Jean looked around at the city streets. She was uncomfortable in this part of New York City, but Ororo had stated that she would not accept any seeds not from her favorite shop. Remy seemed at home in the welter of humanity that crowded around them. //How do you stand having so many minds around you?//
Remy smiled at her. He squeezed her hand. //Most these folks, even the po' ones, are content t'day. The sun be shinin', even if it's chilly. Le petites are home from school. Only fools can't find happiness.//
//But there are so many slimy minds.// Jean shivered.
//That's called lust, Jeannie. And lust can be found all over, non?//
//I forgot that you can't hear what they want to do.//
//I can make a good guess.//
Suddenly, there was someone in front of them, blocking their way. It was deliberate. The man wore nothing out of the ordinary, but his posture was commanding. "Your papa needs to talk to you, boy."
Remy blinked. He cocked his head to the side. "And y'd be?"
The man grinned. "Ted Carver." He gave them a flourished bow. "Mama Caver sent me to fetch ya. Your papa needs to talk to you."
"He got m' number." Remy leaned his weight forward.
"I said your papa, not your father, boy." He looked down his nose at the younger man.
Remy looked over his shades. "I ain't catchin' y' meanin'."
"Ya know yo' papa, don't ya?"
Remy studied Carver for a very long moment. "I don' practice no mo'."
"Mebbe that's why he wants to talk to ya. I only follow orders." Carver grinned. "Don't worry. Mama won't let anything happen to your girl, here. She's just upstairs."
//Are you sure about following him?//
//No question, chere.// "Upstairs, y' say. Well, don' seem to far out of the way t' make a femme feel good."
"Go on up. She's waitin' for you. I'll stay with your girl."
//Watch y' back, chere.//
//Why don't I just come with you?//
//Not if what I think he's sayin's what he's sayin'. This be somethin' y' ain't allowed t' know.// He grinned at his lover. //Y' just take care. Carver ain't an issue, but there's others that might be.// "Y' take her on down t' Lo-Chin's hardware f' me?"
"Sure. Come on, pretty lady."
Jean glanced at her lover. //Yell if you need me.//
//Don't worry so, chere, y' get wrinkles.// He turned to go up the dark stairs. Jean watched him for a long moment. Carver offered his arm and she took it. She glanced up at his wide grin.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
"Sorry, pretty lady, I can't tell you that. Ask your boy when you see him. Lo-Chin's is just down here. You a gardener?"
"No, my best friend is. She swears this is the only place to get seeds."
"It is."
****
Remy mounted the stairs, heart hammering in his chest and butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He'd only been summoned like this once before in his life. Papa Samedi had taken over at a ceremony he'd been attending and took him aside to tell him to look for his Stormy. The experience had shaken him. He knocked on the door, hiding his nerves away under a cock-sure swagger. "Come in here, boy," a voice called. He opened the door and stepped into a small room that was chock full of flowers, food, incense, statues, and spiced rum. Homesickness slammed into him so hard that he was like to cry.
"Bonjour," he said, smiling. The woman who was sitting in the chair looked old enough to make Aunt Mattie look like a little girl.
She looked him up and down. "Least you still honor your papa. Sit down, boy-chile."
He settled in the chair she indicated. "Y' called?"
"Not me, boy. Your papa." She smiled at him. "I'm not as young as I used to be, but I still get called."
His return smile was lopsided. "So how we do this, Mama?" he asked.
"It's been too long if you have to ask," she informed him. She chuckled. "Don't worry, chile, I'll walk you through everything."
****
Jean picked out the seeds for Ororo. Ted Carver was a congenial shopping partner. He chattered about his family and his three little boys. "I haven't seen you around this area before," he said finally. "I've seen your boy, but not you."
"He normally comes with his sister."
"The white-haired beauty?"
"Yes."
"They're brother and sister?" Ted blinked in surprise. "That explains some things. But why haven't you come before?"
"Ororo never asked me to come with them. Sometimes family needs time alone."
He smiled. "So do you have any kids of your own?"
"We just adopted a little angel who's mother was killed. Her name is Melody."
"Tell me about her."
"I barely know her. She's seven. Her hair is naturally blonde. Her eyes are sky blue. She looks like an angel from a Christmas card. She doesn't look like any of us," she laughed. "She has perfect pitch. We have two on the way." She patted her stomach.
"Congratulations. Your boy isn't the father though. He was telling his beauty once that he wanted kids so badly that he hated the fact that he never could have his own."
"Eavesdropping?"
"I've got good ears," he told her. "Those two are down here every two weeks. They eat in my sisters restaurant. Let me buy you an ice cream."
"Thanks."
"Vanilla or chocolate?"
"Vanilla." Jean forced the gutter thoughts away. She knew darn well that she was being influenced by spending far too much time with the boys now. He did a double-take at her smile. She composed herself and batted her lashes at him.
"There's a wicked woman hiding under that smile isn't there?"
"Why whatever could you mean?" She batted her lashes at him. He laughed at her. He offered her the vanilla cone and got a twirl for himself.
****
Scott settled Melody on his lap and opened the book. Tears pricked behind his eyes. He remembered doing this with Nathan when he'd been four before the future had stolen him away. "Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there lived a baker and his wife."
****
Logan arranged the second stem in the vase. He'd present it to Jean when she returned from shopping. He'd found the flowers deep in the woods of the Mansion grounds.
