I only slept for about three hours after we came back from the mission, and that was out of only pure exhaustion. My sleep was restless as I was plagued of nightmares. One particular dream I remembered because it was so vibrant. Eric and I were kids and we were playing in the woods between our houses. Everything was great and we were laughing until people I cared about started coming out of the trees around us. Mom, Dad, the Professor, Jean, Hank, Kitty, Rogue and Lana. Suddenly the sky turned dark and Eric started snarling. He changed into some sort of beast which foamed at the mouth and began to tear my loved ones to pieces. I screamed for him to stop, but he ignored me. I couldn't even move to save them because something prevented my legs from responding. Finally, Remy came out from behind a tree. He gave me that cocky grin and stepped towards me, caressing my face. I had now changed into the teenager I really am. He leaned down to my lips, but before he could kiss me, Eric came up from behind him and slit his throat. Eric gave me a savage grin before he started kissing me aggressively, while Remy's blood was still on my face.

I woke up drenched in cold sweat and my mouth clamped shut. I looked over at the clock and saw it was ten o'clock and realized I had only gained a few hours of sleep. Despite my weariness, I got out of bed because I had decided I couldn't take another nightmare.

"Seriously subconscious, what the hell?" I growled, exiting my room. "I wanted to sleep, jerk!"

"Talk'n to yourself, darl'n?" Dad asked. My head snapped up to see Dad was standing at the kitchen counter, puller a cup of coffee. His hair was a mess and he didn't have a shirt on.

"Well, you know, I'm just so interesting to talk to, you know?" I replied as a cover, taking a seat at the table.

"Mmm hmm." Dad said taking a drink from his cup. "What are you doing up? I didn't expect to see you till at least noon."

"What, just because I was up the whole night?" I asked. Dad gave me that look and I admitted. "I was having nightmares. I think it might be easier to stay awake then deal with them."

"Mmm, I know about nightmares." Dad said, ruffling my hair before taking a seat at the table as well. He placed a cup of coffee in front of me, and though I wasn't very fond of the beverage, I took a drink. "Anything I can help with?"

"I don't think so, but thanks." I said.

"Just wish I could help you, darl'n." Dad sighed.

We sat in silence for a moment before I asked. "Did you know Eric was alive?"

Dad met my eyes before answering, "I know I've kept a lot from you over the years, but trust me, I would have told you if I'd known. I was just as shocked to see him last night as you were."

I had to believe that he was telling the truth, so I nodded.

I hadn't told anyone about me talking to Eric. All they knew was that I had chased the Brotherhood out with the other heroes and had come back sometime later with Remy's arm bleeding badly. I just couldn't tell them how he had turned his back on the heroes because he believed them to be the sole cause of his disfigurement. I also couldn't tell them how his mind had been altered.

The Eric I knew wasn't so aggressive and hateful. For a lack of a better term, he had been a complete ass. From the possessive way he treated me to attacking Remy, he reminded me of an animal. I only caught a brief glimpse of my Eric that night.

"Is Remy still in the MedBay?" I asked.

"Yeah…" Dad answered slowly.

"I'm going down to check on him." I said before downing my coffee and standing up.

"Hmmm." Dad commented, looking down at his cup.

"Hmmm?" I repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Dad said innocently. "It's just that you've been spending a lot of time around Gumbo."

"Pfft, no I haven't." I argued, rolling my eyes in attempt to make him seem crazy.

"I've smelt him on you."

"Ew, Dad! What have I asked you about not smelling me!" I scolded.

"And then there was last night." Dad continued. "With you up on his back like you were a couple fooling around at a local park."

I crossed my arms and glared at Dad.

"Okay, okay, enough with the glaring." Dad grinned, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "I just want to know what's going on between the two of you and if I should be worried."

I bent and kissed Dad's cheek. "You have enough to worry about Dad, give yourself a break every now and then."

As I began to walk away, Dad called. "That wasn't an answer, kid."

