Disclaimer: This is my first attempt so be kind. All the characters are creations of Marvel and I'm not getting any 'argent' so don't sue - I did this because I love the characters and I've enjoyed all the fan fiction that's been posted on the 'net, so I just HAD to try, didn't I? Oh, the character of Celestine is my creation so please don't use her without asking me first, k? Please enjoy the story. Feedback? KirbyMaVT@aol.com is my address. Let me know what you think.

Warning: This story deals with adult subject matter and contains adult language.

Celestine came out from the dressing room to stand in front of a set of mirrors that provided three different views. She and Jean admired her reflection together. It was the latest style, the baggy jeans and sweater vest over a white long sleeved shirt. #Thank you, Jean, I never knew - #

#Now, just stop it right now. That must be the fourteenth time you’ve thanked me. Don’t worry about it; I’m really enjoying myself. Besides, you really have been good for Remy. And he was the one who retrieved some of his cash he’d stashed away for us to spend." She laughed. "It’s always fun to spend someone else’s money."

Celestine was about to reply but her blood froze and she stared in horror as she heard, "Will you be taking that outfit with you or wearing it out, Madame?" it said with a sneer. Celestine was paralyzed with fear but she spun around as she heard Jean’s cry of pain and saw Phoenix’s body sprawled on the floor, a harpoon in her shoulder. She just can’t be dead, Celestine thought with cold dread creeping up her spine. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Jean even as Arclight picked the little girl up by the hair at the nape of neck, holding her inches from the floor.

"Ya didn’t think yous were free from us, didcha, girlie?" Scrambler said as he reached to touch her forehead.

#HELP!# her mind screamed out frantically, Scrambler’s power actually amping her own talent and she hoped it could reach the mansion just as the darkness slid over her.

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#Mon dieu!# Remy gasped, holding his head. #Dey’ve got’em. Hurry, Henri!#

"Where?" the Beast asked.

#Just a mile ahead and on the right!#

The wheels of the Jeep screeched to a jerky stop and Remy was already leaping nimbly from the vehicle halfway to the door of the shop, Henry and Rogue directly behind him. He rushed straight to the back of the store, his plaid overshirt streaming out behind him. He pulled some cards from a pocket somewhere, fanning them in preparation.

#Down!# he yelled, diving behind a rack of leather jackets. Barely had they registered his warning and half averted their eyes when a blinding flash of radiance erupted from the door to the dressing room, slightly stunning them.

Remy kept moving, knowing they were headed for the back of the store and the door there. #C’mon!# he yelled. #Jean’s unconscious and so is Celestine. Dey’re trying to get outside. Dey probably have a tesseract waiting.#

"Wait, Remy!" Rogue yelled as Beast bounded over other racks. Rogue just flung them out her way. He saw Remy throw a batch of charged cards to hit Scrambler dead on the small of his back, leaving a smoking hole in him and the smell of charred flesh.

Harpoon turned and threw one of his slay spears directly at Gambit’s chest. But Remy had more cards to throw, disintegrating most of the spear before it reached him, though small shards of debris, charged by Harpoon’s power, did hit him, leaving trails of smoking holes in his shirt and jeans. But Remy kept going.

They were in the back storeroom now, an exit in sight. Beast felt more than saw Rogue launch herself off the floor and into Harpoon, driving him into the wall with her momentum. The Marauder didn’t move again.

Arclight, carrying Jean, and Prizm, carrying Celestine, paused at the door, confronted by a lock. Phillipa grabbed the doorknob and tore it out of the door.

But the X Men had caught up with them. Remy must have grabbed something from one of the tables in the store because Beast couldn’t quite make out what he threw but it was smaller than his cards. It headed straight at Prizm’s head, the orange light being reflected a dozen times over as a stunned look of realization shimmered over Prizm’s face just as the glowing baubles blew his head apart. The body stood for a moment and then began to topple, dropping Celestine to the floor.

Beast caught Jean as Arclight threw the woman at him, the collision driving him back. The Marauder lunged down to pick up the girl and then turned towards the rectangle of daylight that promised escape.

Remy roared mentally, leaving everyone’s heads ringing and Arclight wavering on her feet, dropping Celestine. Rogue grabbed her from behind and Remy rushed forward to grab Celestine but spun backwards, multiple shuriken and throwing spikes embedded in his arms and torso and neck. Remy cursed. Rogue threw Arclight out of the way, tossing her nonchalantly into the wall behind her and then turning to drive her fist into Phillipa’s face, breaking her nose, blood fountaining everywhere. The X Woman growled like Wolverine when she saw Arclight still conscious, though barely, and trying to blink away the blood. Rogue’s next punch to her torso drove the assassin through the concrete wall and into the alley behind, not stirring again. Satisfied, Rogue stepped through after her and witnessed the confrontation between Remy and Sinister.