****
Bobby worked carefully on creating the lab equipment for Hank's lab. The concentration was incredible, but his control was getting better. The miniature beakers and test tubes were harder than anything else he'd created for his icy Mansion copy. There was a knock on the door. "Yeah?"
"It's Warren."
"Come on in." Bobby set his work inside the refridgerator case and the glass front. He turned to greet his friend. "Looks like you've got deep thoughts going on."
"Well depth at least."
"Sounds like time for a Twinkie."
Warren smiled a little sadly. "I'd like that. Bobby, what do you do when you think you've screwed everything up?"
"Hide in the attic and eat Twinkies until I get sick. Normally after that I realize that I'm over reacting. There's not much that can't be fixed if you try. I just tend to get more practice than you guys."
"I think you just admit it more often."
"So what's on your mind?"
"Betsy."
Bobby flourished two boxes of Twinkies. "One for you. One for me. Lock the door and tell me what's going on. Not that I have a lot of experience with women, but I'll try."
****
Rogue cleared her throat. The professor looked up with a welcoming smile. "Hello, Rogue. What can I do for you?"
"I need to talk to someone about what's in my head and I can't talk to any of them."
"Why not?"
She closed the door and settled in the visitor's chair. "They're all on Remy's side now."
Professor X cocked his head to the side. "I didn't realize that there were sides to be taken."
"There are things you don't know about what he's done." She sniffled.
"Are you referring to the Morlock Massacre or something else?"
"You know?"
"Yes."
"Oh, thank God," she said more fervently than she had since she'd turned thirteen and her first kiss put Cody into a coma.
"You can talk to me about whatever you like, my dear." He moved out from behind his desk and nearer to the chair where she was sitting. "Would you like a drink?"
"Bourbon?"
He cocked his head to the side. "Have you developed a taste for bourbon during your travels?" he asked. He moved to make the drinks. "The last time we shared a drink, you were drinking vodka and tonic."
Rogue huffed out a small laugh. "I've developed a taste for a lot of things, Professor."
"Like what?" He handed her the bourbon. She looked into the amber liquid.
"Bourbon, cigarettes, women, chaos."
"Except for the bourbon, those sound like things you always had a taste for," he said mildly.
She stared at him. "I'm not a dyke."
He didn't reply, simply sipped his own drink and waited for her to continue.
"How can he live with such nasty things in his mind?"
"You have his memories, why don't you tell me?"
"I want you to lock them away. The way you locked Carol away."
"Carol Danvers was a complete personality. All you have from Gambit is fragments. Those you can deal with and must deal with."
"I can't control my powers."
"When was the last time you tried?" he asked her sharply. She flinched away from the words. She bit back the retort that she always tried to control them. She hadn't been trying when she kissed Remy. She'd thought the world was going to end and hadn't given control a thought. It was Remy's mind that had resisted her. It was his shields that had given her only fragments of his memories. Those fragments were more than enough to send her running away.
"He seemed so sweet. I knew his was a thief. But he loved me."
"And that meant what?"
"He was supposed to be Prince Charming."
"And how did he fail?"
"It was a lie!"
"He had a past. So do you, my dear."
"Of course, you're on his side too aren't you!"
"There is no 'his side', Rogue. He has done nothing to you that he has not done to all of us. He kept a painful past from us. Tell me, did he lie about his feelings for you?"
That stopped her. "No, he loves me."
"Yes, he does."
"And now he's sleeping with three other people! He couldn't have loved me very much."
"You told him it was over, correct?"
"Yes, but he had to know I didn't mean it."
"You arrived with Joseph. Do you love him?"
"No, but I can touch him."
"Do you love Remy or are you simply angry that he's managed to find someone else?"
She felt her jaw trembling. She let the tears fall from her eyes. The professor was unmoved.
"Do you love Remy?"
"Yes."
"Do you want him to be happy?"
"Yes, but. . ." She stopped herself. "He was supposed to be happy with me."
"Why you and no one else?"
"He loves *me*!"
"Yes, but he also loves Logan. He always has."
"I know that. They're best friends."
"And now that there is a sexual component to that friendship, you're jealous."
She closed her eyes and belted down her drink. She slammed the glass onto his desk, shattering it. "I decided when I got back here that I'd try to just be his friend. I knew that we couldn't be lovers. Why does it hurt so much to see him with someone else?"
"I can't answer that. You'll have to tell me."
She bent her head. Tears flowed freely from her eyes.
****
Remy bought a piece of watermelon from the street vendor. He chewed on it as he walked, dropping the seeds into a small plastic bag he found in one of his pockets. He'd keep the seeds as hold-out ammunition. He found Jean and Ted sitting on the front steps of the store. They were laughing over something. "You tryin' t' steal my girl, homme?" he asked, brows raised.
"My wife would snap me in half. Mama done with you?"
"Yeah." Remy dumped the rind of his watermelon into the trashbin. He wiped his hand off on his jeans. Jean frowned at him.
"That's what napkins are for," she informed him. He rolled his eyes at Ted.
"Y' got the seeds?"
"I did." Remy offered her his arm as she got up and dusted off her rump. Carver gave them a nod.
"I'll see you kids around."
"Thanks, Ted," Jean said warmly. Remy simply nodded back. "Now, what was that all about?"
Remy grimaced. "I'll tell y' when I get it all sorted out in my head."
"I'll hold you to that."
****
TBC