Disclaimer: Marvel owns the X- Men, Gambit and the Marauders. I own V.S.M. and Thierry.
Thanks to Zoé for inspiring a big part of my story, weather you know it or not, and for taking the time out of your Rosie viewing pleasure to help me pick out a suitable name for Thierry!
Notes: Italics for thought, Bold and Italic for telepathy and Bold for computerized speech, such as talking computers or communication devices. This cool text is for dream sequences. I'd just like to say that it felt so weird to write this in the middle of thirty degree temperatures! (That's high eighties for all you yanks!)
July 21, 1998.
It was January in New York, and the night was brutally cold, a cold front moving in from the west was bringing with it a massive blizzard, making most of the citizens of New England seek shelter from the snow and negative thirty temperatures¹.
Most, but not all. Gambit, SabreTooth and Vertigo were crouched on a hill, surveying V.S.M. Medical Headquarters. The building was built in the shape of an L, the longer side being six stories high, whereas the smaller half was only five.
Surrounding the building was a three metre high stone wall that went in a rectangle all the way around until it reached the sides of the gates. The gates themselves were about three and a quarter metres tall, with a shelter in the middle for a guard or two. Every twenty feet, on the top of the fence there were two cameras, pointed in opposite directions, which rotated slowly.
Gambit sighed and tossed a look at SabreTooth, who returned the same look to him. "That's pitiful," Gambit muttered. Creed nodded in agreement.
"Oh come on you two. It's a medical research facility. It's not like they're expecting someone to break in."
Creed smiled wickedly, "Their loss."
Gambit smirked. "Literally."
Vertigo crawled up between them and put on a head set. "Alright. Ten o' clock. Officially they've been closed for an hour now. There should only be a few people inside, and they can be easily avoided. The target is on the fifth floor, left wing. You need to get in, steal the files, plant the virus, and get out.
"You have thirty minutes before security finishes their sweep of the fifth floor. After that you have fifteen before they return. That should be enough time for Gambit to hack the system." She turned to Creed. "While he's doing that, it's your job to trash any and all back up files.
"I want you in constant radio contact with me. If anything goes wrong, I want to know immediately, so I can get you out. Try to stay together as much as possible, we don't need you not being able to reach each other if there's an emergency. And keep your coats tight. It's getting pretty frosty out and with you two going up the out--"
"Yes mom," Gambit and SabreTooth uttered in unison.
Vertigo rolled her eyes. "Grow up. You two are starting to get more and more alike as the days go on."
Creed chuckled and made towards the fence. Gambit smiled and got up to follow, but Vertigo caught his arm. "Be careful." She mouthed, worried expression written all over her face.
He put a reassuring hand to hers, holding it there for a moment, and then went to follow Creed, who was sitting at the base of the fence.
Vertigo's voice cut in through his head set as he ran down the hill. Cameras'll be down for ten seconds, in five, four, three, two...
Gambit, on the count of one, leapt and landed on the other side of the fence in a single bound, Creed following close on his tail. They ran towards the building at top throttle.
Gambit silently kept track of the amount of time they were taking. The seconds beat on in his head with every steep he took. With less then a second to spare, he jumped into the shadows, where the camera wouldn't be able to pick him up.
At the same time, Creed jumped for the side out the building, digging his claws in to the side, and climbing up. When he reached the second floor, he looked down to where Gambit was hiding in the shadows, only to find that Gambit wasn't there anymore.
Putting a hand to his transmitter, he whispered, "Check. Am I comin' through?"
Vertigo's voice came back to him in perfect clarity. Loud and clear SabreTooth.
Creed searched for Gambit, but soon gave up. "Where's the Kid?" He asked Vertigo over the link.
"Right above you Victor," Came Gambit's reply, from startlingly close above.
Creed jumped. He hadn't smelled Gambit going by him, and he surely hadn't seen him. "How do you do that?" He asked in mild interest.
"Stayed down wind and in the shadows," He replied simply, charging another small hand hold right into the building. "The storm helps. Anyway, we should be going."
Creed nodded and followed in Gambit's tracks.
When they were at the fifth story, Gambit went to move to one of the windows, but Creed halted his progression by grabbing his leg. "We still got twenty- five minutes. Just hold tight and wait."
Gambit nodded and leaned into the building to wait. As he did, his mind began to wonder. He closed his eyes and allowed it to happen.
He remembered being very cold; colder then he was now. Walking in the cold, thinking about a woman. A woman he loved. She had hurt him, and now he felt like he was dyeing. He saw her face in his mind's eye, and it took his breath away.
He looked up at her, in the cold light of the winter sun. A light glow silhouetted her body, as she hovered in place, looking like a beautiful angel. Tears filled her Scarlet O' Hera green eyes, as she said her final good byes to the man she loved and left him to freeze to death, with no hope of salvation.