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Beast emerged from the doorway, carrying a reviving Jean. He saw Gambit picking the throwing stars and spikes from his own body, astonished to see the Cajun charge them and toss them at the foot of Riptide’s self generating vortex. The he took his bo staff, extending it in one smooth motion, charging it and propelling it into the heart of Riptide’s faltering spin. When Beast looked again, he saw the fallen Marauder staring with dead eyes, the bo staff having gone through his body.

Hank turned back to see Gambit between Sinister and an active tesseract. Essex was now holding Celestine and Scalphunter stood behind his master, minus an arm which looked to have been cut and cauterized just above where the elbow would have been.

#Leave Celestine wit’ de X Men and I’ll go wit’ you! It’s me you want!# Remy yelled.

"Interesting, LeBeau, that you can speak so well telepathically. My experiment has proven quite successful. How gratifying."

#I knew you’d done somethin’. Why? Why Celestine?#

"Your simple mind just can’t comprehend my plans and ideas. Are you trying to stall for time so that perhaps more X Men might come rescue your sorry ass? It will do you no good." Essex paused as if in confusion. "Why is it that I always get so emotional around – Stop it!" And the villain threw a hand up towards Remy, who reeled back a few steps before standing upright again. Sinister glared at him. "I told you before that I disliked how I couldn’t control you mind as I can so many others. It was an interesting conundrum. So I set about trying to solve it. But apparently, my little experiment made you more formidable than I had foreseen and even less pliable. This is regrettable.

"In any case, there was a limited amount of time for the protocol to operate. And now, it’s time to collect my tool. You may come, too, I suppose. I can always try something else and under more controlled conditions. But this time you won’t be allowed to leave; I’ll cripple you before that happens again." Sinister began walking towards the tesseract and motioned to Scalphunter, who lifted his uninjured arm and fired a huge laser cannon at Gambit.

Rogue flew in front of her love, taking the blast fully, her forward motion carrying her through to the interior of the building on the other side of the alley, her jacket disintegrated.

Scalphunter cursed and fired again but Jean had surrounded the Marauder within a telekinetic bubble and the lazer shot rebounded off the inside of the bubble and right through Scalphunter’s stomach. He fell, dead before his skull hit the ground.

Jean leaned back in Hank’s arms, completely spent, her wound bleeding profusely around the hasty bandage Hank had used.

Remy barely spared a thought for it all, grateful to have his back covered and knowing Rogue was able to take it. #You aren’t goin’ anywhere, Sinister, unless you leave de girl here, unharmed - # Remy warned.

Essex made no reply but just slung Celestine over one of his shoulders and raised the other one to fire at the Cajun, who just barely dodged out of the way. He had to remove his smoking shirt, flinging it away as he stepped back in Sinister’s path.

Beast placed Jean on the ground and began to inch closer to the battling men. If he could time it right and hop in and get Celestine free so that Gambit could cut loose –

#Bonne id=E9e, Monsieur Bete. On my signal.# And he started a count, his face pale with concentration. Sinister fired again, unaware of the orange glow spreading through his garments.

#Now!# Gambit cried mentally just as the blast hit him. Beast leapt and lifted the girl from a stunned Sinister who looked down just as a massive explosion consumed him. A horrific yell of agony erupted from within the conflagration. But then Essex stepped out from it, singed, fury etched in every inch of his body. The blaze was already receding behind him as he stood over Remy who was lying on the ground, the clothes scorched off his torso, his chest bleeding and burning at the same time.

"Do you believe you’ve won, LeBeau? Never!" Essex crouched down next to him, grabbing Gambit’s hair and lifting his head off the concrete, eyes locked on each other. "My, how you have fallen. No witty repartee left? I never meant for the girl to stay with you. Either way, she will be taken from you…." Sinister pivoted to where Beast cradled Celestine in his arms. Henry presented his back to protect the girl but Essex just raised his hand and Celestine’s limp form went rigid with pain.

Sinister looked at Gambit again, triumph apparent in his dead eyes. "I’ll leave you with a promise, Remy, that with every willful act of disobedience against me, you have made your inescapable death at my hands that much more tortuous and prolonged." Essex released Gambit’s head to let it drop to the ground, painfully impacting with the cement. You will never be free of me. But for now, I chose to leave you to wallow in your guilt and self hatred because what happened today was your fault. I can think of no more fitting a punishment for your hubris."

Without a glance at anyone else, Sinister stood and walked through the tesseract, both he and it disappearing.

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#Henri,# came Remy’s pained call. The Beast was stunned, unmoving, random thoughts chasing each other in his disbelieving mind.

#Henri!# Remy called more urgently. #Bring Celestine to me!#

McCoy nodded absently, carrying the limp little girl to lay her next to Remy, giving them both a cursory glance but unable to look Remy in the eye. "I have to get us all back to the mansion," Beast mumbled to himself as he went to Jean’s side.

#Celestine!# Remy called, focusing through his pain. #Petite, please don’t leave me.# He cried but he could sense the truth. Sinister’s final act had been to rip certain memories from Celestine’s mind, leaving it to hemorrhage.