I smiled over my shoulder as I went through the door. "And you're not getting one."

xXx

I let myself into the MedBay, knowing that Beast would probably be sleeping. Keeping quiet in case there were other people resting in the MedBay, I worked my way to Remy's room. The door was open and the lights were off. Remy was asleep in his bed and muttering in French. His shirt was off, showing his rippled abbs and sturdy pecs. A girl could really enjoy the view if it weren't for his bandaged arm.

Eric bit him because of me.

I turned to go but stopped when I heard Remy say my name. I turned but he was still asleep. He was murmuring though. Curiosity took over me and I crept in to sit in the arm chair by his bed.

"Dieu, tu es si belle…" Remy whispered drowsily. "Je ne peux pas croire que tu es à moi."

My French wasn't great, but I was Canadian enough to understand what he was muttering and I blushed. I stood up to leave when suddenly he started moaning and grunting loudly and moving around in a very erotic gesture that was very recognisable (if foreign to me).

"Oh my God!" I mouthed, horrified and not believing what I was witnessing. I almost sprinted out of the room, but stopped when I heard loud laughing.

I spun on my heel and launched myself on Remy, hitting his chest. "You complete ass!"

"Ah, Ah'm sorry petite!" Remy laughed, "Ah couldn't resist!"

"You're a jerk, you know that?" I spat, giving him one more punch before taking a seat on his bed.

"Christ petite, from the way yah act'n, a guy would think yo' a virgin or something." Remy snorted.

Eeek, awkward. I twiddled my thumbs and looked anywhere but Remy.

His mouth dropped. "Yo' kidding me."

"Um, no."

"Yah tell'n my yo a-"

"Yeah."

"Sac le bleu…" Remy whistled.

"Get over it, it's not like I'm the only eighteen year old in the world that hasn't done…it." I argued lamely making Remy laugh again. Of course the smooth talking Cajun would find the idea of a virgin funny. I heard enough stories about his various, for a lack of a better word, interactions with women to know that it had been quite a while since the swamprat carried a v-card. "Okay, get your mind out of the gutter. I just came down to see how you were and clearly you're fine so I'm going to go find something more interesting to do than be made fun of."

I stood, but Remy entwined his hand in mine and pulled me back.

"Aw, come on cher, Ah'm just teas'n you." Remy said sweetly. "Please stay and keep me company. Ah'm so bored."

He turned his mysterious eyes on me and I turned to putty. I sighed, disgusted with myself, and took my seat on the side of his bed.

"Ah knew yah couldn't resist mah puppy dog look." Remy said smugly.

"Get over yourself." I replied, rolling my eyes and trying not to smile. "So how is your arm doing?"

"It ain't that bad." Remy answered, looking at his injured arm. "Beast just wanted me ta stay in here for the night just in case it started bleed'n again and ta watch fo' infection."

I shook my head. "I'm so sorry Remy."

"Why cher? Yah ain't de one dat bit me." Remy answered in a calm voice. When I didn't answer, he continued in a softer voice. "Dat boy's got problems. Ah'm just glad he hurt me instead of yah."

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head again. "Don't say that."

"Why? It's true. Ah'd take a bullet for yah any day." Remy retorted.

I spoke in an almost inaudible voice. "You know I'd do the same for you."

Remy's grin was practically luminous. I realized only now that he was still holding my hand because he began to rub his thumb on the back of my hand in circles. The motion caused a strange sensation in my stomach, almost as though it was being tied into knots.

"Ah, Gambit, how are you doing this morning?" Hank asked in a loud cheerful voice, entering the room. I took back possession of my hand and leapt off the bed like a scalded cat.

"Hey Beast," I greeted, kissing my godfather on the cheek on my way out the door.

I was halfway down the hall when I heard Remy say to Hank sourly, "Yah got de worst timing in de world, yah know dat?"

xXx

It wasn't until around two that the members of the X-men started to come alive. Because of the late night, the cafeteria was serving a late lunch for the X-men. The rest of the school had eaten at the usual time at noon, so it's was just the members who showed up for lunch. It was kind of neat, having all of us together without having to worry about a world crisis.

I took a seat at the 'kid's table' beside Kitty, and started wolfing down my chicken alfredo like there was no tomorrow. The rest of my teammates were as famished as I was and they too were eating like starving animals. That is all except for Peter who was currently snoring in his pasta.

