Disclaimer: I had to take my computer to the repair shop, so in the meantime I have elected to research tried and true methods to acquire ownership of the X-Men...

A/N: – Double-checks calendar – What a surprise! It's been less than a month, and I have an update for you! How awesome is that? I know that I happen to very… irregular with updates, but I really am trying to make it up to you guys. I really appreciate everyone who's stuck with me, so I dedicate this chapter to each and every one of you. Enjoy!

"…"- conversation

'…'- thoughts

(…)- extra facts/actions (some)

((…))- author's/my own thoughts

'blah…' -telepathy/what people say mentally

Chapter 53: Remy and Rogue's Chronicles: Rescues, Part 1

Hallway #2, Asteroid Evolution, Orbit of the Moon, Milky Way Galaxy – May 17, 1:15 AM

As Rogue, Remy, Bobby, Amara, and Lucas approached the steel door that led to hallway #2 Lucas stopped them.

"Hold it…" he muttered, making sure that they listened. "If Ay remember right, there's some kind of trap on this door; give me a moment…" Lucas lifted his right hand and the others watched as it began to glow light purple. He then shot a small, concentrated beam at the door, which responded by revealing a type of force field that flickered with the energy being shot at it. Lucas narrowed his eyes and the amount of energy he emitted grew, causing the shield on the door to hiss angrily until it finally vanished. He then turned around and motioned to the others that it was safe to enter.

Rogue, nodding, moved to the forefront and, making sure everyone had a hand on her phased them through the door and into the small hallway. Once inside she had to put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming in anguish as she saw Hank and Torpid screaming in utter agony.

Lucas, his mouth set in a grim line, said, "Beast and the lass have mutation inhibitor collars on, stopping them from usin' their powers, and each cell is set tae cause the mutant inside tae experience their worst nightmares time and again; 'twas Apocalypse's idea, tha' it was. We need tae break them free without setting off the alarms on the outside of each cell door. Amara and Bobby weren't heavily protected because their hall was originally for traitors but Apocalypse ran out of secured hallways quickly; he had to put Amara and Bobby in there. However, from this hallway on each has the exact same seal on the door tae prevent everyone except for those whom Apocalypse tolerates from gettin' in or out."

"Well den, all we need ta do is phase through da bars ta free 'em; oui?" Remy asked, having turned his gaze to Rogue, who had naturally made herself field commander.

"Right," Rogue answered, nodding her head in agreement with Remy's assumption. "We're goin' ta spilt up into two teams: Remy, yah and Bobby take care of Hank and Amara and Ah will help the girl… Lucas, yah need to make sure tha' no one comes in and sees us; got it?" On getting nods from all involved Rogue gave the signal: "Go!"

Remy and Bobby quietly approached Hank's cell, but before Bobby could move Remy placed a hand on his shoulder, and on getting a questioning look Remy merely pointed to small sparks that, if one was looking for them, were easily seen. Bobby asked Remy, "Now what?"

"Watch," Remy answered, grinning as he did so. He walked up to the bars and, taking out a small metal ball from inside his trench coat carefully placed it on the bars. Bobby watched in avid fascination as all of the electricity that was on the bars instantly went for the metal ball, leaving the rest of the door harmless.

"Gotcha…" Bobby breathed, amazed at Remy's intelligence, and thinking that maybe having him on his side wasn't such a bad idea after all. Remy nodded and, making sure they were touching, phased through Hank's door and into the cell. They had to be careful, though; Hank was thrashing around in an attempt to break free of his nightmares, but unfortunately this method wasn't working.

"Careful Remy," Bobby whispered, moving slowly towards his teacher. "I've seen Mr. McCoy like this before when he was trapped in a Danger Room session and if we get hit we are out flat." Bobby winced as he said the last part; the reason he knew that was because he had been the one who had gone unconscious after Hank had whacked him with his arm in the aforementioned Danger Room session.

