Aubrey walked down the hall with purpose
in her stride and rapped on her brother’s door. She knew it was late but she
continued to knock until the door was opened, and her bleary eyed brother
emerged. Aubrey eyed him suspiciously.
He stood there in his boxers and she knew
she woke him. "Aub I was asleep," he yawned.
She studied him, "Were you here all
night?"
He shook his head, wandered into his room,
grabbed his cigarettes and tapped one from the package, "No, we went to
Reg's room, remember?" He found his lighter and sat down in the chair
lighting it appreciatively, "You got Alzheimer's or something?"
"It was the only time you left your
room?" She looked at him dubiously, "Then why does it seem like
Justice was poisoned?"
He almost dropped his cigarette,
"What?" he stood quickly, "He's alive right? What‘s the
problem?"
Aubrey's mouth dropped, "You did
have something to do with it, didn't you?" She began to push him back into
the chair and pushed her finger in his face, "I like the Adams’s, and I
want the truth."
"I didn't do it," he squirmed
in his chair.
"What do you know?" she was
fuming, "Tell me now, before I go to the X-men."
"Hey, I didn't know what she was going
to do. Alright?"
"Who?"
"Jump"
"Jump did this?" she sat down,
upset by this news. "Yeah, she kind of held it over my head," Josh
shook his head at the memory, "I can't turn her in sis. No telling what
she‘d do."
Aubrey nodded a little scared of what
Jump would do to her brother if they told on her. "We better let Sassy
lead us," She shook her head.
"Jump is nuts, isn't she?"
"No, I think she is what you’d call,
a woman scorned," Aubrey groaned at the memory of Justice with Storm now,
"What have you gotten yourself into, Josh?"
Ally crept out of her room hoping Logan
was deeply asleep now. She pulled her robe on as she began at run down the
hall. She needed answers, and when she found Justice's door locked, she gently
felt for his mind. She sighed realizing whatever was done to him wasn’t
permanent and was almost completely out of his system. She touched the door
lightly then left for her next objective, Her uncle's room.
She knocked but there was no answer. She
knocked a little harder and there was still no answer. Finally she tried the
door and sighed that the door was opened. She made her way into his room,
carefully.
"Uncle Xavier," she said
quietly. She found the light switch and turned it on hoping he would forgive
her rudeness. She found him in his bed sleeping and she was concerned that even
the light didn't wake him. She touched his head to find him sweaty and warm. He
mumbled something in his sleep and she shook him.
"Uncle Xavier," she shook him
harder.
A noise from the door stopped her short and
she turned to see Logan. He didn’t look happy, "this is why you snuck
out?" he yawned. He watched her with increased interest as she shook
Xavier but he didn't awaken.
He moved closer to her to help, "I
smell alcohol."
"He's drunk?" She looked around
for evidence, but could find nothing.
"Chuck," Logan pushed him hard
and Xavier's eyes flickered open.
They weren't sure if he was focusing on
them but Xavier groaned, "Aramis?" He looked at them curiously.
"What can I do for you?" Then his eye’s closed again.
Logan was concerned now, "Call Beast
or Jean," He sighed, "This is how we found Justice"
Ally pulled the cover up on Xavier as her
eyes began to glow lightly. She stood and kissed his bald head and whispered
reassuring things to him. Logan ran his hand up and down her back to comfort
her.
"Who would do this?" she sobbed
softly. She could almost understand why this could happen to Justice, because her
brother antagonized people. But her Uncle was a gentle soul.
"He’s gonna need to be watched
tonight," Logan exhaled deeply and picked Xavier up.
She followed him as he carried Xavier to
the hallway. He turned and looked at her, "Go ta bed, darlin’. I’ll handle
this."
Ally heaved a sigh and followed him
anyway. She knew he might be upset with her for disobeying, but she knew
something was wrong and now she wanted to know what happened.
Imp woke early the next morning, ran
for her father's room. She used her telekinesis to unlocked the door. She threw
the door open and bolted inside. Storm was coming from the bathroom and she
quickly pulled her robe over her nightgown.
"Jordan!" She shouted, shocked
at the girl’s entrance.