He wondered around, thinking about his friends, and how much they hated him, for something he had done, but for the life of him, he couldn't think of what exactly that was. The cold ate away at his soul, and in the brightness, his vision dimmed, and he fell.
As his mind slipped, so did his grasp on the building, and he fell backwards off the wall. Lucky for him, Creed was dirrectly below him, and he managed to catch him by the arm.
"Hang on Kid," Creed whispered, seeing that Gambit was still partailly out of it.
He pulled Gambit back up, and held him so that they were facing each other. "Okay now. Snap out of it."
Gambit blinked at him, slowly coming back to himself, and realizing their situation once again. "Thanks Victor," he whispered. "I... I guess the cold must be getting to me."
Vertigo's voice cut into his thoughts. I told you so!
"Vertigo this is Creed. We're going in," Creed communicated, nodding to Gambit for him to open the window.
As Gambit worked on the alarm system, SabreTooth pondered his condition. He remembers how to pick locks and hack computers, but he doesn't remember his accent?
"We're in," Gambit conveyed, opening the window and jumping in.
Alright boys. The main Computer is the corner office on the end, Creed, your target is across the hall. Be careful. I'll be in the HSAT² monitering your progress. Vertigo out.
Gambit looked to Creed, who nodded for him to go. The two walked cautiously into the hall, each splitting off at their respective destinations.
When Gambit entered the room, he opened his pack and took out his lap top, connecting it to the terminal inside. Using a cloning program, he managed to trick the computer into thinking that he had already entered all of the correct passwords.
Opening the files in MS DOS format and copied the files onto his CDs. Then he took out the virus, and plugged it into the computer with no problems. "I'm almost done here Victor. How's it going for you?"
I'll be done in about seven.
"Alright. We'll meet back in the room we came in. Gambit out."
Gambit looked around the room. It was a regular square office, located on the corner of the fifth story, giving the owner a perfect view of the rolling tree covered hills. Gambit couldn't help but think of how beautiful it must have been in the Fall, when the leaves had turned crisp reds, oranges and golds.
As he was staring out the window, he noticed an odd plane coming in for a landing. He ran to the window and peered out to see four people exit the plane, and head towards the building.
"Victor! We got trouble!" He expressed over his open link, as he packed up his equipment.
What's up kid?
"Company," He hissed, unpluging his PC from the hard drive. "We gotta get out!"
Shit! Where are they?
"Four of 'em comin in the front door. They got a big plane between us and Vertigo. Looks like a blackbird, only it lands upright."
Vertigo, is he talkin' about who I think he is?
You got Cyclops, Phoenix, Beast and Reyes movin' in on your position as we speak!
Gambit grabbed his bag and headed towards the door. He peered down the hall, in the direction which he had come, and saw an elevator rising to their floor. Dirrectly in front of him was a door marked stairs.
He grabbed the disc with the virus and went out the door, towards Creed. Vertigo's voice cut into his ear piece, No! Go the other way! You got people comin' at you in the elevator!
"I can't just abandon Creed!"
Get outta here! I can take care of myself!
Gambit eyed the lights on top of the elevator which signalled they were just passing the fourth floor. "I ain't just leavin' ya here!" He hollered into his piece.
You get yer ass outta here now, or when I get my hands on you, ya won't be able to stand fer a year!
The light on top of the elevator stopped, and the doors started to open.
The Stairs Remy, the stairs! Vertigo yelled at him, as she started the plane.
He turned and ran towards the stairs, cursing his own cowardice as he did so.
"Stop or I'll shoot!" The stereo typical command of a night watchman came ringing from behind, just before the five shots.
He managed to dodge the first two, thanks to his reflexes, but the other three struck well. The third shot, which Gambit assumed must have been aimed at his head, took the left side of his forehead, just above his temple, piercing his headset, and cutting him off from his allies. The fourth shot came through his back pack, and lap top into his left shoulder blade, and exited out the front.
The fifth shot hit with precise accuracy. It entered his right thigh and embedded itself in his leg, causing him to fall sideways into the wall. One of his perusers jumped at him, and the two of them fell rolling to the ground.
They wrestled for a moment, before Gambit got the upper hand and knocked them apart, grabbing his gun in the process. Gambit stood and leaned back on the wall. He brought his arm up quickly, aiming it at the still standing guard, who returned the favour with his own gun.
"It would appear we have a stand off," The guard breathed, sick fear shining through his bravado.
Gambit nodded, then turned his gun on the downed guard who was just sitting up. "Way I see it you have two choices: Either you let this simple hacker go, and save you buddy's life, or I blow his brains all over the wall, and you are forced to take my life to save your own. You really don't want to do that now do you?"
