Undercloak: Part Ten

by queenB

Wolverine watches as Psylocke maneuvers her way deftly through the holographic ninjas running on the Danger Room's simulation. He increases the difficulty level on her exercise for the fourth time since its beginning. This time the number and skill of her opponents increase and even more obstacles are added, giving both parties an advantage. As he watches the scene play out beneath him, he finds it difficult to fathom that she's been away from battle for so long.

One by one, the synthesized ninjas disappear in a twinkling of light as Psylocke slices through them, in effect "killing" them from the computer's holographic program. She uses the large metal obstacles as tools, often skirting their shadows until she becomes a part of them. Logan notices this and as soon as she moves out into the open, he rolls his chair over to another control panel.

As he taps one of the buttons, Jean asks, "What are you doing, Logan?"

"Turning the lights up and anglin' 'em so that there ain't no shadows. She's been using them to her advantage. I don't want her 'portin' 'til she's under more controlled conditions."

She smirks at him in amusement as she says, "It doesn't get much more controlled than the Danger Room."

Ignoring Jean's levity, Logan answers her firmly, "Danger Room's always had problem's with teleporters. Not much that can hold one o' them. And we don't know the range of her powers. Girl could end up materializing in Timbuktu for all we know."

"You worry too much."

"Got reason to worry, Jeannie." Logan monitors the energy usage panel before he says, "She looks fine from up here. Just as good as she ever was. How's she holdin' up on your watch?"

"Fine, fine. She's going through the motions just fine. Pretty normal for what she's going through. No outside influences what-so-ever. Looks like this Gomurr fellow you told me about has kept his promise. She is a little fatigued and she thinks she's rusty, though. But not bad at all for being out of the loop for as long as she has."

Logan turns to face Jean and checks the small console on the arm of his chair once more before he asks, "But how is she doin'?"

"Logan, I don't think I have the right..."

"Screw yer ethics, Jean. I need to know."

Jean sighs deeply and closes her eyes for a moment before she says, "Okay... but this just between the two of us. I'm only going to talk to you about it because I know how you feel about this and her. I'm going to break the link, though. I don't think she needs me anymore."

Logan nods his head as he looks at the time. Forty-five minutes have elapsed and he thinks it's about time they moved on. He sets an end sequence on the emulator routine so that once Betsy clears all the holograms, the program will self-terminate. He watches Jean as she discontinues the temporary link with Psylocke. Tension spreads across her face as she backs out slowly from Betsy's mind. She's using her full concentration to remove herself with no residual effect, a feat which is all the more difficult when performed on a another telepath.

When it looks like she is finished, Logan asks her again, "How's she doing?"

Jean slumps into her chair, releasing all the stress the mind-link caused as she says wearily, "She's tired, Logan. Very tired. Tired of always having to prove herself, having to save herself from some oppressor or another."

Worry penetrating every line of his face, Logan says quietly, "She's not planning on giving in, is she?"

"Oh, Lord no. This is Psylocke we're talking about. She'd never do something like that. It's just happened so many times in her life already. Being a telepath seems to make her a target for things like this. She's more sensitive because of her power. More dangerous, too. But she's not going to give in, she's too afraid of what's going to happen to her for that to be an option... plus she has so much to lose this time around."

"Warren?"

"Yes. If she's going to get through this, it's because she wants to do it for him. For them, for their future."

"So you sayin' dat it's not needin' her you be afraid of, but de fact dat she might need you?"

Warren skips a stone across the water of Breakstone Lake as he answers, "Exactly."

"Non." Remy LeBeau sits a few feet away from the lake's shore and takes a drag off his cigarette. He chuckles to himself as Warren fans the smoke away from his face as he approaches. Then out of deference for his teammate, he extinguishes it on the well manicured lawn before he continues, "Non. You be wrong. Dat ain't why you flew the coup on her out on de highway. You was afraid because you needed her too much. Not de other way 'round. A bird like you pretend he never need nobody. If you needed someone, dat make you look weak. And you don't want ta look weak in front o' anybody. 'Specially somebody you love as much as her. You been lying ta yourself, mon ami."

Sitting down on the grass next to Remy, Warren says, "Thank you Dr. Jung, but I still don't get it."

Gambit shakes his head before he says, "It be easy. You afraid of losing her, so you shut yourself off from her so you don't get hurt. De problem is dat you past the point of bein' able to dat. You care too much, got too much stock in her."

He fidgets with another cigarette in his pack, twirling it unlit between his fingers. Resisting the urge to light it, he tucks it behind an ear as he continues, "Dat why you act all crazy back dere. Dat why you make dat scene. Your flair for de dramatic is pretty int'restin', though. Instead of just shutting people out an' bein' done wit' it, you want dem to know you doin' it in a big blaze of glory. Sound 'bout right, non?"

Warren stretches his legs out in front of him and says, "I've never been one for subtlety."

"An' dat's probably one o' de reasons why she wit' you. Use dat to your advantage. Cook her a big dinner to make it up to her, fill de apartment wit' flowers. Wine her, dine her. Dat be de way back into her heart."