Justice heard the commotion and turned
until he saw them. He sat up very slowly hoping this headache would go away. He
looked at them through two tiny slits for eyes. Jordan ran for him quickly.
"Daddy!" Jordan threw herself
in his arms. Justice moaned, and as he caught his daughter full in the chest.
He quickly checked to make sure he had some clothes on. He sighed with relief
seeing some fabric, then pushed his legs out of the bed.
He caught sight of the time and almost
dropped Jordan. "Is that the time?" he panicked, "I have to get
to work." He stood and the room began to spin so he fell back into the
bed. Jordan watched him curiously.
"Alex called your associate,
Robert, and told him how ill you were," Storm said pulling the cover back
on him. "He said they’ll look forward to your arrival next week and will
be sending some work for you to do at home."
Justice wasn't happy missing work but his
pounding headache made it hard to argue the point.
"May I do anything for you,
Justice?" Storm asked as she touched his forehead.
"Yes ma’am. Don't blink too
loud," He moaned and began to shut his eyes.
"Justice, what happened?" Storm
asked him quickly and his eyes flickered open.
He gave her a wry smile, "I was
hoping you could tell me."
"I only saw you after your
injury," She was concerned that his arm was still bleeding. "I am not
a doctor but it looks like you may need stitches."
"Daddy's got blood!" Imp cried,
spying her father's injured arm.
"How did this happen?" Justice
looked at the blood soaked bandage.
"You do not remember?" Storm
sighed. She grabbed the first aide kit and began to change his bandage.
"No," he sighed, "But
right now I wish I did."
Jordan's eyes didn't leave her father's
injury, "Can you fix it?" she asked Storm quickly.
"Jordan has the correct idea,"
Storm said as she pulled him slowly to his feet, "Let us get you to Beast
to have look at it."
Scott ran to the sick bay when he heard
that the professor was there. He was out of breath when he bolted through the
doors. He found the professor lying silent in a bed. He turned to Jean and
Beast for answers, "What happened?"
"Alcohol poisoning," Jean
shrugged.
Scott looked at her angrily.
Beast elaborated, "We suspected
otherwise, but all the test indicate that he had one too many."
"He’s drunk?" Scott
furrowed his brow in disbelief, "That’s not possible." Scott shook
his head, "He wouldn't do that."
"Yes, your right my friend,
considering he is not a habitual drinker. This is unusual indeed. And very
unsettling," Hank crossed his arms in wonder. "Ally said she couldn't
find any sign of Alcohol in the room, but when Logan went back to look around
he found a brandy flask and a glass," Jean said quietly.
"What?" Scott growled,
"This doesn't make sense."
"I think it's best we don't mention
this to the younger members," Hank said quickly.
"Good
idea," Jean agreed. If the students heard this they might take a more
relaxed attitude towards the school policy on drinking. No sense telling anyone
about this until we know what is going on.
They heard a slight shuffle and saw
that Rayne was awake and watching them.
Justice came stumbling in with Storm trying to steady him, and Jordan followed
closely. They could see the bloodly bandage on his arm and he looked like he
had gone 10 rounds with Sabertooth.
Scott ran to the door to help Justice in,
"Are we under an attack?"
"Big Mac attack," Justice
mumbled.
"You’ll have to forgive him
Scott, he is still under the effects of what was done to him," Storm said
as she handed Justice over to Cyclops.
"What happened?" Scott said
feeling a swell of pity for him.
"Wish I knew. Oh, how I wish I
knew," Justice groaned while Storm filled them in on what she did know.
Logan dressed quickly while Ally ran out of the
bathroom. She cut him a hard look which, said hurry up.
"I'm movin’," he chuckled. He
knew she was anxious to see her uncle. She began to tug her shoes on and sat on
the bed waiting for him. Finally he grabbed her hand and pulled her from the
bed.
They shut the door and she set a brisk
pace but halted at the sight of Justice, Storm and Jordan coming up the hall.
Ally ran to them and hugged Justice
looking at his arm, "Henry does good work. It looks like you‘ll
live." She smiled and then lowered her voice, "What happened?"
He shrugged, "Not sure, I hope I will
remember eventually."
