Wolvie Femmes * Runaway:

Rayne awoke and looked about the room. Even though she recognized this room as the one she was given to stay in by these people, she still felt uncomfortable. Alone?

'Funny that,' Rayne thought as she continued to look at the interior of her quarters, 'how is it possible to feel so alone when surrounded by people?'

Though, Rayne was no stranger to loneliness. She remembered the days when she was an orphan, surviving on the streets of New Orleans. She was always surrounded by the crowds that she prayed upon for her survival, and she was not proud of the fact that she had to steal, but she had to do what it took to stay alive. She met Remy on those streets.

'Ma chere, Remy. Ma couer est ma la vie.' She thought sadly.

How Rayne cherished those days with her surrogate brother. For a while she felt like she had a family. Even though, Remy was adopted by Jean Luc LeBeau and she wasn’t. 

Rayne knew that Jean Luc loved her like a daughter but couldn’t adopt her out of proper guild etiquette. However, she was taken under the wing of Tante’ Mattie, the healer and spiritual guide for both the guilds. Rayne always considered Remy to be her dear brother. 'Ah do love dat rascal,' Rayne thought again of the fun times she had spent with Remy LeBeau.

She sat up in bed and ran both hands over her head, letting her clawed fingers comb through her short thick hair. Tears welled in her eyes as she remembered those days long ago. She thought of her Tante’ and how Mattie loved her. 'Poor Tante, what a disappointment I must have been.'

Rayne thought about that horrible day when her life was turned inside out. She silently mouthed a curse to that day. Everything Rayne had grown to love was torn away from her. She wished then for death.

'Oh how ah prayed for death,' Rayne gasped in the darkness. But, fate is a cruel monster. It has brought Remy back into her life, and instead of it being a happy reunion it is a horrible nightmare!

Rayne buried, her head in a pillow to muffle the sound of her sobs. She had to leave here. Even though it broke her heart to leave her dear Remy. She had to leave here, tonight.

Remy hummed the alligator waltz as he made his way down the now familiar path to Hayley's room. He felt better knowing that Rayne had two guards. And two giggly gossipy teenaged girls would catch every sound.

Remy stopped abruptly and rapped lightly on the door and waited but nobody answered. He took a deep breath and tried the doorknob and to his surprise it was open.

He could see Hayley's silhouette framed by the moonlight that poured in from her window. His heart skipped a beat as he remembered how she had jumped in front of him to protect him, and now he wanted to hold her. He looked at the bed wearily too. He made his way to the bedside, sat down and took off his boots. He leaned over and pushed the hair out of her face.

"Chere, bebe?" he whispered.

Hayley moved slightly, "Hmmm?" she said and her eyes opened slowly. She jumped at first, then smiled slightly.

He brushed the rest of her hair from her face as she stretched, "You all right, ma belle fille?"

Suddenly, it dawned on Hayley what he meant. "Remy, I am sorry I yelled in your head," Hayley sat up straight. "It's just I am kinda used to you being around now," She smiled at him.

He cupped his hand behind her head and pulled him to her lightly, "you were dere for me when ah needed ya, chere." He said before he kissed her.

Hayley relaxed under his embrace, and when they parted, Hayley held back the sheets for him to join her in the bed. Gambit paused and removed his shirt and pants, then climbed under the covers with her. He pulled her close and caressed her raven hair.

Hayley felt her familiar pheromones take over. She ran her hand up his chest as their legs began to entangle.

Gambit made a small noise and held her tighter. Hayley and Gambit both slowed their motion and before the other knew it the slow breathy sounds of sleep took the couple over.

Storm clasped her robe to her as she stood in front of Justice's room. If she were wrong, she would feel a fool tomorrow. But she felt strongly for this man and that was what finally prompted her hand to rap lightly on Justice's door.

When there was no response she sighed, assuming she was wrong about the whole thing and turned to leave before anybody could see her.

Softly, the door opened and Justice's tired smile greeted her. His body was kept concealed behind the door.

