Gambit had learned a lot about Sylvianne and her group in the month he had stayed there. It kind of gave him a picture of what Rogue would be like in twenty years. He liked what he saw, and not just physically. He saw a woman who had confidence, but knew her limitations. She had learned it by experience. In some ways she had been more protected than Rogue in her youth, but in other ways she had been more prepared. Most of her hardest les sons came when she was older an able to deal with them better. When they had a discussion about this she begged him to tell her about his fiance. He guessed she was probably seeing how much he was like her husband. What better way than to see how he talked about the love of his life. After he gave her a brief description of how he came to love Rogue- what qualities in her drew him to her, she talked about her life, The hardest lesson for her was learning to live without her husband, they had been so close, this was the one lesson she still had problems with. When she said this Gambit saw the longing and sad look in her eyes that she had when she had looked at him.
"The next hard lesson was t' learn ah'm not invincible. It happened just shortly after ah started this group. We were still in Chicago then and there were only five of us . We split up f' night patrol. Since ah was the leader and dere was an odd number of us ah felt duty bound tah be the one on patrol alone. Ah t'ought mah trainin' was better than anyone else's also so ah protect mahself alone. It just took that once. Ah was attacked and captured by the dictator's Magneto's troops. We had raided his places f' food and weapons a few times already. He must have caught sight of me and decided he wanted to add me to his `ha rem'. Allison is from dere. It was awful. She had a son by him, his name is Justin. Magneto doesn't know we all know about dis. He `allows' her to see Justin once every six months if she tells him all she knows about dis camp, and especially about me. He's fixated on me still! Even after ten years!" "Maybe because y' got away?"
"That's what ah t'ink too. Allison and ah talk `bout what `secrets' she'll divulge before she goes. She joined us four years ago."
"How y' get away?"
She grinned. "Now dat's an interestin' story. I came to naked, with a neutralizin' collar on ah couldn't get off. It also dulled my t'oughts and physical reactions. Ah was panicked and furious deep down, but the collar made me passive. Magneto came in with only this burgundy cloak around him. It didn't impress me at all. Nor did he. He was disgusting. He tried tah sweet talk me. Ah was just gettin' more furious. Ah found myself unable to fight the collar's effect until he started slobbering all over mah breasts. Den somethin' snapped and ah kneed him as hard as ah could. He bent over in agony and ah saw mah chance. Ah ran tah the window, ripped off one o' the curtains and jumped out. It was just the second floor, so jumping was no big deal, ah had trained tah jump from that height hundreds of times in mah guild trainin'. Ah wrapped the curtain around me quickly, as soon as ah landed, then fled. Ah escaped safely. We had a meetin' de next mornin' and we decided dat we had tah move. We decided down south was best. It was and is pretty wild. We learned from mah mistake and very few of us have been captured since. We basically help out anyone we can and raid the dictators."
Gambit had gone on few of those raids, once they even had brief run in with Magneto. Gambit taunted him as he and Sylvianne got away with the others. It felt like sweet revenge both to Gambit and Sylvianne, they laughed all the way back the camp.
"Help us."
"Did Allison finally send you to free us?" As soon as they appeared numerous women surrounded them.
"Shit." Remy muttered. Kurt and Ororo looked askance at him, Matthieu just looked scared, he'd never seen so many people at once in his life.
Remy knew someone had to gain control over this situation, besides the ladies had asked for his help. "I be helpin' you cheres, just tell me how you come to be here."
"The dictator Magneto had us captured for his own pleasure and to produce more mutants with his genes." One woman said.
"Magneto, it figures." Kurt said contemptuously.
"You know dis Magneto, M'sieu?"
"Ja. The X-Men fought him many times, he was our biggest foe."
"We must free these women and their children. No one de serves to be enslaved, for any reason." Ororo said.
"Den we're agreed."
It didn't take long before a number of explosions rocked the building. The women fled with the children, except one woman who brought a blond haired boy over to them.
"This is Justin, he's Allison's son would you take him to her, tell her Tabitha said thanks."
"Wait, Fraulein, where is Allison?"
"Oh she didn't send you?'
"Non."
"Oh well, thank you then. Allison is with Madame LeBeau's group."
"LeBeau?"
"Oh maybe you know her by her alias, Minx."
Remy's eyes went wide. he knew he was home now! He had to find her!
"We are not sure how to get there could you tell us?" Ororo asked Tabitha.
