"Now you listen to me, Remy," the specter stood beside him placing one of her hands on his shoulders hoaxing him to his feet, "I'm goin' to help you make everythin' better, but you got to do one thing."
The old floor boards began to creak as Remy reached his feet, maybe it was just an illusion but for the first time since he came the smoke seemed to clear, bringing the tiniest bit of hope to the down troten thief's mind. Turning to Belladonna his red on black eyes mirrored that wee sense of hope, "Wat do I got to do?"
"Gone?..." the whisper had barely escaped her. "Remy has left?..." The regal wind rider slumped against the wall for support, the woman who soared through clouds on a daily basis, now feared her legs would give. "Are you sure, Charles?"
"Quite sure." Xavier, for the first time in minutes, pulled his eyes from the images of the raging storm outside, the shock was beginning to leave him. But sadly not his students, especially the cause of the storm. "I am sorry."
"You do not need to apologize, Charles."
The tips of blue fingers reached behind toward the soft white feathers of his wings, slightly touching them, just a gentle stroke, a simple reassurance they were still there.
Warren smiled.
But like all things the smile soon faded as he watched Storm close her eyes; a bolt of lightning struck the ground, its light illuminating her like a spotlight.
"Is she causing this? That bastard leaving hurt her that much?"
That didn't settle very well with him. He was quite possibly one of the key factors that caused Gambit to disappear into the night in which he came, leaving a gnawing ball in his stomach.
"I now whole heartily regret what I had said." said Beast as he approached Ororo, his nails tapping against the shiny linoleum each step of the way. "It was the heat of the moment that led me to my conclusion. I did not think ahead to what my actions might cause. I am sorry." A furry hand laid itself upon Storm's shoulder, the lights flickered in and out as another bolt struck close hitting the electrical wires.
As the humming of the bulbs hushed a single tear fell from Storm's eyes and the hand that directed thunder also fell, but it fell upon the soft fur of her friend, taking comfort. Her fingers were slightly tickled by the short bristles and an unseen smile began to form on Beast's face. In the temporary darkness the good doctor knew everything was okay...
Then the lights returned.
"The heat of the moment dictated you actions?" Ororo looked up, her usually kind eyes had grown terribly cold, "Then it quite lucky we all did not have axes or Remy would be dead."
The good doctor so wished for the darkness to return. In the darkness everything was going to be okay.
Beast, in his longing for normality, had barely noticed Storm fly off but it wasn't hard to see that she had made good time, her hair contrasted so much with the dark skies. Soon she would be out of shouting distance.
"Wait..." he had called out but she did not hear him or did not bother to respond, Beast wasn't quite sure which was the circumstance.
"It's okay," Wolverine's gruff voice accompanied the comforting pat on the back, "I'll talk to her. Ya never know, she might listen to me."
Lowering his eyes, Beast and the rest of the X-Men watched as Wolverine ventured out, the top of his hair the last thing to disappear from their sights, in what appeared to be an all out hurricane.
Then Hank got his wish, the lights blew out.
"You got to go back."
Remy stumbled back startled, nearly crashing into a few of the identical stools that rested beside the bar. It was the first real action, besides a ghost materializing, the bar had seen since Ben, the bartender, locked the place up for the holidays. The dust, that had settled to the floor during the time after it had been closed for the holidays, flew up at the surprise movement and danced upon the slight breeze that dwelt within the near vacant room for a moment before resting again.
"Are you nuts?" The thief's red eyes stared quizzically at the ghost. "Back to de house?"
The dead assassin nodded.
"De house I just left?"
Again, the dead assassin nodded.
An image popped into Remy's mind then; an image that included various members of the X-Men yelling, chairs, the kitchen table being toppled over, and his dead body on the floor with his blood seeping out staining the tiles. It quickly disappeared returning his mind to the bar and glancing around the empty room he knew he had a very easy choice to make. "Not goin'."
Belle took far less time contemplating before she responded and pointed to the door and with a bang, it swung open. "You got to."
His eyes had followed the door before it hit the wall causing them to instinctively shut. It was suicide going back. All those people all angry at him... he couldn't face them, one in particular. "I can'. I'm not goin' back, dat's dat."
"Why?" She watched as he turned away from her and returned to the bar. Belle "hmphed". Being cryptic with her wasn't going to work nor was trying to be commanding even if she hadn't been dead. It was then a light dawned in her mind and her aggravation toward him bled away. He had his reasons and it didn't take a genius to figure them out. Exhaling an unneeded breath she softly told him, "Wait, don' answer dat. I know why."
"Why can't Ah have a nice Christmas every so often?" Rogue asked heavenward as she wrapped the wine red sheets of her bed tightly around her.
She was still chilled.
" Now Ah know why Scrooge was so bitter."
The wind pounded her already rattling window as the humming of her heater tried to match. But for a moment the wind won the competition shaking the glass and frame violently causing Rogue to turn. "Ah hope that thing doesn't come out." she said cocking her head to one side examining the frame from where she sat, "Ah really don't feel like bunkin' with anyone tonight... especially tonight."
With a sigh she turned her attention back to the side of her bed and to the small brown bear that stared her dead in the face with his little black eyes. "Come here," she whispered to the plush toy, almost expecting it to obey, before grabbing the little thing and sitting it in front of her.
"Now why do ya think the only two men in this house attracted to me have horrible skeletons in their closets?" she asked addressing the bear.
The bear didn't reply, just stared back.
"You don't know either, do you? Well, neither do Ah. And Ah don't think Ah ever will." Dancing the bear closer to her, Rogue hugged it tightly to herself. "Ah just hope Remy's okay, like wild dogs down there before. Ah don't hear any shoutin' though. Hmm, maybe Bobby froze them all so no one would get hurt."