Logan caught up to them, and lit his cigar, "Feelin’ better
junior?"
"Define better," He smiled
ruefully.
"We are going to stick around until
we catch who did this," Ally crossed her arms.
"You don’t have to do that,"
Justice looked at her wide eyed, "We will be leaving soon anyway."
"Justice, somebody is after
you!" Ally said.
Justice shook his head, "We're
mutants, Al." He rubbed his temple that ached from all the talking,
"Someone will always be after us."
Storm nodded, "We'll be fine with
Jordan."
Ally's eye registered her surprise,
"You are going with him?" She smiled. She was happy for her brother.
Storm smiled as Justice gave her shoulder a little reassuring squeeze and
Jordan walked over to Wolverine and held his hand.
"Will you come visit us?" Jordan
stared at Logan.
He pulled her into his arms balancing her
from his cigar, "You just try to keep us away."
Jordan pushed her way down when she saw
Hayley and Remy walking towards them, and she ran to Gambit.
"Where are you going?" she
demanded.
"To Breakfast," Hayley yawned.
"Out for breakfast," Gambit
corrected her.
Ally rolled her eyes. She knew that it
wouldn’t haven’t taken long before Remy or Hayley wanted to get out of here for
a while. They didn't like to stay in one place for very long.
Gambit held Hayley’s hand as they
moved closer to the others and smiled, "Come along wit’ us." Hayley
looked like she might object, but shrugged instead.
Logan puffed his cigar, happy with the
idea of getting out and looked at Ally, "Sounds good t‘me."
"I guess we’re going too then,"
Ally smiled and looked at Justice and Storm.
Justice held a hand up, "Nooo, I have
a pillow with my name on it." He took a deep breath, "Thanks for the
invite though."
Imp ran in front of him, "Can I go
with them?"
"We'll watch her," Ally offered
quickly.
Justice bent down to her and the way his
head felt, like it would fall off any minute, that took a lot of effort, "I
thought you were going to Kitty and Jubilees for a make over."
Her mouth dropped open and she gasped,
"I am." Then she began pull Storm's hand in the direction of the
teenager's room, "Take me there, hurry!"
Justice gave a small wave to the foursome,
"Scare some straights for us," he teased and walked after Storm and
Jordan.
"He looks better," Remy smiled.
"Better than what?" Hayley
quipped.
"He looked lik’ death warmed over
last night, chere," Gambit responded.
"We were going to visit Uncle Xavier
before we left," Ally said quickly and started off to the elevator but
Hayley grabbed her hand.
"His room's this way," Hayley
shook her head.
"Chuck's in the infirmary,"
Logan grunted, "Got what Justice had."
"SACRE!" Remy yelled, caught off guard, "Another
attack?" He began to worry for Rayne. Were assassins in the mansion?
"Ah need ta go see Rayne for a minute too before we go."
"We don't know for sure what is
going on," Ally sighed.
"Attack?" Hayley said as they
pushed her into the elevator, "Why am I the last to know these
things?" As the elevator door shut she found three people telling her
their versions of the incidents, all at once.
The foursome walked into the med
lab. Logan, Hayley and Ally went to Xavier’s bedside and Remy headed straight
for Rayne’s bed.
She was sitting up with her arms
clasped around her knees. Her head popped up when they walked in, "Remy,
are we under attack?"
"Ah don’ t’ink so,
petite," He honestly didn’t know, and what he heard from Ally and Logan
didn’t substantiate any attack by assassins.
"People are bein’ poisoned
‘round ‘ere. Dey make it look lik’ dey drank too much," She motioned to
Xavier, "If it wasn’ assassins, den it was somebody he an de redhead
knew."
"What makes yo’ say dat?"
"Cause he’s not da kin’ a man
dat’s easy ta get da better of, non?" Rayne then noticed that Remy wasn’t
dressed for battle. He looked like he was dressed to go out, "Yo’ goin’
somewhere?"
Gambit felt like he was caught between a rock and a hard place. He
wanted to get Hayley out of the mansion for a while. He felt she needed it, and
so did he. On the other hand, he felt bad to leave his sister behind, but she
didn’t look well enough to join them anyway, "Ah have ta get outta dis
place for a while, chere. S’drivin’ me crazy. Ah wish yo’ could join us but ah
don’ t’ink de docs would let yo’."