"Am I interrupting something?" She could feel that she was near tears. She could see his shoulders and the lack of clothing on them. 'Was Chloe there with him?' His damp hair was hardly noticeable but Storm was certain it was sweat by the musky odor. Justice must have felt her retreat because he threw the door wide open but stayed behind it.

"I don't think you could interrupt if you tried," He laughed.

Storm eyed the empty room and the made bed, and stepped haltingly into the room. She heard Justice shut the door and turned to see him grasping a towel around his waist.

"Sorry," he smiled as he disappeared into the bathroom with his face a bit red. "I just got out of the shower," He called hoping she would lose the guarded look.

Storm let her air go finally and smiled as he returned in a robe, "I know it is late and I did not want to bother you."

Justice was taken back by her formal tone, "It's no bother." He sat on the bed and began to towel his hair.

Storm sighed and sat next to him, "Let us not fall into facades." She faced him and let her eyes meet his.

Justice sat up a little straighter, "Is this about Chloe?" Storm didn't have to answer, Justice could see he was right by her demeanor. "We're not a couple anymore," Justice sighed, "Even 'she' could see where my heart lies." Justice stared at her with new eyes and knew Chloe had been right as his heart raced, "I am glad you came here." He smiled a little embarrassed, " I stayed until Hank threw me out."

Storm smiled the first real smile she had in a long time and she touched his moist hair. Her hand trailed to his cheek but Justice grabbed it to kiss it and he pulled her into his embrace. His arm around her waist pulled her into a small kiss and he let his kiss trail back to her hand as he stood.

"I need to get dry and dressed," Justice smiled ruefully as he backed up slowly.

Storm had a thousand questions in her eyes because she had thought he had been 'waiting' for her. "Yes," she said softly wondering what she did wrong.

Justice kneeled down to her eye level and kissed her head and then he caught his breath, "I don't want you to leave but you do need to rest."

Storm sighed trying to figure this gentleman out as he backed into the bathroom whistling. She was sure she was ready but he seemed to keep passion at bay because of her health. Storm put her head on his pillow tired from the emotions.

Justice return in his pajama bottoms to see a now asleep Storm on his bed. He chuckled softly to himself and kissed her head. He tucked her feet under the covers and pulled them to her waist.

'Yup, I do charm the women,' he laughed to himself as he found himself yawning as well.

Wolverine awoke with a start, sensing that someone was nearby. A sniff told him that it was Rayne.

'Probably in the hallway fretting the fact that her brother was in Hayley's room,' He huffed, 'Better get used to it kid.'

Logan didn't know exactly why RAT, as he liked to call her, was having such a hard time adjusting to her new environment.

He understood that Xavier's school for the gifted bore an uncanny resemblance to Oliver Adam's home. The Adam's Estate outwardly was a cultural showpiece with the very best of everything. European tapestries, old world furniture, original paintings by great artist, Wedgwood china, leather and silk wall coverings, the works however, there was a dark and terrible side to that mansion. A maze of well-hidden corridors, which housed labs and holding cells. All of which were used to contain and experiment on mutants. The ones that survived the torturous rigors of the experiments were sold, and shipped around the world to who knows what sinister end. It was not yet known how many mutants died in those labs. But something seemed wrong between Rayne and Gambit.

'It just doesn't make sense,' He thought. Rat seemed to be both happy and miserable to be here with her brother, and it disturbed him that Gambit didn't seem overly concerned with his obviously distraught sister.

His sensitive hearing picked up Rayne softly saying goodbye then he heard faint footfalls leading away down the corridor.

An alarm went off in Wolverine's head. 'Sounds like the kids figurin' on goin' somewhere,' Logan ran his hand through his hair softly and got up trying not to wake Ally.

He got out of bed as quietly as he could but Ally still woke up, "Logan, what is it?"

"Go back at sleep darlin', just gotta check somethin' out," He slipped on a pair of pants and headed for the door.

"Oh no you don't. I can tell something's wrong, what is it?" Ally sat up and Logan could see a faint glow coming from her eyes.

'Damn telepaths,' he grumbled inside. "Rayne was just out in the hall. I'm gonna go see what she's up to. You go back to sleep," He opened the door to leave.