"I'm not sure either, but the Doctor knows. He'll send you there. The Doctor's real close by. only about a half day walk from here down that road. she pointed to westward running road. Then she turned to leave in the opposite direction, saying, "Good luck. Tell Allison Tabitha says hi, she'll know who I am. Bye!"
The next morning they arrived at the Doctor's camp carrying two sleepy young boys. Hank knew this time that this was indeed Minx's husband. His heart sank, but at the same time he was happy for her. After all these years her husband was alive after all.
Remy gave a brief run down on who they were and where they needed to go. After a day's rest Hank gave them the directions to the camp and got them a boat so the trip would take so much out of the boys. Just before they left Hank took Remy aside and told him of the man who had gone to Sylvianne's camp. This Gambit was another reality's version of himself, a younger version. Remy felt a surge of jealousy, he knew himself. This guy better not have been sleepin' wit' his wife or I'm gonna be seriously pissed. Wouldn't blame Sylvianne. After all she thought he was dead, and dis was a guy that looked just like he used to, and probably acted a lot like him. He'd have to go.
Gambit walked patrol. The longer he was here, the more he missed his Rogue. Minx just was so much like her, but different. Just different enough that he didn't love her, but close enough he longed for Rogue desperately. He'd been around Minx long enough that he recognized the same feelings from her about him. For some reason it made him uncomfortable to alone with her. He'd done more with her than the general flirting he had always done with any woman. He really liked the kids, and they had come to like him in a sort of brotherly way. Denise, who went by Mischief as her alias, had a love of photography. She had made a hidden darkroom, way back underground that she showed him and the photographs she had taken over the years. Her original camera had been a gift from the Doctor. Gambit could tell Denise was still quite young when Hank gave her the camera, by how young Sylvianne looked in those earliest pictures, not much older than his Ro- guie. And the boy Perren, really reminded Gambit of himself at 18, too cocky, wild, and unable to settle his heart on one woman at a time, much less the rest of his anatomy. Gambit had to agree with the boy's choice of an alias, Trouble. He wondered after being around them what he and Rogue's kids would be like. It was time to ask Sylvianne if she could really get him home... He was preoccupied by these thoughts, so when a dark hooded man stepped right in front of him he was taken by surprise. Then the man said gruffly, "You been messin' wit' my wife, pup?" The man threw back his overhanging hood and Gambit couldn't help a brief gasp. This was obviously an older version of himself.
"Non mon ami. But I take you t' her."
"Hmph." Remy wasn't completely convinced, but for now he'd let it go. He wanted to be with his wife now. This boy wasn't important.
Gambit watched the other people traveling with this older version of himself walking toward him. He was surprised to recognize Ororo Munroe and Kurt Wagner, and they looked the same age as the ones he knew. Instinctively he knew they weren't his friends though. They reacted with surprise to his appearance. Then Gambit saw the two boys, the older had blond hair, the younger had unusual striped auburn and white. He looked a lot like Perren. Gambit began to wonder if something similar had happened to this guy as had happened to him. Had he ended up in yet another alternate reality?"
"Well pup, y' gonna show me de way or not?"
Gambit looked embarrassed for a moment then without a word walked quickly back to camp. Remy threw his hood back over his head and followed Gambit. Gambit met up with the other members of his patrol and briefly explained that these people had come to join them. As soon as they got into the camp proper Allison Blaire shrieked, "Justin!" Mother and son ran to each other and hugged tight.
Sylvianne came out when she heard Allison's shout. She saw Gambit watching the reunion. She motioned to him and Gambit came over. Remy still kept his hood up and watched with tinge of jealousy especially when Sylvianne openly flirted with Gambit. He barely restrained himself from rushing after them when Gambit went back with his wife into a partly ruined building. He fol- lowed them slowly until he was within earshot.
Gambit knew now was the time to go home. "Chere, I've got t' go home, can y' help me. When de Doctor send me here, he said y' could."
"Ah can, but would yah do somethin' for me first?"
"What y' want, chere?" Gambit noticed when she took off her cloak she was wearing a neutralizing collar again, for the first time since the day he got there. He began to have to strong suspicion of what she wanted.