"Dat’s ok Rem. Yo’ go on
ahead," Rayne sighed. She knew how easily Remy got stir crazy and couldn’t
blame him for wanting to escape for a while. She also knew that he was going
with Hayley and that made her angry. But she knew as well that she had no
business involving herself with his love life. She sighed again, "One
t’ing though, Remy."
"Yo’ name it, chere,"
Gambit was happy that she was not too upset.
"Promise me dat yo’ll try an
spend a little time wit’ me, ok?" She looked at him and tears rimmed her
eyes.
That broke Gambit’s heart. He
hadn’t realized that they really hadn’t spent much time together. Mostly it was
when she was missing or trying to get away, or when she was ill or injured. He
vowed to make an extra effort where Rayne was concerned, "Ah promise,
mignon. Now yo’ get some rest an do what dey tell yo’, ok?" He kissed her
cheek, then took his leave with a bow and a silly grin.
Rayne nodded and watched as her
brother bounced from the lab with the others. When the door closed, she dropped
her head on her knees and cried.
Remy insisted to drive them to breakfast,
and enjoyed taking Justice’s car out for a test drive. Unfortunately, that
meant Hayley was in the front seat with the radio.
"Hayl, can you stick with one
channel?" Ally groaned.
"How about just turning that noise
off," Logan suggested and let his hand rest on Ally's knee. They found a
small place to have breakfast, an elegant place with a pond and larger building
in the back.
"A bed and breakfast
joint," Logan grunted as he got out of the car. As Remy took Hayley's hand
to help her out of the car, Hayley let her fingers dance across his tight
abdomen and he flinched as she tickled him a little.
"Maybe we should try this alone some
day," Hayley whispered in Gambit's ear.
He laughed and kissed her neck quickly.
"Plenty of time, chere," he grinned but caught Logan's disapproving
look and wondered what he had done wrong.
Logan grabbed the doors of the restaurant
before Remy could. He had to admit it felt good to get out and this experience
made him want to move away sooner.
Hayley took a deep breath taking in the
atmosphere of a place that wasn't her Uncle's house. She longed for home and a
place to come and go as she wished but she looked at Remy as he grabbed her
hand and then she wasn't so sure.
She smiled as Remy pulled her gently
following behind Ally and Wolverine. Logan had his arm around Ally's waist as
they followed the hostess. He bent down to say something to her and she
laughed. Hayley sighed a little, they were really in love and they both
deserved it. She knew going up North would be Ally's dream. She could pretend
she wasn't mutant and raise their children in a normal setting. She bit her lip
as they came to the table.
Remy turned and gestured to the chair he
held out for her and he noticed her far away look. He turned his back to Ally
and Logan and faced Hayley.
He touched her face lightly,
"Chere?" He dipped down to her height and kissed her cheek. He
noticed a look of doubt across her face. Did she regret him? The thought made
him feel like a sledgehammer slammed him in the chest.
Hayley turned her face up to him when he
put his hand under her chin lightly. "It's not you," she smiled at
him, "I’m just wondering where my sisters will be going from here."
She sighed and touched his chest gently.
"Problem, Gumbo?" Wolverine
called.
Ally slapped his arm lightly,
"Hush."
"Nothing's wrong," Hayley said
as she sat down.
"This swamp rat coercing you?"
Logan glared at Remy.
"No, Wolverine," Hayley hissed
before Remy could answer, "Violence isn't everyone's solution.
Ally kicked Hayley under the table for
calling him Wolverine as the waitress arrived.
Logan and Remy traded a curious look at
them. The waitress let her eyes take in the handsome men and didn't bother to
look at Hayley or Ally, even when she spoke to her.
She kneeled down to meet Gambit's eyes,
"What can I get for you, hon?"
Remy started to laugh at the waitress,
"Well now, how about dis?" he pointed to the special and looked at
Hayley, "dat wha' yo’ wan’ too, chere?" Then he kissed her hand
hoping the waitress would catch the hint that Hayley wasn't his sister.
