattie was standing close to the bed, her hands held out with the palms facing Dawn, muttering in a language she recognized as Creole. Professor Xavier stood opposite of her, his hands to his temple and his eyes closed in concentration. She knew that face as him using his telepathic ability.

"Sorry Stormy." Remy said, giving her quick wink when she looked up at him. "But-" She didn't have a chance to react before he pinched a nerve at the back of her neck that knocked her out. He put her head down gently before turning back to the scene behind him.

"Dawn?" Remy stood up and approached the bed. "Dawnie is that you? Can you hear me?"

((Not Dawn)) A voice replied, echoing across their minds like someone yelling from the other end of a long pipe, loud and somewhat muffled.

"Den you are-?"

((Can't find)) The voice interrupted. Remy felt a jolt of fear at that answer. Although Dawn could be seen floating above the bed in flames, this voice was saying that she wasn't there. Did something happen to her that they didn't know about?

((Where)) ((Don't know))

((Is safe here))

"It is safe here. You're on Utopia, an island off the coast of San Francisco." Professor Xavier replied, done with whatever he was doing while Remy was talking to the voice. "It's a haven for mutants. For Dawn."

((Not safe))

((Not safe anywhere))

The fire around Dawn burned hotter and wind picked up from the heat it created, forcing everyone to step back and cover their faces with their arms as the voice became quieter.

((I will protect Dawn))

And then the fire was gone. A slight thump came from the bed and they opened their eyes to see Dawn sprawled across the covers, having landed like that when she fell the short distance. Tante Mattie gathered Dawn in her arms as Remy quickly joined her side, a worried look on his face.

"De child be fine Remy. Our girl is fine." Tante Mattie said, stroking Dawn's cheeks. "Her body is warm and soft. I can feel her heart beat in a strong rhythm. Dat is good news."

Remy sat on the bed, feeling the heat coming off the covers and wondered just how they were going to explain what happened when Storm woke up. He looked back at his sister and felt a wave of frustration hit him. He took a deep breathe to calm himself before standing up and walked over to pick her up. He carried her to the armchair, Mattie's chair, and gently set her down, making sure that she was comfortable.

"Professor what did you find?" he asked the telepath. Tante Mattie started fussing over Dawn, moving her to a more comfortable place on the bed.

"One word, repeating over and over." Professor Xavier said, a thoughtful determined look on his face. "Shuuhei." Tante Mattie paused, only a moment, but enough that Professor Xavier noticed and told himself to remember to question her about it later.

"De same word Dawn said once before when she was in New Orleans?" Remy asked over his shoulder. "Right before de fire spread in de Quarters." Before she burned the Purifiers in front of her. Cypher had hacked the video feeds long before the media got organized and had grabbed all the videos that had Dawn in them, including the one that showed the Purifiers attacking Laurie and Dawn. Even though there was no audio on the video, Remy knew how to read Dawn like a book, especially her lips.

"The same I'm afraid." Professor Xavier nodded. "Also, I wasn't the only one to hear it."

"What do you mean?" Gambit turned to him.

"The Cuckoo's heard it as well. Though I'm not proud of my actions, I managed to erase their memories for this short while. Whatever they heard in the last five minutes, they won't remember at all."

"Did the White Queen hear?" If she experienced anything out of the ordinary, anything related to Dawn then she would rush to tell Cyclops. Cyclops would jump into action and take Dawn to a more secure location or-

"No. She's still in her diamond form. She didn't hear anything." Professor Xavier said. He crossed his arms. "She is still afraid. She won't return to her usual form for awhile."

"She's afraid of Dawn, isn't she?"

"I believe so."

"Why?"

Xavier shook his head. "That is something only she can tell us and she won't speak of it. Not to us." He watched Tante Mattie finish smoothing the covers over Dawn and place her bear on the bed, above Dawn's left shoulder. Dawn's power had started to become more active, requiring Remy to remain at her side to help ease her down from her episodes.

It started three days ago and seem to be happening more often which worried him. So far he had counted three different voices, this 'Shuuhei' seemed to be the most dominate out of all of them and it only spoke of protecting Dawn.

He wondered, 'From what?' and received no reply.

A moan came from Storm and he gave Remy a questioning look, Should we tell Storm what has been happening.

Remy give a nod. Yes. I trust her and she needs to know.

Xavier let Remy take the lead as he give Storm his most charming and sorry-I-knocked-you-out smile, "Ororo? Are you okay? I didn't hurt you too bad did I?"

Upstairs in the command room, on shift, Cypher was pushing the search engine of the computers as hard as he could searching up the word, "Shuuhei." No reason he could think of, he just wanted, no needed to find everything about Shuuhei.


Now...


Gambit walked the island, letting the cold breeze from the ocean wash over him as he looked out at San Francisco across the bay. Several of the younger mutants had gone over to relax and hang out after a long week of drills and studying. Laurie was out there with some of her friends and he was glad that she was becoming one of them again, though he hope she would stay away from Wolverine and his team.

Yeah, he was glad that Wolverine had stepped up and had adopted her as his daughter all those years ago, before she had left the X-men to find herself and ended up becoming a part of his family with Dawn, he just felt that it wasn't the right fit. After all, her 'Dad' had let her become part of X-force and go out on dangerous missions with the mindset of 'whatever the costs' even if it meant killing.

Granted, the times they traveled together it wasn't all cake and roses either but at least he let her know straight up that killing wasn't the first, second, third or final option. She had to know that she had to live with the choices she made, she had to know if she could carry the weight. If she could look Dawn in the eyes when everything was said and done.

He let out a laugh. Maybe he was feeling jealous. Maybe he didn't like the idea of sharing Laurie with anyone else...even if it was her own dad. After all, she had been part of his family for so long...

Alarms sounded across the island, startling him out of his deep thoughtfulness. He looked towards the command center to see that the light was flashing yellow. Which meant casualties were coming in.

"Laurie!" He ran towards the nearest entrance and headed down to the hanger bay where he knew the team would bring in the wounded.

((They))

((They))

((Coming))

((They are))

((THEY ARE COMING))