Remy nodded and, copying Erik's ability to hover in the air, moved towards Hank, making sure to do so silently. Once he was floating over Hank Remy used Betsy's telekinetic powers to hold Hank still. He then nodded at Bobby, who sent out a thin stream of ice at the collar around Hank's neck, freezing it solid without freezing any of Hank's fur. Remy then concentrated on Scott's power and, releasing an extremely thin and concentrated beam of red energy sliced through the frozen collar, taking his time in doing so. After a minute Hank stopped thrashing as the collar came off, falling to the floor of the cell in a dozen pieces of metal and ice.

"Oh my stars and garters," Hank muttered as he lifted a hand to his forehead, trying to deal with the sudden throbbing of pain that attacked him from having been subjected to mental torture for a long amount of time. He looked up and saw the brown eyes of Bobby, who was kneeling in front of him. "Bobby?"

"Yeah, Mr. McCoy; it's me," Bobby replied, grinning. He was glad to see that his teacher was fine. "Listen: we need your help to free the others from their prison cells but in order to do so Remy needs to heal you first; is that okay?"

"Remy?" Hank asked, not sensing that Remy was in the cell with Bobby and himself. Bobby, still grinning, pointed up and as Hank looked above him his eyes widened in shock as he saw Remy hovering above him, waving hello, smirking as he did so.

"Bonjour, Monsieur McCoy (Hello, Mr. McCoy)," Remy said, smirking as he saw that Hank hadn't responded to what he was seeing.

"My God…" Hank breathed, watching as Remy shrugged and lowered himself to the ground, landing on his feet without a problem. "How can you do that, Gambit?" Hank asked, the scientist in him leaping out at the chance that he could have an evolved mutant in front of him.

Remy shrugged and didn't reply. He instead moved toward Hank and, kneeling, asked, "Monsieur McCoy, will you allow Remy ta heal you?" On getting a silent nod from Hank Remy took off one of his gloves and, placing his hand on Hank's face, glowed pure white as he transferred his energy to Hank, healing him both physically and mentally, leaving no scars behind.

Once he'd finished, Remy put back on his glove and, nodding to Bobby to help Hank up, walked towards the bars of the cell. Once Bobby and Hank were standing beside him Remy grabbed them both by the shoulder and phased them through the bars, with Hank staying silent on what was going on until they were out of the cell. Once out, Hank began bombarding Remy with questions as the Cajun carefully removed the metal ball with his Bo pole, knocking the ball to the floor and all three watched as a large spark flew up from where the ball had been, returning to its former position as guardian of the door.

Remy retrieved the metal ball, turned to Hank and said, "Remy tell vous (you) later, Beast; right now, we need ta help Lucas keep guard." Remy motioned to Lucas, who was intently watching the door to the hallway, determined to help his new friends in any way he could.

Rogue and Amara, meanwhile, were facing the same guardian on the door to Torpid's cell but unlike the men, they had a much simpler solution. Amara examined the electrified bars from a distance and after judging how much energy she needed to use to disable the bars acted. Flaring up Amara shot a concentrated stream of lava at the door, making sure to just disable the bars for the amount of time it would take for Rogue to phase them through and to the girl.

The bars' defense system soon sputtered and died, allowing Rogue to grab Amara's arm and quickly phase them through the bars; as soon as they were inside the cell the electricity started up again, crackling with unspent energy from the short amount of time it had died. Amara powered down and watched as Rogue tried to grab the girl's arms without hurting her. It took her a few minutes but Rogue finally managed to grab the girl and nodded to Amara to do her thing. Flaring up once more Amara shot a concentrated stream of lava at the collar that was situated around the girl's neck. Narrowing her eyes in concentration Amara managed to cut through the collar, completely roasting its internal workings. As the collar fell Torpid's eyes snapped open and she looked around her wildly, trying to figure out where she was. On seeing Rogue, whom she recognized from photos that Evan had let her see a few times she flung herself into Rogue's arms, relishing in the feeling of safety that emanated from the woman.

