Lori McDonald
July 1997
"All right, this is the same sort of exercise as before," Kurt said, rubbing his hands together. "Don't let me hit you and-"
"Kick his teeth in!" Rogue yelled helpfully.
Kurt sighed. "I was going to say 'try to work a little more on the offensive.'"
"Fuck that! Ah want blood!"
"Rogue!"
"O' course it is, sugah. Ah nevah got ta bully him when we
were kids. Ah gotta get as much in as ah can now. Pull his
tail foh me, Remy, sugah."
Kurt looked somewhat despondant.
He grinned at him. "Would y' like it pulled all de way out or jus' tied in a bow?"
Excalibur's leader regarded him almost in surprise. "You're in a fine humour today."
He hopped around him playfully. "I'm jus' in a good mood."
He was, too. He was finally sure that Rogue loved him, and wasn't just using him for his immunity. His past was hidden from Pete's spying eyes and he was safe from Sinister. He had friends and a home. How could he not be happy?
"All right, then," Kurt decided. "GO!"
He kicked him in the head.
For a moment, there was stunned silence in the audience, then everyone surged forward. He stood back with both hands clasped over his mouth as everyone talked animatedly.
"Is he all right?"
"Boishe moi!"
"Kurt? How many fingers am A holdin' oop?"
"Remy? Honey? When ah said ah wanted blood, ah didn't mean
quite this much."
"Oh, yeah, that nose is DEFINATELY broken."
"Nice shot, Ash!"
With Moira's help, Kurt sat up, one hand over his bloody nose. "Well," he said nasally. "I must say this was a definate improvement over last time."
Suddenly, he began to snigger, then burst out in unison with everyone else's gales of laughter.
Rogue looked at him sympathetically. "Why don't ya go ta bed, Remy?"
He yawned. "Non, I'll keep y' company."
"Sugah, in about another two minutes, th' only thing that's gonna be keepin' me company is ya snores."
He smiled. "Gotcha." Standing up, he stepped over between her and the main computer. "I love y'," he said softly and kissed her.
It was a deep kiss, one that pushed her head back and closed her eyes as she kissed him back eagerly and looped her arms around his neck. Still shy when it came to being intimate, he reached up with one hand to touch the side of her breast.
His other hand reached behind him to type a quick code into the computer, then hit enter. He started to count.
At five seconds, he pulled away. "I better go, Rogue," he said regretfully.
She smiled up at him and traced a finger along his chest. "Ah'll wake ya in th' mornin', then."
He grinned and left.
Saints, he hoped she wouldn't be blamed for this, but she HAD to be the one on monitor duty, or else the risk would be too great that she'd wake up and know he wasn't there. Part of him felt terribly guilty about what he was doing, and utterly terrified as well, but it was something he had to do. So he gave himself over to the professional in him. To Gambit.
He took a minute and four seconds to reach his room. "'Night," he mumbled sleepily to Douglocke as he passed him in the hall.
"Good night, designate Ash."
He went into his room, closed the door and stuck a few pillows under his blankets just in case. At one minute, 15 seconds, he went out his window and jumped, landing in a crouch below right after the motion alarms around the building turned off.
No one had seen him, so he bolted across the complex to the lab building past cameras that were looping over the same section of tape.
He reached the lab at one minute, 56 seconds and went through the now unlocked and disarmed door. He'd had to do most of his time measurements by guesswork, but he wasn't a Master Thief for nothing and his guesses were very good. He was sweating, but confident. Moira's therapy was holding, though he was sure she wouldn't be impressed by this application of his newfound confidence.
Two minutes. It was two am. The guards were at the front on shift change, so he encountered none of them as he ran down the halls to the Proteus Chamber.
It opened for him.
Two minutes, seven seconds. Swallowing, he stepped in through the downed forcefield to see a cautious Magneto coming out of his bedroom, belting a robe on over his pyjamas.
He took a deep breath. "In two minutes an' fourteen sec'nds, dere'll be a blip in de island power supply. De back-ups come up right 'way, but for one tenth of a sec'nd, de inhibitors an' force shield be off. Y' gotta get de door opened in dat time."
Magneto nodded, but glanced at the open door.
"You 'scape now, dey gonna know y' had help."
Magneto smiled slightly. "Why do you always turn up when I need you?" An eyebrow rose. "And why help me now?"
Two minutes, 20 seconds. Time was running out. "'Cause I was put in a cage f' de same reason. 'Cause I wouldn' be what someone else wan'ed me t' be. An' 'cause I owe y'. Remember how long y' got t' de blip."
"One minute, seven seconds," Magneto said without hesitation. "What is your name?"
The doors were closing, the forcefield about to come back on. He stepped through and looked back at him. "It used t' be a lotta t'ings, but now it's Ash." He even meant it.
It was close, but he got back to his room unseen with two seconds to spare.