"Hey guys watch this." Alex snickered, retrieving an ice cube from his cola. He pulled back Peter's shirt and dropped the ice cube in. Peter was instantly awakened and let out a shrill (and slightly girly) screech. He jumped up from the table and started doing a strange dance in attempt to get the ice cube out.

"Girls, grab your plates." Kitty said dryly. Once we had obeyed, she took out hands and phased us just in time to avoid having out table go flying. The boys on the other hand weren't so lucky. Peter had accidently knocked the table in attempted to free himself from the ice cube, which resulted in the guys going flying and their lunches being thrown to the floor. The adults from the table a little away from us looked at the spectacle with their mouths dropped. While Dad, Remy and Angel burst out laughing, Scott got up to have a word with his younger brother in private.

Without a word, us girls went to another table.

"Yah know, Ah completely believe that girls mature faster than boys." Rogue commented as she dug into her lunch once more.

"Yup, they're pretty much still babies." Kitty agreed. "All they care about is sleep, food and boobies. The only difference is they're bigger so they can make a bigger mess."

I gave a very unlady like snort and took a bite.

"But then again, there is something irresistible about them…" Kitty smiled, leaning over to get a better look at Peter who was on his hands and knees to clean up the mess of the spilled food.

Kitty caught me rolling my eyes.

"Oh, don't give me that Ms. Logan." Kitty said in a mock stern voice. "You are just as guy obsessed as we are."

I wrinkled my nose in response, making the other girls laugh.

Honestly, I was just as guy obsessed as my friends, but the difference was that I had enough on my mind without worry about the opposite sex. In that way at least.

xXx

Fang starred broodingly though the cave's entrance at the rain pouring down. From the things he liked about the Brotherhood, their constant movement wasn't one of them. They stayed everywhere from stolen houses (he never knew you could steal a house before meeting Mystique) to abandoned warehouses to caves.

He hated the rain.

Toad hopped up to him, "Hey Fang, Mystique says it's time for your lessons."

Fang let out a sigh. " 'Kay, I'll be there in a sec."

"Don't keep her waiting, bro," Toad warned as he leapt away. "Once I was late for something and she tried to shoot my foot off."

Fang snorted, that sounded like Mystique. The woman was violent. She was also sarcastic, cruel and manipulative. Despite all that, she was his mentor. She had saved his life back at the base and now she was attempting to teach him how to take on different human forms.

Because there was no way in hell he was going to live with this face for the rest of his life.

People wouldn't care…your friends wouldn't care…go back home…you know you don't belong here…

Fang shook his head, as if it could get rid of the weak voice in his head. He had been hearing it since he had recovered from his injuries at the base. The voice was a reminder of the pathetic person he used to be. The one who always fought his feral side constantly. Before he met people who truly accepted his mutation, he had to hide his animalistic urges. The need to hunt, the euphoric feeling of a successful kill, the urge to demonstrate his dominance over other males, the right to take on any mate. Those were the urges his mutation gave him, but he never could act them out because society wanted him to act 'normal'. That little annoying voice had stopped him from ripping out that dumb hick's throat out the other night. While the larger part of him roared that he had to prove his dominance and protect his mate, that voice had forced him to stop.

That voice was a reminder of Eric, and person Fang hated. Thankfully, the voice had begun to disappear months ago. He hadn't heard Eric in over a month until last night. The moment he saw Leah, Eric began to take over again.

Fang pressed his forehead to the cool rock wall of the cave and sighed. At times he felt like he was being ripped in to two different people. He was sure that if he went back to the X-men, Professor Xavier could once again give him therapy to suppress one side. But knowing Xavier, the side he choose to supress wasn't the one Fang would choose.

Besides, the X-men were definitely neither Fang's or Eric's favourite people right now.

But damn, it was good seeing Leah again.

Okay, enough of this bull, Fang thought, letting an audible snarl escape his lips. The cave was feeling much too small and his train of thought was annoying him. He had to get out and clear his head. Pulling off his clothing, he leapt out into the rain. As he sprinted into the trees shaped as a wolf, he heard Mystique yelling at him to get his ass back to the cave.