"Like hell I will!" Ally was up and reached for her robe.

Logan wasn't in any mood to argue so he walked out the door and padded off after Gambit's sister. Her scent was fresh and he would have no trouble following her.

As Ally tossed her robe on, the haze of sleep cleared some and she thought she would try and find Rayne telepathically. Maybe find out what the girl was up to.

'That might eliminate a lot of sneaking around,' Ally reasoned. She reached out with her mind taking care not to make any contact with her sleeping siblings. No sense waking them up until she knew more.

When Ally found Rayne, she felt the raging turmoil in the girls mind. Even though Ally had the faintest contact with Rayne, the telepath was surprised that somehow Gambit's sister sensed the telepathic intrusion. Ally felt an intense wave of panic and anger from Rayne. Ally broke the connection with the girl then quickly contacted Hayley and told her to have Gambit meet her in the hallway a.s.a.p.

Ally met the bleary eyed Acadian in the hallway, "Remy, Logan and I think Rayne's trying to run away. He is tracking her now and shouldn't have a problem finding her because she was just here a few minutes ago."

The sleep flew from Gambit's face, "She was 'ere?" He eyed Ally suspiciously, "How yo' know dat'?"

Ally shrugged, "That's what Wolverine said. I guess he heard her. He didn't say much before he left."

Hayley walked out into the hallway and saw that Gambit was pacing, she yawned, "Rayne?" Remy glanced at Hayley then looked to Ally for information, "Can yo' ask Wolverine wha's goin' on?"

"I can try," Ally touched Logan's mind and asked him if he had found Rayne.

"Kids already made it outside," Logan responded, "the little rat's fast."

"Stop calling that poor girl a rat," Ally felt Logan's anger, "What is it, hon?"

"Kids scared and runnin', Al. Did ya wake up gumbo?"

Ally sighed, "He is standing right here."

"Well tell him to get his butt down here to the front lawn," Logan growled.

Ally relayed that information to Gambit who then took off running.

Hayley sighed deeply, walked back into her room and closed the door.

When Rayne felt Ally's telepathic intrusion she knew she would have to hurry now. Yesterday she had discovered where the land vehicles were kept and figured that would be her best means of escape. A jeep was closest to the doors so she hopped inside and quickly hot-wired it.

The engine growled to life and made Rayne cringe, 'Stupid noisy t'ing.' She ran to the double doors, shoved them open, ran back to the jeep and gunned it through the opening.

When Logan heard an engine crank he started running for the garage. He saw the doors fly open and ran harder. Just as he got to the doors, Cyke's jeep zoomed past with a small whiskered mutant perched in the drivers seat. He leapt for the 4x4 but missed and fell to the ground cursing.

Gambit ran out the front door and watched as his sister drove past. "Merde, what am ah gonna do wit' dat girl?"

Gambit saw Logan fire up his Harley and take off after his sister. Remy ran to his own Harley and was quickly in the chase.

Logan and Gambit knew there was a locked gate between the estate and the main road, and hoped that would slow her down some. Rayne on the other hand, had no idea there would even be a gate. Furthermore, what none of them knew, was that extending out from both sides of the gate underneath the pavement was an anti-acceleration field generator. Designed by the high tech company, Stark International, its purpose was to keep vehicles from ramming through the gates and it worked very well.

Rayne sped away in the jeep hoping to put some distance between her and her pursuers. She spotted the closed gates ahead and decided to try and run through them even though her intuition screamed at her to stop.

'No, I have to get away from here,' She growled inside and tried to ignore the insistent alarm in her head. Her foot pressed down harder on the accelerator and the 4x4 lurched ahead. Rayne cringed and braced for the impact. Just before the vehicle hit the gate it was caught in the anti-acceleration field. It was as if the jeep were caught in a time warp. In slow motion the vehicle was halted. The engine wound down, the wheels stopped; the 4x4 sat motionless a few inches from the metal bars.

Logan stopped his bike to the side of the jeep and wondered what had just happened. The jeep was sitting there in idle and Rayne was still behind the wheel. Her head suddenly dropped forward then snapped back as she came out of the effects of the force field.