The she paused pulling the bear away, " Where is Bobby, anyway?"
"I don't like today."
The Windows 95 icon flashed on the screen as the computer booted up. After what felt like an eternity the main screen came on, the butterflies that decorated the background finally appeared and grasping the mouse as if life depended on it Bobby started to move the pointer around the screen.
"I liked Christmas a lot more when I was little and it involved Santa and not Sinister." he mumbled as he moved the cursor to the Netscape Navigator icon, some surfing over the internet would help him forget today he hoped. "Just because they both start with S's doesn't mean their interchangeable holiday icons."
The white pointer floated over the desired icon and, much not to Bobby's surprise, decided not to move anywhere else or click down.
Frozen. The whole computer was frozen.
"That's it. Screw you, Bill Gates.," he placed his fingers on "Ctrl", "Alt", and "Delete" and closed the whole thing out. "I'll play "Doom" on Dos. Just as long as I get to shoot something and relieve the frustration."
The lights of the computer dimmed leaving Bobby in the dark for a few seconds. "Hey, at least I didn't get the blue Windows screen of death again," he chuckled half hearted to himself as something about the complete darkness made him uneasy. The computer began to hum slightly as the empty black screen of Dos appeared before him and with just a tiny cursor blinking greeted Bobby Drake as he tried to forget.
"Rogue's de reason why you can' go back, isn't it Remy? It's not wat Warren might feel about you or Xavier, it's Rogue." Finished, she gave Remy his space and sat herself down at the bar. Belle smiled, that would get his attention.
Gambit glanced up briefly watching Belle sitting a few seats to his left. This was such an odd day, not even considering what happened at the house. "How'd you know, cherie?" he whispered knowing no matter how lightly he spoke the specter would hear him.
"I'm dead. I pretty much know all." she tapped her nails against the bar and frowned as they went through. That still needed some more practice. "Besides, to me you've always been as transparent as clear, natural, spring water."
For the first time that night Gambit laughed, "Dat true. But chere den now you know why I can' go back. Dey most likely don' want me dere anyway. I'm doin' wat's best."
The deceased assassin shook her head at her friend and exhaling another unneeded breath. "Don' 'dink for people Remy. Your always wrong wid dis kind of stuff." Amused at the confused look on his face she got up, while the pool balls racked themselves and a stick jumped into her ghostly hands, and floated to the scratched pool table.
Crack.
Two balls went down into the pockets. The specter paced to the other side of the table, briefly looking up at the only living person in the bar who had turned to watch. "You got to learn from your own history Remy or you'll keep repeatin' it."
Crack. Another ball gone.
The floor boards creaked as the thief walked toward the table. "I thought you were gonna help me not start spittin' out lines from fortune cookies."
Crack. Three more.
Aggravated, Belladonna slammed the pool stick down. At least he wasn't brooding again, she thought amused, calming her aggravation with him a little. Taking a deep breath, "But dat is where all your problems lie. You don' learn. If you did den you would know dat dis won't get you away from your problems only prevent dem from biting you in de ass for a while."
"Chere," Gambit began talking to her like she was five, drawing nearer to the spirit, "I can' go back besides Rogue bein' dere, dey know wat I've done."
"Jean-Luc knows wat you've done for years and he still loves you." Belle grabbed the pool stick again with a smirk and returned to her game.
"My papa knows about de massacre?"
"Three weeks after you did it," she replied matter-the-factly, sending another ball into the pocket. "You shouldn' 'dink for other people, you not dem. Dey much more complex dan you give dem credit. Is dat enough to convince you to go back?"
Remy smiled, "You know me well enough, Belle. Is it?"
"Naw, dat would be too easy. You much too stubborn to be convinced like dat. Dat's why I loved you." The deceased assassin returned to the other side of the table, lining up her shot.
Eight ball, corner pocket, the easiest shot the game had ever seen and in the dim light of the musty old bar Gambit recognized the shot; the one he had missed. Belle glanced at Remy briefly, her eyes meeting his from across the room, then returned her attention to the ball. The ebony ball glistened in the light that radiated from the one bulb lamp that hung overhead.
"So chere," Remy moved closer, leaning over the table talking ever so softly, his red eyes sparkling in the shadows the lamp's light created. "You said you were gonna help me..."
"Stop it." She didn't even bother to look up, continuing to line up her final shot.
Gambit drew still closer. He'd be damned if he let her make the shot he missed, he'd brake her concentration, "You always were a perfectionist... you..."
Throwing him a glare she eyeballed her shot one last time. "First of all, Remy," the specter laughed, despite the fact that she was trying to concentrate, "Your flirting with a ghost. Don' you find dat a waste of your energy?" Belle shook her head to herself, try to make her miss her shot. She knew his tricks, he mastered them on her. At least he was acting like himself again. "I'll return to Yoda mode in a second, just as soon as I..."
Crack. The corner pocket rattled as the ball plummeted down.
Game point.
Belladonna straightened up as she heard the ball smack the bottom of the leather pocket, and nodded in approval of her work. The pool stick hovered back to its rack almost as if it were alive itself, lightly grazing the floor, seemingly dancing most of the way.
"Wat an easy shot, right Remy?" she whispered into his ear from behind, causing the startled man to jump forward a little, his duster flaring right through her. She didn't mind, just simply continued moving to the other ear. "But I guess de shot would be harder when de ball turns into Joeneto's head."
"Joseph." Remy whispered as he could almost see right before his eyes Joseph holding Rogue, sleeping soundly in his bed. His eyes narrowed as the picture seemed to fade away into the backdrop of the bar.
Belle smiled. That was the fire she wanted lit beneath him, this was the Remy LeBeau she knew that would do something. She circled around him with a glint in her clear blue eyes, "And dere's more to it dan just dat."