As he watches the sun glint across the lake, Warren sighs heavily and says, "I don't think that's the right move this time. I think a simple 'I'm sorry, I love you,' is the perfect solution. Drama is probably the last thing she needs right now. Considering..."

As Warren's words trail unspoken, Gambit turns to look at his teammate, wanting to know what he's left unsaid. Torn over whether he's curious because of concern for Warren or his own pathological inquisitiveness, he still decides to ask the obvious, "Considering what?"

Warren closes his eyes as he says quietly, "Considering that no matter what we do and say in the next day... I still might lose her forever. That I might lose the one shining ray of light in my life, that I might lose the one person that ever had any faith in me, that... that..."

As Warren chokes on his words and covers his face with his hands, Remy knows that he's hip-deep in unfamiliar territory. He sits awkwardly by Archangel's side, not knowing how he should handle the situation unfolding before him. Gambit's not sure how his teammate would take a reassuring pat on the shoulder and doesn't think that it's even in him to give. If there's one thing he's learned about Warren Worthington while he's been an X-Man it's that he doesn't often exhibit himself as he is at this moment. So he lets Warren keep his distance and volunteers, "It's okay, homme. You don't need t' go on. I'll leave you alone."

Warren nods his head and Gambit stands to leave. Just as Remy is about to walk away, Warren grabs his wrist and says, looking up at him with fear filling his bright, blue eyes, "No. Don't go. I want... I need to talk about this. So I can be... there for her. So I can be as strong as she needs me to be."

Remy stands a while with Warren's grip still clinging to his wrist and the two exchange the most meaningful look they've ever shared. For the first time in his life Remy actually feels sympathy for the man in front of him, the man he has always been so jealous of for having everything and not knowing, for being a part of something special and good. At this moment, he realizes that his perception has always been a facade, that he was only seeing in Warren what he projected, that the man holding desperately onto his arm isn't all that different from himself, that he is just as much as a loner and a misfit as he is. Warren's troubles just come in a different package.

With this realization in mind, Remy sits again on the ground as Warren asks, "So you'll stay and listen?"

Nodding his head slowly, he says, "Oui."

As the last of Psylocke's holographic opponents shimmer out of existence, she laughs up at the view-port, "I thought you could do better than that, old man!"

Wolverine's voice echoes in the now empty room, "Oh I could do a lot better than that, darlin'. It's just these simulated ninja's aren't as sturdy as they used to be."

Betsy smirks to herself as she sheaths her katana and slings it over her shoulder. "So how'd I do?"

She hears Jeans voice now over the comm system say enthusiastically, "You did great, Betsy. We'll have a full debriefing after we test your teleportation powers."

"I noticed you two were trying to keep me out of the shadows."

As a few of the room's lamps click off noisily around her, Logan says, "Just tryin' to do what we thought was best."

Betsy looks around her and notices that the lights have been dimmed in such a pattern such as to leave several pools of shadow on the room's floor. As she walks out of one of the unlit areas and into the light, she can feel the shadows' power, their willingness to be used. It's much different than the feeling she had on the rooftop last night with Gomurr. She knows she has control over these patches of darkness, that they are not capable of controlling her. Still, she is afraid of somehow getting lost in the world of darkness that is still very new to her.

"So what's the plan, Logan?"

"We're going to get ya to make yer way from shadow to shadow and see what happens. See if ya can control where ya end up."

"Sounds pretty basic to me."

Jean's voice penetrates the now near dark of the Danger Room as she says, "That's the hope, Betsy. After a few minutes if everything's going well and your power hasn't short circuited anything... which we're thinking it won't due to the nature of your teleportation... we'll aim for longer ranges."

Psylocke takes a deep breath, not sure how comfortable she'll be with longer distance teleportation. She looks at the shadows nervously, suddenly panicked by her inexperience with them. Darting her gaze quickly to the control booth above her, she asks urgently, "Will you be here, Jean?"

"Only if you want me to be."

She shakes her head and then taps her forehead with her index finger as she says, "No. Here."

As Jean makes a superficial bond with Psylocke, Betsy feels an amiable warmth spread across her thoughts. *Yes, Betsy. I'll be here if you want.*

Betsy's psionic voice is shaky as she returns, *Please. I'm...* She pauses a moment before she continues, realizing how impossible it is to hide emotions from someone when linked telepathically, *I'm afraid of being alone... in the dark.*

*I understand. I really do. I'll just keep this superficial bond. I don't think you need me where I was before. You're doing great, Betsy. Just remember... you're not alone. Never alone.*

*Thanks, Jean.*

Logan's voice booms over the intercom, "Okay, ya ready to start, Betts?"

Betsy swallows hard, fighting down the lump in her throat and attempting to center herself for the task at hand before she says, "Ready."

"Then let's go."

Betsy walks to the nearest shadow and lets the darkness seep into herself. Now ankle-deep, it feels as if she is wading in a cold, but calm body of water, not at all like the tempestuous sea she almost drowned in less that twenty-four hours earlier. As she begins to welcome the sensation, she sinks deeper into the floor and her entire body is encased in darkness. All that is visible to her two friends above is the red tattoo covering part of her face.