Rogue was surprised; how did this girl know her? Then, a long forgotten memory surfaced and Rogue suddenly knew who this girl was. Putting Torpid at arm's length she asked, "You're Torpid, right?"

Torpid enthusiastically nodded, ecstatic that Rogue knew her. She then began communicating with her hands, hoping that Rogue understood sign language. Rogue nodded as she took in what Torpid told her and Amara watched as her face darkened. She stopped Torpid with her hand and, speaking gently, asked, "Torpid, do you mind if I heal you using my powers?"

Torpid nodded no; she somehow knew that Rouge was in control of the absorption powers that Evan had told her she had. As Torpid closed her eyes Rogue took off a glove and gently touched the young woman's face, glowing white as she gave Torpid energy that healed all of the wounds that had been inflicted on her in the past few days.

When she'd finished, Rogue slipped back on her glove and nodded to Amara, who once more shorted out the door, allowing Rogue to phase the three of them through the bars and back into the hallway. As soon as they had exited the cell the electricity once more crackled to life, almost touching Rogue, who had followed the other young women out of the cell, her hands on their shoulders.

Once back out in the hallway Lucas turned around and smiled when he saw that Beast and the young girl were all right; honestly, he couldn't deal with any more guilt over anymore mutants who were hurt, even if he hadn't been the direct cause of their suffering.

"Rogue, are you all right?" Hank asked, concerned for the well being of his friend, fellow instructor and former student.

Rogue smiled on seeing that Hank was okay and responded, "Of course; nothing can destroy the Rogue!" Hank grinned at this; he was glad to see that even in the dark situation they were in Rogue hadn't lost her humor.

Lucas came over and said, "As glad as Ay am at seeing ye all and knowing ye're alright we must move quicker; the Master Plan's goin' tae start soon and we cannae afford tae waste time." Rogue and Remy nodded, remembering what Lance had told them; that one of their last allies in the group of eight needed to defeat Apocalypse was in greater danger than originally had been thought.

After a little bit of conversing it was agreed that they would all spilt up, so that they could cover the vast territory of Asteroid Evolution more quickly. The groups were to be Remy, Bobby, Hank, and Amara while Rogue would take Lucas and Torpid with her. Remy assured Rogue that he had the complex memorized, a fact that Rogue doubted but trusted that her boyfriend knew his way around well enough to find the others.

"There are twenty-nine cells in total," Lucas said as he explained the security systems for the remaining hallways. "We already rescued those imprisoned in hallways one and two but tha' leaves twenty-seven hallways left. Remy, ye and yer group take hallways three through sixteen and me group'll take hallways seventeen tae twenty-eight. We'll then meet up in front of hallway twenty-nine; tha's where me dad is," finished Lucas gravely, not noticing the shocked expressions on the others' faces.

Hank spoke first, "You mean to tell us, Mr. Haller, that your father – Charles Xavier – is also trapped here on this godforsaken asteroid with the rest of us?" On seeing Lucas nod Hank let out a deep breath, saying a prayer that his mentor and friend would be all right.

Remy and Rogue stood off to one side, Rogue leaning onto Remy for comfort.

"Remy… will we be able ta do what we have ta? Ah mean, Lance, Kitty, John, and Wanda are trapped and tha other two don't even know tha' they're a god and goddess…" Rogue whispered, letting fear slip into her voice.

Remy slowly stroked Rogue's hair, trying to relax her, and when that didn't work turned her to face him and gently placed a kiss on her forehead. "Remy knows, chère, dat we will come out of dis fine… I just know it," he whispered, pleased when Rogue smiled a little, gaining confidence in the difficult task they had ahead of them from Remy's words. She responded to Remy's kiss by giving him a quick peck on the mouth and then moved towards the others, who hadn't noticed their exchange.

"All right, let's move out!" Rogue said and after explaining to Hank and Torpid about the precautions that had to be taken when they moved under the cloak of invisibility the mutants spilt up, all with the same goal: rescue the others and meet at Xavier's cell to free him. They would then save the world; again.