She groaned, "Sacre bleu! What da hell was dat?" She looked around and saw Wolverine standing there with a puzzled look.

"Guess they don't like people rammin' the gates," He offered. Both keen eared mutants turned and regarded the headlight and roar of Gambit's approaching bike.

Rayne utilized the slight distraction, leapt from the jeep and slipped through the gates. She was determined to get away and still hoped that she had a chance. She knew she was weak an injured and it would probably take a miracle now for her to pull it off, but that wouldn't keep her from trying.

"Damn it, get back here ya little rat!" Wolverine growled and climbed over the wall after her.

Remy skidded his Harley to a stop, leapt off his bike and followed Logan.

Rayne saw that they were in hot pursuit and knew she wouldn't be able to outrun them on flat ground. She noted a very tall tree off to the side and made for it quickly.

Wolverine saw that she veered off and he cursed as she started climbing a tree. He stopped a short distance from the trunk and waited for Gambit to catch up.

Soon, both men watched as Rayne ascended to the top of a nearly 70-foot tree.

Remy kicked the ground and yelled, "Get down 'ere girl, NOW!"

Rayne called down from her lofty perch, "No! Go away an leave me alone."

Gambit started off for the tree. Logan put his hand out to keep Remy still for a minute, "Let me get Ally out here. She can come and drag her outta the tree better then we can. "

They heard a shuffle from above and some debris fell nearly hitting them. Wolverine huffed, "She's throwin’ sticks at us like a flamin' monkey."

Remy was tired of Rayne's foolishness and wanted to just climb up and drag her down himself, but he knew that she would probably do something stupid and get herself hurt. Then he remembered all the bad things she had been through, both recently and in the past.

He put his foot on one of the sticks she tossed down and snapped it in half. 'What am Ah gon' do wit' yo' girl?' He thought as he picked up a part of the broken branch. Gambit looked up into the tree and saw Rayne's amber eyes glowing in the darkness.

Ally had kept tabs of the situation by keeping a slight contact with Logan's mind. She was fully clothed and standing on the front steps of the mansion when he used the telepathic link to tell her that they needed her help. She lifted silently into the air and flew towards the gate.

As she approached from the air she asked Wolverine where Rayne was. 'Look out straight from where you are, darlin,’ He thought as he pointed his finger to the top of the tree in front of her.

Rayne saw the woman's approach and panicked when Ally looked at her and started flying towards her.

Ally tried to calm Gambit's sister telepathically but kicked herself as soon as she touched the girls mind. She saw Rayne's eyes flash an intense amber light, and the girl scrambled out on the branch as far as it would support her then pushed off into the night.

Remy watched in dismay as Rayne leapt from the branch. He saw his sister reach out to catch the branch of a nearby tree but her arm snapped back against her side before she reached it. There was nothing he could do but watch as she fell.

Rayne had wanted to grab that branch but in her panic she forgot about her broken ribs. When she attempted to grab a hold of the life saving branch, a stab of pain hit her so forcefully it drew her arm back to her side.

Rayne's body twisted as she fell so that she was falling back first. She noted all the bright stars in the sky. She had always loved to watch the night sky. Many times it was her only comfort in her desolate and lonely life. Rayne longed to be in that vast sparkling darkness, swimming among the stars. Her mind then drifted away into a dream.

When Ally saw Rayne falling she moved herself around the other side of the tree. With her telekinetic powers she slowed the girls fall until she was delivered safety into her brothers arms. Ally also noted that thankfully, Rayne had passed out on the way down. That girl could be a handful and it was best to be able to take her back to the mansion unconscious, as opposed to kicking and screaming the whole way. That reminded her of her sister Hayley, stubborn to the last. She shook her head and landed on the ground next to Logan.

"We better get her back before she wakes," Ally took Wolverine's arm and kissed his cheek tenderly.

"How do we get this damned gate open?" Logan growled and looked at the strange looking gizmo sticking up out of the ground near the driveway.

As if on queue, there was a hum and groan as the gates slowly opened. Gambit put Rayne into the jeep and looked at his Harley.

