Chapter 20: Wanting

The Next Day...After the Battle

"Reports say that rambunctious youth are behind the recent attacks in Cairo. Officers reported earlier of a possible terrorist attack yet international officials have reported that no damage to any of the historical sites and structures have been identified and no files of missing persons reports have been issued. No lives that we are aware of were lost during this recent activity. The U.S. military is working with the Egyptian government to handle the situation and are releasing no further information at this time. However, a press release will be-."

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"Terrorists has been reported…"

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"Well John…I think it's aliens…"

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"We have only two eye witness accounts says mutant terrorist"

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"I saw the whole thing…Zombies!"

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"Ugh!" Growled Chantel as she twisted on her belly while looking at the TV. "I'm done watching this crap. Aliens…really people?"

Everyone was exhausted as they all lay in the living room spread out watching the news channels. Many of them were seated weirdly on couches, chairs, pillows, and the floor so as not to cause further injury to themselves. "Well people were scared and running for their lives so, what else can you blame it on?" Jean stated looking over Bobby's arm for sprains.

"Zombies!" Kurt said as he shivered at the thought. "I'm never going back dere' ever again!" Kurt declared as he stood to stretch. His tail curled in the process.

"Well the amulet is destroyed so no worries!" Scott said as she turned off the TV and stretched.

"I'm not going to look at a cemetery the same ever again, let alone go near one." Kitty stated as she covered her face with a couch pillow.

"I've handled worse than those bags of bones." Logan stated as he stood and looked out of the window crossing his arms about him while chewing a toothpick.

Everyone looked at him like he was crazy. "And what's sad is I don't doubt that statement." Chantel commented. Her friends nodded and agreed with her.

"I wonder what's going to happen to Mystique now that she's 'detained'." Bobby said while making the quotation marks with his fingers.

"We won't know. The mutant regulations don't apply to her anymore so there is nothing that they can do. She's going to be in a maximum security cell for a long time." Scott explained.

"Serves da crazy loon right." Remy said as he shuffled his deck of cards while sitting in a tufted chair. Kurt nodded his head in agreement and sat back down on the couch next to Kitty.

"Well, the best thing we can do for now is to wait and see what happens." Spoke Ororo who guided Nicole by her shoulders into the room. Suddenly people shuffled around to make room for them to sit and get comfortable. Additional couches were brought in from the other rooms to provide more seating.

"We all look like shit." Logan stated. Everyone couldn't help but laugh as they looked at their bandages and the fact that they were all dressed in pajamas. When they had got back to the mansion, everyone was immediately tended to by Beast and Ororo who managed to be perfectly fine. The gang separated and cleaned up the residue for their confrontation off their bodies and dressed down. No one argued or said much. They all had come together and appreciated each other for the job they did.

"How's your head Nicole?" Chantel asked with concern as the laughter died down in the room.

Nicole touched her bandaged forehead softly and squinted. "Better. I still don't quite remember much and my powers are super sensitive now. But other than that, I'm fine."

"Man, Nicole!" Bobby stated. "How is that possible?!"

Nicole snickered at his remark. "Don't worry. I got play by play of what happened. I heard that you got knocked out the first five minutes of the battle by a stun weapon. No one didn't even touch you."

Everyone erupted in laughter as Bobby face palmed himself. "Oh come on you guys!" Bobby stood up frantic and waving his hands. "It wasn't the first five minutes and that really hurt! Tell them Scott what really happened."

Scott shrugged holding Rin by her waist. "I don't know. I was too busy fighting for my life."

"It hit me in the neck! Ugh!" Bobby said as he stormed out of the room and yelled down the hallway before going into a jog. "Professor! Please tell them what happened!" He yelled.

"Well since we all just put our lives on the line… can we like grab something to eat now!" Kitty stated leaning her body up to look at everyone.

The Professor strolled in the room with Bobby rushing next to him inside the living room. He watched as everyone put in an order and shouted out things they wanted to Kurt and Kitty. Both teens frantically searched for paper and pen while Bobby went to look up menus on his phone. Ororo glided over to the Professor with a soft smile. "Everything is backed to normal for the most part." She stated as the scene before them.

Everyone was shouting and talking at one time about what they wanted. Kitty tried to snatch the phone from Kurt who was dangling it over her head with his tail. Rogue, Nicole and Jean were putting together a "no more pizza" rally. Scott was trying to reason with everyone about picking one place to order from to keep confusion down. Jacob and Chantel were digging in the compartments of the wooden drawers pulling out take-out menus from various places. Gambit shook his head at Bobby telling the boy that McDonald's would never enter his system even on a bad day. Logan was just looking to the side with aggravation at the high pitch noises.

"Yes, it is." The Professor said as they just sat and watched the dysfunctional family in front of them continue on.

In the infirmary

Nicole was laid out on an examination table after just completing a CAT scan of her skull. Hank was explaining that she should do nothing rigorous for a-while and should take the prescribed medication he gave her.

"You may feel minor discomfort but you should feel fine soon." He added as he sat her up gently.

"Umm…Professor Hank?" Rogue said as she came into the room and looked at Nicole.

"Yes Rogue?" Hank said as he looked up at Rogue with confusion.

"Scott needs to see you about something. A phone call came in from D.C." Rogue explained.

"Oh!" Hank said as he stood up ever so like a gentleman. "Ladies if you will excuse me I'm going to go see what this is about." With that said he excused himself and made to leave.

"Rogue! Please make sure she doesn't try to stand so quickly." Hank yelled as he exited remembering Nicole's ability to disappear from her hospital bed.