"Where you all from?" The
waitress cooed, ignoring the sweet gesture between Remy and Hayley.
"He's Cajun," Hayley's temper started to flare as it became
hotter in the restaurant.
Logan noticed and cleared his throat to
get her attention. She turned to him with a bright smile and dared him to stop
her antics.
"What kin I git you, ma am?"
She said flatly to Ally and kept her eyes on Logan.
"We'll have this," Ally
answered, annoyed at being ignored by the rude waitress.
The waitress wrote down the order taking
in Logan’s warm brown eyes, "Anythin’," she cooed, staring at Logan's
eyes.
Ally squeezed his hand, "No, Just
orange juice." The waitress wrote it down but still would not look at
Ally.
"Excuse me. I’m over here,"
Ally gestured until the waitress looked at her, "Yeah me. I did the
ordering remember?"
The waitress stood with a huff and then
looked alternately at Logan and Remy, "Be right back with the juice."
Hayley's eyes glowed slowly and the
woman began to perspire causing her heavy make up began to run.
"Hayley," Ally hissed at her
sister.
"Better than setting her on
fire," she winked at her sister and put her head on Gambit's shoulder.
Ally lowered her voice, "Better
people don't know we are mutants."
"What, are we supposed to do? Stay in
the closet the rest of our lives?" Hayley picked her head up and almost
yelled it at Ally. The words caught the attention of other patrons and the
small group got some annoyed looks.
"Check please," Remy joked.
"Al's right," Logan grunted,
"it’s best not to make waves."
The waitress came back putting their
orange juice in front of them and let her look linger at Logan again.
When she gave Remy his juice she touched his shoulder lightly and winked coyly.
Hayley stood up, "Um, Flo,"
Hayley caught the young woman's attention, "Back off him, ok?"
The waitress turned around, looked
offended at Hayley then huffed away. Remy usually would have chuckled, but he
worried that Hayley really would set her on fire,
"Can't take you anywhere, huh
chere?" He joked weakly. "Hayl," Ally hissed, "No
fighting."
"So, wonder boy will be up
tonight?" Logan attempt to change the subject.
"Who would do that to him you
suppose?" Ally made a sad face, "Yes he jokes a bit much but that
attack was a bit extreme."
Hayley sipped her juice, "With his
sense of humor, it could have been anybody."
"Yeah, what about Chuck?" Logan
added. He hated the fact it was pointing to someone on the inside.
'Flo' came back to the table and placed
their food in front of them without conversation. She glanced at Hayley with a
quick sneer.
"Thanks flo," Logan said
shoveling some eggs in his mouth.
Ally squeezed his hand, "Her name's
cindy, hon."
"Then why did Hayley call her
Flo?" he wondered.
Hayley's eyes twinkled, "after that
bee-hived waitress from that old television show. You know, Kiss my grits
Flo?"
Remy chuckled as he looked at the
waitress who now look much older with her make up caught in tiny wrinkles in
her face.
Ally smiled too. "Let's keep a low
profile," she whispered, "please."
Gambit pushed his fork through his food
feeling a little worried and guilty about Rayne. Occasionally he pushed some in
his mouth.
"Your food's dead already,
cajun," Logan mumbled with his face full.
"Are you worried about your
sister?" Ally said sympathetically. He gave her a rueful smile and sighed.
"It's okay," Ally touched his hand lightly, "I think she has us
all a little worried."
Logan finished his meal and lit his
cigar he sipped his coffee and sat back in his chair. "She'll be all
right, the kid's a fighter."
"She has a ways to go though,
hon," Ally offered.
"There’s a lot of people
around Chucks to help out. She’ll be fine," Logan flipped some ashes onto
his plate.
Remy agreed and smiled with a nod then
lifted his head as the waitress came out. Remy took his pack of cigarettes out.
"You can't smoke in here," She
said roughly, "This is the non-smoking section."
"We asked for smoking," Logan
argued as he raised a brow. She merely walked away as he put his cigar out and
Remy tucked his cigarettes back into his coat.
"Access denied," Hayley sighed
and sipped her juice again, "Sorry honey." She smiled at Remy.