"Don't worry Gumbo. Ally here will take good care a yer ride," Logan looked at Ally, whose face contorted in disbelief. He chuckled, "Or maybe not." Gambit shook his head, "No t'anks mes amis. Ah'll jus' come back for her later," He smiled at Ally, "Sides, dat's way too much ride fo' a ’tit fille lik' yo' ta handle."

Ally humphed and stood with her hands on her hips as Remy drove away in the 4x4, "What's with you men anyway. Why are you so touchy about those stupid motor bikes?"

"It's not a 'motor bike' darlin’," Logan said as he mounted his Harley. Ally stood there a minute before getting on the back, "Logan, I'm worried about that girl. Something's not right."

Logan pulled out a cigar stump and lit the end, "That's their problem to work out Al."

"I know hon, but I can't help feeling that Gambit isn't taking it seriously enough," She stated as she climbed on the back of the Harley, "Rayne is deeply troubled and needs help."

Logan shrugged his shoulders and drove off towards the mansion. He too was concerned, but they were leaving soon and there was nothing they could do about it now.

Remy carried Rayne to her room and gently laid her on the bed. He removed her shoes, covered her with a blanket then sat in the dark in the chair next to the bed.

He lit a cigarette and took a long deep drag, then stifled a laugh. Even in the dark he could see his sister's nose wrinkle. She never liked cigarette smoke and always made a fuss during the Guild meetings. Going on and on about how it was gonna be the death of us. Remy snickered and Rayne stirred slightly, "Rem, put dat nasty t'ing out." Gambit eyed his troublesome sister over his hand as he took another drag. He saw two amber lights blink at him from the bed.

He ground the cigarette out and sighed, "We need ta talk girl."

Rayne sat up and wanted to tell her brother that there was nothing to talk about. Somehow, some way, she had to leave. But, she noted the concern on his face and decided instead to change the subject, "How's Papa?"

"He's fine," Remy said as he shifted in the chair. The movement was not lost on his sister though.

She sensed that something was amiss, "Rem, yo' leave da Guild?"

Gambit shifted again, "Not 'xactly." Rayne's eye's glowed brighter as her anxiety grew, "Dey kick yo' out?" She watched her brother carefully, noting every movement, every breath anything that would tell her what was going on with him and their father.

Remy said again, "Not 'xactly," but his breathing changed and she could hear his pulse quicken.

His sister hopped out of the bed, put her hands on his knees and looked him straight in the eye, "Yo' gonna tell me?"

"Nothin' ta tell, chere."

"Yo' lyin'," She knew he was holding back, but should she really press him for the answer. She had been away so long. It seemed like it was a lifetime ago.

Rayne sighed and slumped to the floor, "Bes’ ah don' know too much anyway, ah guess. Not lik' ah can ever go back dere." She closed her eyes and dropped her head.

Gambit didn't know what to say so he just helped her up on the bed and sat next to her. Rayne curled up on his lap and cried. Remy’s heart was broken seeing his sister in such pain.

He softly sang an old tune from back home, "Laissez-faire, laissez-faire, ma jolie. Bon temps roulez, allons danser, toute la nuit. Oh, T-Pierre va jouer p’tit fer, Boire la biere et jouer cuillere, Laissez-faire, laissez-faire, ma jolie."  He finished and turned Rayne’s chin up so her eyes met his, "Rayne, ah know dat yo’ are tryin’ ta save ma life by leavin’. Don’ worry ‘bout dat, chere. Ah can take care a ma’se’f."

Rayne dropped her gaze, "Ah do worry Remy, an rightfully so. Yo’ know how ruthless de assassins can be."  She flopped herself around on the bed so her back was to him, "Ah’m tired of all dis Remy. Ah’m tired of everyt’in."  With that she fell into an uneasy sleep.

Remy, sat and weighed his options. He finally came to a conclusion. He was going to make her stay here if he had to sit on her 24/7. He was going to make her see that things weren’t as bad as she thought they were.

With that decision made, Gambit slowly got off the bed and made his way to Hayley’s room. He was satisfied that the problem with Rayne would be solved soon.