"Ah love mah Remy an' yah love yoah Rogue. Ah'm 42 years old. Mah children are about grown. Ah want yah tah give me another baby." Before he could say anything in response she grabbed him with one hand pulled his head down to hers and began to kiss him open mouthed stroking her tongue against his. The other hand grabbed his crotch. Gambit gasped, dis woman really know me, he thought. Then Remy burst into the tent, "I be very upset if dat happen!" he shouted and threw back his hood. Sylvianne stopped kissing Gambit when she heard the shout. Sylvianne stared in shock for a moment at her husband apparently back from the dead. "Bon Dieu..." she said and fainted. Both Gambit and Remy grabbed her before she hit the floor and lifted her to the bed. As soon they got her on the bed Remy said sharply, "Get away from my wife." Gambit backed off and left the tent.
"Remy?" Sylvianne asked as she regained consciousness.
"Oh cherie, Remy so glad..."
"Me too..." They hugged each other tightly.
"Now `bout de baby t'ing, ma douce amie, believe can oblige y' on dat."
"Oui!" she giggled and pulled her husband down on top of her, quickly removing his clothing, while he grinned broadly and removed hers.
Gambit wandered around the camp, flirting with the women and talking with the children. When he sat down by the bonfire most of the children in the camp converged on him, including Justin and Matthieu. Gambit told his audience another story. The children of the camp had come to expect this, the evenings he was in camp. Some of the children's parents listened to the stories too. Gambit had a real gift in telling tales. When told this by adults he would disparage it by saying, "Non, jus' a good liar."
Tonight while he told his tale though there were other noises in the camp and they weren't instrumental. Gambit grinned broadly when he recognized the passionate cries. She even make exactly de same noises as my Roguie.
Some time afterward, when all the children had been put to bed, Sylvianne and Remy reemerged Sylvianne looked around a bit embarrassed at all the knowing smiles from the adults. Remy smiled very broadly and put his arm around Sylvianne's waist. Then she said, "Y'all probably have guessed that this is mah husband."
The smiles became grins and of course Logan had to make a comment. "If it wasn't, you sure as hell were having fun with someone!"
"Logan! Don't you have any manners!" Jubilee looked at him disgusted. Then she smirked "Why'd I even bother to ask, of course you don't! After sixteen years I ought to know!"
The next morning Remy introduced his wife to his traveling companions. When he got to Matthieu she looked at him sharply. Kurt stepped in then. "Frau LeBeau, this is not your husband's child. He was the son of my reality's versions of yourselves." He then told her the same story as he had told Remy. hereyes changed and she looked at Matthieu warmly. "Come here, shugah." Matthieu came over curiously and she hugged him. "Can ah be yah mama?" she asked. Matthieu nodded solemnly, and Sylvianne hugged him again. Then Sylvianne teased her husband, "Ah'm gonna like being married tah a younger man!" In the course of Kurt's tale she had realized that Remy was now four years younger than her, rather than five years older, since it had been fourteen years for her, but only five for him.
"Mes amies I hate t' interupt, but I'd like t' go home." Gambit asked.
"Oh how rude of me! Ah completely forgot after..."
"It okay chere, Gambit understands."
Sylvianne motioned to a red haired young woman, "Rachel could you take Gambit home?"
"Sure." She walked off and Gambit followed her.
"Petite, where I'm from your parents are alive, you'd be welcomed by dem, and all of us."
"I belong here. I've visited other realities, even ones better than this one, and none of them felt like home. I'm really needed here too."
Gambit had heard Rachel's story, like everyone else by now. She had been eight years old when her parents were killed, but unlike the Rachel that had come to Gambit's reality she had not been captured, but had been saved by this reality's Storm just befotre she had been killed. In this reality there had been a large number of X-teams too, but more than half of them were killed in battle. This reality's Scott, Jean, Kurt, and Professor Xavier had been among the dead. The survivors had over time ended up with Sylvianne's group. Her group and allies being the closest this world had now to the ideals of the dream. He had in the month he had been here, met this world's older versions of Theresa, James, Sam and his sister Paige, Danielle, Rahne, Rictor, Illyanna, Sean, and even Moira McTaggart. He also met this world's Tante Mattie. She treated him like he was her own son, not much different from the one he knew. She came up to him now. "You be careful in your world. I'm going to worryin' about you from now on. And take care of that Rogue of yours. She must have been missing you something awful." She hugged him tight and he saw tears in her eyes.
"I take care of Roguie, I promise, and myself." She stepped back then and watched him leave in a flash of light with Rachel.
************************************************************
This part's title is from a Moody Blue's song- the only word's in the song are the words in the title- as in most of their songs the music is very important to the mood of the song, that mood is what I picture Gambit's being in this chapter.