"How about option number three, you worthless piece of trash," yelled the one from the ground. "Mikey there blows Your brains all over the wall before you get the chance, assuming you have any!"
"Witty banter from a Rent- a- cop. But you forget the obvious. I am not here alone. Kill me, and you and Mikey there never see your families again," Gambit replied calmly and smoothly. "Now drop the clip and throw the piece behind me."
Mikey held his arm down, dropped the clip and then tossed the gun behind Gambit. "Thanks," Gambit muttered, charging and dropping a card on the floor, as he ran towards the elevator.
As the door closed behind him, he heard the explosion behind him. Taking a chance that the other people had been coming up the stairs, he pushed the button for the main floor, leaned back against the wall and waited for the elevator to hit the bottom.
When the doors opened, he ran out as fast as he could, and found himself face to face with a tall man in a red visor. The man fired a blast which nearly caught him, but he dropped and rolled under it and came up with the gun under the taller man's throat.
"Gambit?!?" A red haired woman exclaimed from the side of the room.
Gambit squinted and took a steep back from Cyclops and pulled the gun back. He eyed Cyclops, turned to look at Jean, and then looked back at Cyclops.
"What do you think you're doing?!?" Cyclops asked incredulously.
Gambit's head was spinning. He didn't know who these people were, but something inside told him they wouldn't hurt him. He placed his gun in the back of his pants.
"What do you care?" He asked in serious interest.
"You're injured. You've been shot," a big blue guy declared.
He blinked and looked to where the voice had come from. "I noticed," he uttered, taking another step back from Cyclops.
Cyclops cocked his head sideways. Something was wrong here. "Jean?"
He doesn't know who we are. It's like his mind can't remind us. Scott, there's more. All of his surface thoughts, they're of Sinister.
Are you saying Sinister erased his memories?
I don't know. But it's very likely. He needs our help.
"Gambit?" Cyclops asked. Gambit looked up at him, deep question rooted in his eyes. "You're hurt. You need medical attention. Let us help you," Cyclops prodded, extending a hand for Gambit to take.
Gambit took another step back, but looked as if he wanted to listen. "We're your friends, we just want to help you."
Gambit shook his head and swallowed. "I... I..." He shook his head and backed up a step. "Have to go," He whispered, but didn't take another step.
"Remy please?" Scott pleaded taking a step towards Gambit, still offering his hand.
The sound of his name spoken by this man peaked something deep inside his heart. He closed his eyes and concentrated on this feeling, being rewarded with a name. "Scott?" He whispered, not really sure that was his name.
Scott smiled and nodded, still holding out his hand. Slowly, Gambit raised his black gloved hand towards Scott's. He closed his eyes, trying to lose himself in memories that were no longer there. As he did so, his hand shook and his entire body started trembling. He pulled his hand away from Scott and placed both to his head, collapsing to his knees as he did so.
He swallowed hard, as a throbbing pain in his head threatened to overwhelm him. "Why...?" He asked outloud, in a tortured tone, "Why can't I remember?"
Creed came out of staircase just in time to see Gambit fall, and Scott run towards him. Figuring that someone must have hit him with a blast of some sort, he hollered to Gambit, "Remy!" Knowing it would distract Cyclops long enough for Gambit to escape.
"Victor?" Gambit asked, as he felt two hands on his shoulders. Then he felt heat pass his head. Jerking his head up, he was shocked to see a bright red light emanating from Scott's eyes firing upon a face of a man he had come to call an ally, if not a friend.
Grabbing the first object he could get his hands on, he charged and threw at Cyclops, pushing him as far away as he could. He stumbled to his feet, unsure if he would be able to escape these four in his condition, but very determined to try.
Gambit surveyed the room and saw that a black woman and a red haired woman had gone over to their fallen friend and were trying to help him up. He took a few shaky steeps backwards, and felt himself land against a rather large individual.
Whirling on a step, he pulled out the revolver and aimed it at the person he had fallen into. "Victor!" Gambit yelled, trying to move his partner to action.
Gambit looked in the general direction of where Creed had been hit. He saw Creed get up and come towards him, with only minor burns on his chest. As Victor walked passed him, towards the main door, Gambit started in that direction himself.
He stumbled once and fell back, but Creed was there to catch him. "Don't try to follow us," hissed Creed, as the two of them backed out the door. Soon they were lost to the X- Men in the snow, and on their way back to wherever they had been.
Cecilia looked to the other X- Men when they were gone and asked, "What was that all about?"
Under his visor, Cyclops's eyes squinted and flashed crimson in anger. "I don't know. But I intend to find out."
1. -30°C is about -22°F.
2. High Speed Air Transportation.
CRIM§ON™.