#Mon Dieu, aident s'il vous pla=EEt! he prayed.

Remy stroked Celestine’s pale, slack face, dragging himself closer to his friend. #You aren’t alone, petite chere. I be wit’ you always.# He wept, the sobs wracking his chest. He quested deeper, reaching for Celestine, wanting only to give solace, not willing to let her face it without his love beside her. #You are loved, Celestine. You are such a wonderful, courageous, beautiful girl. You gave me so much…. Please know that you are loved - #

He continued sending his love for her in wave after wave of deep emotion. He knew just a flicker of recognition and response as he sensed the final ember of her life within her being extinguished. Grief overwhelmed him.

#Remy,# called a soft voice. #Remy, you can’t follow her. Let her go. She’ll be safe from all the pain the world gave her. Please, Remy, don’t leave us.# And Jean sent him a lifeline built from Rogue’s love for him and Jean’s affection and Hank’s warmth. #Hold on, Remy, and we’ll bring you home.#

Remy turned from the emptiness where Celestine had once been and moved back toward a life he knew would be much lonelier without her.

**************************************************************

The local authorities didn’t know how to fill out their reports. Five dead bodies of obviously super powered beings, most likely mutants. One live one that refused to talk and which some government agency came to take away to the relief of the sheriff. Reports of another band of mutants that had been fighting them but apparently escaped and were never seen or heard from again. The store owner filed an insurance claim and no one else seemed to have been hurt. So it was filed away in the unsolved crimes pile.

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At the mansion, a dark cloud of grief refused to leave, even after Celestine’s burial. Remy empathetically declined any stay in the infirmary, his dislike of the place having increased enormously. Beast complied and visited him in his room, which he rarely left. If he did, he could usually to be found up on the roof, though how he managed to get up there without killing himself, considering his injuries, was anyone’s guess. Only Ororo dared to approach him while he was up there and even then said nothing but remained by his side to let him feel her support. Rogue tried not to take his aloofness personally but gave him the room she felt he needed to grieve. He had the wires removed from his jaw but didn’t seem to have much to say. His powers of telepathy and empathy, even his charging powers that had been increased, were slowly fading back to his previous levels. They still hadn’t quite figured out how Sinister had managed the consanguinity between Remy and Celestine, though they suspected it had something to do with his cloning capabilities. Remy left the Beast and the Professor to figure it out. He didn’t care. He found himself not caring about much. He’d even overheard Cyclops say that he missed the ‘old’ Gambit, but he just couldn’t muster up any concern for himself.

Logan had finally had enough and gone to confront Remy one day when Gambit was sitting in the rec room, morosely playing a complicated game of solitaire. But as Wolverine approached the younger man and he sensed the despair and loneliness eating away at the Cajun, his anger faded. "Hey, Gumbo!" he greeted him. "Wanna go to Harry’s for a brew?" Logan offered.

Remy turned his face to look at the stocky Canadian. Logan had never seen Remy’s eyes so empty, so numb. He found himself getting angry again. "Dammit, LeBeau, is this what she would have wanted? I know it’s clich=E9 but she would have wanted you to get on with your life instead of wasting it pining after her! Don’t you see that?" he demanded.

Remy blinked. "Wolverine," he said, his voice still raspy from prolonged lack of use. "I know you mean well but I feel like a piece o’ me is literally missing. I’d almost let – "

"What? You’d almost let yourself to be and feel human again? You’d almost allowed yourself forgiveness? To live and love and maybe trust again? Those concepts are foreign to us hardened fighters, aren’t they?"

Remy nodded miserably. Logan sat down and put his arm around the Cajun’s shoulders. "As foreign as they are, we need them. Remy," The younger man lifted his tired eyes to look at Logan. "It’s okay to trust. It’s okay to live, it’s okay to love, okay to forgive yourself. It makes you stronger. Independence isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Be true to that good soul that Celestine saw within you. Believe it. This world of ours, this odd family of ours, is better because of you being a part of it. And we need you to come back to us, fully. Okay?"

Remy nodded again, still mute but his eyes a bit less empty.

"Good. Brew?"

Remy smiled ever so slightly. "Non, but merci, mon ami."

"All right. If ya change ya mind," Logan rose to go, "I’ll be out working on my Harley."

About an hour later, Logan was more than gratified to catch a whiff of two familiar scents and he looked up to see Remy and Rogue walking together, hand in glove, towards the lake. He noted the Cajun’s stride was a bit more relaxed and Rogue’s southern drawl drifted to his sensitive ears. "I’m glad, Remy," she was saying, " I’ve missed you , too – " and the rest was lost to the wind. But it was enough to put a grin on Logan’s rough face. It wouldn’t be the same, never could be, but maybe life with the X Men might actually be improved, now that Remy wasn’t running scared anymore. Yup, it might be very good.

Fin

End of Last Chapter