Rogue sighed and breathed out heavily. After being in a near death experience and seeing Nicole so beat up, she didn't want this madness between them to continue. She also knew she had to let go of her hangups because it was only hurting the people around her. "I guess we should have our talk now before this gets any further out of hand." She stated uncomfortably.

"Why did you get so offensive with me being with Remy?" Nicole asked going straight for it.

Rogue sat down softly on the hospital bed and turned to look at Nicole. "Sug…I'm not mad or anythin' anymore. Don't ya go off an' tell Remy I told ya this but, ya need ta know." Rogue sighed. "Of course ya know Remy and I had a big fallin out and it ruined his relationships wit people. I don't know for sure but, I bet he still hates me for the mistakes I made. But I'm not going to go there. Anyway, I don't hate him at all or you. I just felt like he was getting' back at me by flaunting ya around in my face and cuttin' me out of his life completely."

Nicole was silent unsure of what to say exactly. She hadn't received the whole story about Remy's falling out with Rogue but she knew it caused him much pain and suffering.

"Then my own ego got in the way. It's just he was doing everything with ya that he never did with me and ya just seem to go right along with him like two peas in a pod." Rogue sighed again with her thoughts clashing in her mind trying to find a way out of her mouth. "But I know now that it's because he really likes ya and from what I can see…you do too."

Nicole tilted her head. "Thank you and I don't hold anything against you. Just promise me you'll talk to me first before you try to kick me out of places."

Rogue smiled. "Of course! Can I get a hug?" Rogue asked as she opened her arms up.

Nicole returned her hug. It felt like for once they were sisters in the mansion and everything was ok. It was genuine and both really held on trying to put down new foundations for their friendship. Nicole pulled back and looked at the floor wanting to get down. Rogue stood up and gave her a hand knowing that's what she wanted. Nicole smiled and wobbled on her feet as Rogue steadied her by her back. Nicole looked at the pills she was given and shook her head not wanting to take them.

"Well sugar, Remy is out on the rooftop…alone." Rogue said with a wink ushering her towards the door with a sturdy grip until she was able to manage. "Hint hint." She let go and walked away leaving Nicole with a blush on her face.

"Thanks!" Nicole muttered as she went off to find Mr. Lebeau.

Remy was sitting on top of the mansion looking out into the night with random thoughts running through his brain. A small glass of scotch reflected his pondering mood back at him as he peered into it. After the fight with Mystique it seemed like many of the guys had a coming to Jesus meeting and were talking about things that would really shake up the house. Who knew the Grim Reaper could really make wake up calls and cause grown men to switch gears and think about…planting roots.

Scott was so upset when he saw Jean passed out in the sand that he completely spaced out for a minute. Next thing you know the man was buying an engagement ring asking the guys for advice on the stone setting. Unbeknownst to the others, Logan was on rotation around Ororo. Several times that afternoon, he had caught the gruff man helping Ororo in her garden and laughing with her as they walked together towards the backyard where some of the kids were playing. Remy lifted his head at the moon with a smirk at the thought.

He sighed and for once he wished something like that could happen for him. His luck was never consistent. He picked up his glass filled with scotch and peered at the stars high above him. "Cheers…May my queen o' hearts find me soon." He toasted to the sky before he took a sip.

"Must you make everything difficult?" A voice said behind him.

He swallowed quickly feeling the liquor burn down his throat in an unsavory way. His head turned quickly to see Nicole trying to climb out of his window onto the perch. One hand gripped the banister and the other held a water bottle in her hand. He quickly stood and put his glass down to help her. "Mon dieu! Ya shouldn't be out climbin' tryin ta make a midnight visit." He chastised as he picked her light form up and moved her to his sitting spot.

"Well, I'm not trusted yet to fly up here." Nicole explained as she watched him sit down with her in his lap. Once she was settled he picked up his drink again and just relaxed with her there resting against his body.

"So how's da noggin, Cher?" Remy asked with a mixture of humor and worry.

Nicole touched her forehead and just smiled." It should be fine. I may get a headache but it's nothing bad. I just took ibuprofen and Hank said tomorrow I could possibly go back into training again."

"Hmm..." Remy acknowledged as he moved her hair around so he could see her face. She looked so serene sitting there looking up at the sky nursing her water bottle. She saw him looking at her and she stared back. Her eyes were large and open showing him so much happiness and joy. "I know what you're t'inkin', ma petite. Dat Gambit...still de suave one, no?" He mumbled against her hairline and kissed her forehead. Nicole erupted into laughter and hit his leg playfully.

"You can be so full of it some-" Nicole said but the words quickly disappeared as his lips made contact with hers. Her bottle dropped from her hands and rolled somewhere. Soft lips pressed into hers that tasted of warm rustic decadence. Her eyes went closed and her hand came up to hold his cheek as she pressed firmly into him. This kiss was different. His lips glided on hers and moved to swipe across hers after a while. The air escaped her lungs and she found herself taking occasional breaths through her nose. His passion slightly rattled Nicole. Never had she ever seen him so demanding. As if he was trying to be with every fiber of her being.

Soon they lay on the roof top under the moonlight enraptured in their passion. Remy kissed her so fierce that it felt like his soul was searching for a connection with hers. The connection that would finally tell him it's ok to love and be loved in return. Both couldn't help this spark that ignited brightly than ever between the them. Nicole's brain completely shut down and she felt as if she wanted to give him the world. They pulled apart and Remy looked down at her frazzled appearance with a smirk that left Nicole breathless. Remy knew from then on that something had to be done about this. One thing about any thief…was that they never lay wanting.