Then she is gone.

Caught between shadows, Betsy has a moment of panic but feels the soothing effect of Jean's bond and quickly gets her bearings. She focuses her concentration and visualizes a shadow in the corner of the Danger Room near the door. Almost instantaneously, she emerges from the darkened corner, shadows dripping off her skin like water.

Exhilarated with her accomplishment, Betsy steps into a lighted patch of the room and squints as she covers her eyes from its harsh brightness. Addressing Logan and Jean again, she says, "I think I'm getting used to this."

"Well let's try it again to make sure, darlin'. Don't want ya messin' with fire just yet."

Betsy successfully teleports within the walls of the Danger Room for a good half hour, emerging from the shadows more confident and self-possessed with each try. As she begins to trust herself more within the darkness, each jump becomes more fluid and precise. For the first time since she's wielded her shadow-hopping power, it becomes a tool, an effective instrument. Though initially afraid of it's cold power, she has come to understand the possibility of it. Yet, while she embraces it's darkness... she must remember to step into the light.

Materializing out of a pool of darkness, Betsy steps into it's physical antithesis. Shadows still licking at her feet like the ebbing of a tide, she closes her eyes and tilts her face up at the warm lamp above her head. She draws a deep, cleansing breath and asks the empty walls, "So, what's next?"

"I t'ink dat's what we all be wonderin'." As Gambit fiddles again with his still unlit cigarette, Warren nods his permission, understanding his urge and in a way thanking him for his attentiveness.

Remy draws in a deep breath of yellow smoke and after he releases it, he smiles and says, "I t'ink we all wonder when we ever gonna belong."

Dragging a hand through his wind-blown hair, Warren remarks, "Yeah. But I think I've found where I do. With who."

Gambit nods in agreement as Warren continues, "It's always been hard for me around here. Even when it was just the five of us and the Professor. I always felt like an outsider. Jean had Scott and Scott had Jean. Bobby, Hank and I were tight and while we were all friends... I still wasn't the best-friend. Maybe because I played up the millionaire-playboy persona so much. I'm sure they thought that I didn't need their support, that I was fine on my own. And I tried to think I was. And then it all started falling apart."

Sitting quietly while Warren chooses his next words, Gambit promises himself that someday he'll tell Warren the truth about what he knows is coming next in conversation. Someday, when he knows that the truth won't hurt as terribly for either of them.

Hugging his knees tightly against his bare chest, Warren says, "After Apocalypse... wait. I won't go there. I promised Betsy I wouldn't live in the past. You know what happened. Who doesn't? But the one thing that still gives me nightmares about the whole thing was how lonely it was. How cold it was. I think losing Candy made it even harder. Not that I even had her anymore. After then, I just shut everyone out. Never let anyone get close."

Warren pauses to watch a duck waddle across the lake shore, quacking loudly to herself as if she were amused with some great joke, before he continues, "The trouble was, I needed help more than ever. I knew that I wasn't evil anymore. Even though I knew I was a threat or a loose cannon, I knew that. I just didn't feel like I belonged with the X-Men. I think I was just around because of habit. Because I didn't have any other place to go. Who would want someone who looked and acted like me? And because of the way I felt, I hurt a lot of people. People who could have helped me, who tried to help me."

Smiling to himself, he turns to look at Gambit as he says, "And then I started spending time with Betsy. I think helping her through her problems helped me. What we went through was so similar in many ways. And I began to think if someone as special and as beautiful as her could go through what she did and come out radiant, so could I."

Engrossed in their rather one-sided conversation, Warren and Remy don't notice as a shadow beneath a small grove of pear trees changes shape behind them. So they don't observe Psylocke as she silently emerges from the darkness, bathed in shadow and listening intently to the words spoken by her lover. She smiles to herself, still half-immersed in the dark, small specks of sunlight glinting off her purple hair, mingling flirtatiously with the shade covering her from the shoulders down.

As Betsy happily eavesdrops five meters away, Warren continues, "Betsy made me feel the one thing I hadn't felt in forever. She made me feel important, attractive, wanted. Loved. I felt like... I feel like a man again. A whole person. Finally, Gambit, I know where I belong. I belong with her."

"Den you be a lucky, lucky man," Gambit says as he finishes his cigarette. As he turns his head away from Warren to exhale the last puff of tobacco, he makes eye-contact with Betsy. Caught unawares, Betsy prays that Remy won't reveal her intrusion. Hoping he will play along, she winks at him and he returns the gesture.

Understanding that her secret is safe, Betsy slips once more into the shadows, knowing that she can't stay undetected by Warren for long due to his enhanced avian-like senses. As she disappears, he turns around, barely missing her departure. He squints his eyes, focusing his sharp eye-sight, and sees nothing but a few Bartlett Pear trees, their leaves dancing lightly in the breeze.

"That's odd... I could have swore something was there."

Gambit grins to himself as he says, "Not'in' dere, mon ami. It jus' de wind."

[next part]

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