"S'cool," he patted her knee,
"We can wait 'til your done."
"I’m finished," Ally sighed,
"But before we go, I need to go to the ladies room first."
Hayley suddenly felt nauseated, "I
do too," And she rushed away knowing that Ally was behind her. She found
the closet stall and heard Ally run into in the bathroom.
"Hayl?" Ally's soft voice
called. "Just let me die," Hayley groaned and flushed the toilet.
Ally disappeared in another stall as
Hayley came out of hers. Hayley took a paper towel and wet it wiping it over
her face and then began washing her hands vigorously, "the joys of being
pregnant."
Ally came out, washed her hands quickly
then groaned, "There’s no more towels."
"Here," Hayley pushed the button
to the hand dryer but nothing happened, "It's busted! What kinda place is
this? Rude help and unkempt bathrooms."
"So, I guess we drip dry," Ally
started shaking her hands free of the water.
"Nope, I have an idea," Hayley
warmed her hands with her powers and held them over to Ally to dry her hands.
Ally’s face fell when she looked over
Hayley's shoulder and saw 'Flo' at the doorway looking at Hayley drying their
hands with reddish glowing hands.
They stopped quickly. Hayley turned to
see the waitress, "Um. You didn't have any more towels."
The waitress pointed at them accusingly,
"YOUR MUTANTS!"
The fright on her face was evident and she
picked up a steak knife from her apron and threw it at Hayley. To her surprise
the knife stopped in mid air and hung there. Other patrons began to look their
way.
As soon as Hayley and Ally left, Logan
grabbed his coffee cup and looked at Remy, "You better take care of her,
Bayou boy."
"I thought I was mon ami," Remy
smiled, "Don’ worry, Gambit won’ hurt her."
"You love her?" Logan knew it
wasn't his business and he wasn't even sure why he asked.
Remy gave him a non-committal smile,
"Mebbe so." He wished he had a cigarette for this conversation. He
wasn't sure how to verbalize his relationship with Hayley. The idea of being
with her was as comfortable as being with Rayne but Rayne was different. She
was his sister.
"She seems to love you," Logan
grunted. He knew he was right about this by watching her. He wanted to tell him
not to hurt her and that if he did he would be there with a fist in his face
but he had already said too much instead he growled, "What's keeping
them?"
A shrieking voice broke the restaurant's
silence, "MUTANTS!"
Logan and Remy looked around wondering if
they had done something.
"Dey after de femmes," Remy said
getting to his feet.
"Aw shit, nice quiet breakfast
huh?" He grumbled as he got up.
Hayley let her eyes glow blue and let the
knife hit the floor, "Back up, Flo. We don‘t want any trouble."
The terrified waitress backed up so they
could leave the rest room and Ally's eyes began to glow hoping to erase her
memory. But a patron saw Ally's glowing eyes and gasped.
Hayley grabbed Ally's arm, "Just
run." They both ran at top speed through the restaurant. Some of the
patrons stood, blocking their way.
A large man came from the kitchen and
looked at them, "We don't like muties in here."
"So who's a mutant," Hayley
smiled innocently.
Flo came out of the kitchen area,
"They are Mutants! I saw that ones hands glow!" she pointed at
Hayley.
They looked at each other and sighed,
"air" they said together and became light enough to flip over the
heads of the crowd that wouldn't permit them through to the men.
"That's just gymnastics," a
woman sighed as she saw both women land on their feet.
Remy ran to them quickly donning his
shades to avoid the issue of his eyes. He put an arm protectively around
Hayley's waist, "Let's go chere."
He tried to guide her out of there as
Logan tried to join them but more people stood in their way.
A man picked up his knife and tapped it to
his palm, "What, are you all mutants?" he spat at them.
Remy looked towards the floor, "We
leavin’, non?"
Logan was cut off from the other three but
started pushing his way through when he saw the knife thrown for Gambit's head.
The knife paused within an inch of his
head and Gambit plucked it from the air, "Time ta leave now, non?" He
tossed the shades off letting his eyes glow threateningly.
"Shit, they are all mutants!"
