Prophecy
That
Part
He sat by the window in his
office, trying to get a grasp on things. The last three weeks had been an
emotional roller coaster, which traveled at the speed of light.
First there was elation.
Seeing his students, his children again. He was home, safe, in a place where he
was loved. Then sadness over hearing about Gambit’s affiliation with Sinister
and the Morlocks. Clarity as to the stealth in which Gambit has handled the
topic. True, it had hurt that Remy had kept this from them, but what was he
supposed to have done; walk in the front door, say, "Hi, I’m Gambit. I’d
like to be an X-Man. Oh, by the way, I was responsible for one of the greatest
tragedies in mutant history. Where do I sign up?" Of course not. Gambit
had never even intended to be an X-Man in the first place. He just tagged along
with Storm when she returned home. You don’t recount your history to a bunch of
strangers. By the time he had decided he truly wanted to be a part of the team,
he’d been their too long to bring up his dark past. It was a catch 22. Charles
understood Gambit’s predicament and even wondered how he might have
handled the same situation.
Shame was the next loop of
the roller coaster. He was ashamed of the way his students had handled the
situation. They above all else should have known the values of tolerance and
forgiveness. None of them had a spotless record. Even Scott, who has been
considered the model X-Man (if there were such a thing), he had become the
first Eric The Red. And then there was frustration. They had searched
for Gambit everyday, both telepathically and physically. They emphatically
ignored the little voice in their heads that told them that if Gambit didn’t
want to be found, he wouldn’t be found. Not even Wolverine’s enhanced senses
could pick him up. His scent disappeared about a hundred meters from the
"borrowed" car. Still, they continued looking.—
--Until last Thursday.
He and his X-Men were just
sitting down for breakfast when the doorbell rang. Rogue went to get it and
returned a few moments later with Detective Charlotte Jones, a friend of the
X-Men and one time love of Warren’s. Since Warren had started seeing Betsy,
Charlotte had been "reluctant", to say the least, about coming to the
mansion.
He knew this couldn’t have
been good news.
"Pull up a pancake,
Char. Is this business or pleasure?" Bobby pulled out the chair next to
him.
The detective shook her
head in decline.
"Neither. Uh,
business. . . I suppose, I think. Oh, hell."
She took a deep breath.
"Look. I just get straight to it. I was just at County Hospital; I had to
sign some things for a homicide I’m working on. Anyway, as I was leaving, they
were just bringing in a body that had been found." She paused for another
breath. The X-Men were giving her a collective that’s real interesting, but
what the hell does that have to do with us look. The Professor, on the
other hand, knew what was about to happen, although he could not bring himself
to say it. Charlotte said it for him.
"The man they brought in,
it was Gambit. . ."
* * *
They had gone to the
hospital, all of them to claim Remy’s body. The least they could do for their
fallen comrade was bury him with their honored dead; the other X-Men who had
gone before him.
He’d been found in the
entranceway of an underground tunnel by some construction workers. It was an
area the X-men did not know of, but Remy would have had to have extensive
knowledge of this maze in order to assist Sinister. He had only been dead a
couple of hours when they found him. The official cause of Death was a rare
strain of Emphysema, caused by long exposure to sub zero temperatures.
Ironically, Remy’s mutant
power had also protected him against the ailments of his smoking. His lungs had
been pink as a newborn’s. Hank had said it was possible Remy had a built in
immunity against serious illness. As long as they’d known him. He’d never
contracted more than just some minor sniffles. It made Charles wonder, what was
this some form of mental power or not. If it were, did Remy disable his on some
sub-conscious (or conscious) level, because of the guilt he felt.
Did Remy let himself die?
He must have known what was happening to himself. Yet he sought no medical
help. He went down into the tunnels. Was this where he felt he deserved to spend
eternity?
"Just a cold."
The funeral was five days
ago. Storm left immediately afterwards. She said she needed some time to sort
through things. However, although she had taken away time before, this time
felt different. Charles was not assured of her return. In fact, he had a strong
feeling she would not. There was a great deal of anger and sadness she had to
work out and this institute was at the heart of it.
She did not say where she
was going, but out of concern, they had tracked her movement to the only place
of warmth in the Antarctica: The Savage Land. And there, her signal
disappeared. Had she been harmed in any way, the signal would have remained. It
was her personal bio-signature they were tracking. This meant of course that
she could only have gone to stay with M’Rin, her chosen mother. Storm had
always said it was possible that she would go to live with M’Rin permanently
someday, and the Professor now feared that day may have come sooner than
expected.
Logan had obtained his own
apartment in Manhattan in Charles’ absence. He had gone there after Storm’s
departure and had not returned since.
Bobby’s father had
maintained a minor setback in his recovery from his assault from Grayden
Creed’s men. He left for have the night before.
Betsy and Warren were
staying in his apartment in the city.
Dr. Reyes, one of the
newest X-Men, had found a job at another hospital and had returned to her own
residence.
The mysterious Maggot had
up and left one morning.
Rogue was leaving today.
She had not spoken since the day Charlotte came.
The remaining X-Men, move
about their daily routines either in silence or conflict.
Marrow was continually
taunting Sam into minor skirmishes by saying how much better things were around
the house with both Storm and Gambit gone.
Even Scott and Jean were
fighting. Jean feeling guilt about harshly judging Remy and Scott, denying any
guilt at all.
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK
SARA!"
"MAKE ME FARM
BOY!"
{CRASH}
Charles sighed, and
proceeded to push himself out of his office so as to diffuse the conflict
before anymore of the mansion’s furniture was destroyed.
It would appear, Bishop
(wherever he was) had been correct in his original prophecy, although not in
the manner he had assumed.
Because of Gambit, the
X-Men would die.
Done
Just a little "What
If?" I came up with. Actually, it was the first piece of Fan Fiction I
ever wrote, but due to technical difficulties, I was unable to submit it.
(Actually, I accidentally deleted the whole thing – any idea how painful that
is? Luckily I still had the hand written draft.) I know I should be working on
Rain Whispers, I need a mental break from that story line to get the creative
juices flowing. Still working on it though, just working on other things at the
same time.