Somebody said. "Kill them quick, before they kill us," Another
shouted. Logan started to push towards Ally, Gambit and Hayley but was taken for
a human and they didn't give way easily.
Remy inhaled deeply seeing Logan was
getting closer and he thrust Hayley to him, "Wolverine, get her
safe." And he turned to help Ally but a man grabbed Hayley before she
could get to Logan. He pulled her into a head lock and stared appreciatively at
her heaving chest. "Too bad you're a mutie," he whispered in her ear.
"Forgive me Chuck, but we
tried," Logan told himself and then shouted, "Let her go," to
the man who held Hayley. He didn't listen and Logan pushed the people from him
roughly and made his way to her.
The man leered at him, "Let her
go." Logan demanded.
"Who's gonna make me?" the man
laughed. Logan popped his claws out, "I will," he growled. Seeing two
pairs of 9 inch knife blades protruding from Logan’s hands made the man relax
his grip and Hayley wrestled loose.
Logan retracted one set and grabbed
Hayley's arm but another person pulled at her hair trying to hold her back.
Hayley turned to loosen the grip but threw lightening by accident. The man who
had her hair flew back and didn't move.
The people stood watching in fright as
Logan ushered her to the door. He turned to see Ally and Remy still stuck in
the middle of the crowd. Logan grabbed Hayley's arm and pushed her out the
door, "Get you and your kid to the roof until we get outside."
Remy watched Hayley get pulled to safety
then he felt a tomato hit his head.
Ally backed up to him. "You okay,
chere?" he asked over his shoulder.
"Yes," she exhaled and began
fending off the flying foods with her telekinesis. Remy turned her to him and
put his arm around her shoulders.
"Let's try to walk out again,"
he said as the crowd stopped after watching Hayley's attack.
They were cut Remy short as somebody
cried, "He's not breathing. The mutie killed him."
Ally shrugged Remy off and ran through
the crowd to the injured man where a woman was crying over him.
Remy panicked, "Ally, no." He
ran after her pushing his way forward.
Ally looked at the man who lay on the
ground unmoving and she knelt beside him.
She gestured to the woman, "Do you
know CPR?" The woman continued to cry and shook her head no. Ally began
CPR on the man her sister struck down.
She continued it and Remy knelt beside her
remembering the procedure when he helped Justice with Hayley.
Ally's eyes glowed as she tapped
Hayley's ability. Remy eyes grew wide realizing she was taping Hayley's power.
He began to worry if she would set something on fire.
Soon Ally threw the electricity to his
heart and felt for a pulse. Nothing. She tried again.
The man jumped back to life. He looked at
Ally's concerned face and saw eyes that were identical to the woman who had
injured him. Ally sighed as the woman hugged him.
Ally felt Remy’s hand on hers urging her
to stand. "That's the one that tried to kill me," the man said
softly. Then he caught Ally off guard. As she stood, he grabbed her shirt,
pulling her back to the ground.
A male close to the injured man's head
assumed he was being attacked again. "Woman or no," He muttered and
uppercut Ally's jaw sending her hard back against Remy.
Gambit felt Ally fall into him and he
brushed the hair from her face, "Chere," but he only found her closed
eyes and his own eyes became red glowing slits. He produced a card from his
coat and charged it and held it above his head threateningly and pulled Ally
into his arms.
He tried standing but had to let the
charge go to carry Ally. He grasped her to him and backed into something. He
turned to see Logan standing there with his eyes furious and his claws
protruding.
"Get her outta here, Gumbo,"
Logan growled and looked at the man who struck her as he walked menacingly
towards him.
"That's my wife bub," He pointed
a clawed hand at him, "You like pickin’ on pregnant women?"
Gambit stopped, seeing Logan's anger was
going too far. "He not worth it, Mon ami," He called to him,
"Your wife needs you. Come on." He kept inching his was to the door.
That stopped Logan from slicing the man up.
"Your lucky bub, very lucky," he
growled at him then ran to his wife and friend.
Remy hit the fresh air of outside
and sighed. He noticed there was no Hayley and his head flipped around looking
for her, "Hayley?"
Hayley flew down from the roof and landed
next to him, "What happened to Ally?"
Gambit ignored the question and nodded to
the car, "We got to go, now. Dey not gon' be happy wit’ jus' chasin' us
out."
Wolverine walked over and touched Ally's
head as Remy held her and he pulled her to him. "Owe ya one Cajun,"
He grunted.
Gambit pulled Hayley by the waist and
gave her the keys, "Start de car, Chere." She listened to him and
realized that he must have had escaped this kind of situation before. He
quickly went to work and pulled the cars license plates off.
Wolverine cocked an eyebrow at the thief. 'Pretty
smart kid,' He thought to himself and eased Ally into the back seat and
locked her seat belt.
Hayley jumped the car to life and Logan's
eyes widened in horror as Gambit slid into the passenger seat and tossed the
plates on the floorboard.
"Hayley's driving?" Logan
growled and quickly fastened his seat belt. Hayley roared the car out of the
parking space, scattering gravel as some of the patrons and employees looked
out of the windows.
"Fasten your seat belt Gumbo,"
Logan warned him.
Remy's eyes widened and he buckled his
belt quickly. "Why?" he asked in general.
"Ever see what happened to Al's
car?" Logan snorted.
Hayley felt offended. "We were being
chased by the brotherhood and then somebody was in the road," She scoffed,
"You couldn't have done any better Lo'," she eyed the rear view.
Once they got to a slow stretch of road,
Remy had her pull over and he put he plates on again. He glanced at Ally in the
back seat unconscious, and he sighed. He had to admit that of the
sisters, Alex had more than his respect with all she had done and so did
Ally. Hayley might not be a high standing moral character like her sisters, and
in a lot of ways she was like him. She was loyal and he respected that about
her. He also respected that they had tried not to use their abilities to level
the place. And by not abusing their power, it was something they had done in
loyalty to Xavier.
He found the driver's seat and motioned
Hayley out with a chuckle, "Chere, Wolverine’ right."
She pretended to look hurt but relented
the seat. He took the seat and wanted to put some distance between them and the
angry humans. He was been in awe of Ally's selfless act to help that man when
so many in the place wanted to kill them. It reminded him of Rayne and how she
would gave up everything for him. But the man Ally had risked her life to save
was a total stranger. He sighed, wondering if they were that good a person, or
they were that crazy.
Justice heard a knock on the door. Storm
scrambled to get it in hopes of keeping Justice in bed a few more hours.
Scott Poured in, "Have you seen the
news?"
"What news?" Justice eye’s
widened.
Scott swiped the remote from Justice and
clicked the stations around until he found the channel.
The man on the screen stood there wild
eyed and he spoke quickly into the microphone, "There was four of them,
and one tried to kill this guy with lightening."
"What did they look like?" the
faceless reporter said pushing the microphone back in his face.
"Two women and two men. And I think
one guy was a foreigner."
"Aw shit," Justice mumbled and
then he looked at Storm, "Aren't you glad we didn't go now?" Storm
hushed him still looking at the television.
A young woman with caked make up and a big
hair do was interviewed next, "The one guy was Cajun or something, and had
red eyes. And a woman kept callin' me 'Flo'," the woman complained,
"Well, they tried to kill me. Then they attacked this innocent man. He
wasn't killed but they hurt him pretty bad." She indicated to the
ambulance behind her.
Scott kicked the bed and pointed to the
TV, "What, they didn't stop to have their pictures taken too? With that
kind of description they should have just told them their names and got it over
with," Scott barked.
"Hey," Justice yelled, "We
don't know everything yet."
Scott nodded, "The media always
shows the worst side of things. They never tell the true story when it comes to
mutant involvement." He said a silent prayer they didn't have any Xavier
clothing on to identify the school. "I hope they were smart enough not to
point them at the school," Justice sighed.
"I am sure they were. Hayley and Remy
both have enough street smarts to throw them off the trail," Storm assured
him.
Justice's hand flew in the air,
"Hayley's street smarts are jinxed." He sighed and looked at Scott's
worried face, "At least no one was killed."
"I wonder what happened,"
Storm mused aloud.
"Well, before they left I told them
to scare the straights for me," Justice shrugged, "But who knew
they’d take me seriously."