CHAPTER ONE
 

 Remy LeBeau walked slowly down the quiet New York streets, lost in thought. It was odd; the quiet. There was always someone out, even at night. Perhaps the recent rain had kept people inside. The ground was spotted with inch deep puddles. But, somehow, Remy doubted a little rain would be enough to deter New Yorkers. He wasn't worried about being out at night. It wasn't as if he couldn't protect himself if he needed to. With that in mind, he slipped into a reverie of his thoughts.

 Rogue. Naturally, she was the first person who came to mind. He cared about her so much. He wanted to be with her, but he didn't want to hurt her anymore then his past already had. It might be better if he stayed away. It was probably safer, for her and the other X-men as well. After all, one doesn't take the codeneme Gambit without a reason. She seemed quite happy hanging around Joseph anyway. Joseph had once been their enemy, a man who called himself Magneto. Some night have argued that Joseph's past was worse than his. But somehow, after Professor Xavier had wiped his mind, Magneto had been de-aged and had lost all memory of ever being Magneto. He was now walking amongst the X-men as a man who called himself Joseph. Unfortunately he was also walking right beside Rogue.
 
 Remy's blood burned at the thought. He *was* jealous of Joseph. But not for the reason's everyone beleived. Sure, he was upset over the fact that Joseph and Rogue were getting so close, but what was really eating at Remy was how easily Joseph had been forgiven for his sins. Remy got the horrible feeling that if *he* were ever to lose the memory of his past that not even his best friend Ororo would forgive him. It was a chilling thought. He loved Ororo like family and even the slightest lapse in the friendship they had scared him.

 His mind then wandered to Mr. Sinister. There was someone he hated. Sinister hovered over him like a vulture. And just like a vulture, Remy knew that when Sinister swooped down on him it would mean the end of everything that he had worked for. He didn't know when Sinister was coming for him, but from the little 'visit' Sinister had paid him in Seattle, he knew it would be soon. He let out a sigh and stared at his feet as he walked. <I should jus' tell de X-men an' get it over with. At least den I would know when de bomb would drop.> He kiked absent-mindedly at a stone and followed it's path as it rolled ahead of him. <But ya ain't ready ta give everytin' up, are ya?> He scowled bitterly at his feet then. <All dis time wit' de X-men has given ya conscience the time it needed ta heal. Thought ya lost ya conscience a long time 'go, boy. Dese people've made ya care, given you reasons ta care. Changed so much these few years. I can't deny dat anymore.>

 Gambit had been wandering aimlessly for about an hour now, he realized. He had grown tired as it had grown steadily later and sleep sounded rather good about now. He turned on his heel and was about to leave when a faint rustling noise came from behind him. He turned back aroiund. The sound came again, like someone was kicking leaves. And yet the noise didn't seem right, somehow. His empathic sense, the power he had tried so hard to hide from the other X-men, was telling him that something was out of place.
 
 Remy closed his eyes and reached out with both his empathy and his spacial awareness. The latter was also something the X-men didn't know about. He tried to pinpoint the location of who was making the sound.<Odd>, he thought. He couldn't sense anyone out there with the exception of the young couple and their baby in the apartment building across the street. And they certainly weren't the ones who were making the noise. He smiled to himself as he sensed the father get pelted with a spoonful of what Remy suspected was baby food. Then he returned his attention to the noise.

 It was moving away now. Curiosity more than anything else compelled Remy to follow it. Logan was the only person he knew who could evade his spacial awareness. Logan moved so much like a force of nature that Remy had trouble finding him if he wasn't trying to. The idea of finding another person who could do so spark his interest, even as his empathy told him otherwise.

 The minute Remy rounded the building corner, the noise had escaped him by going around another building. Still he followed. The sound continued to ellude him until Gambit was led to a small clearing in what was probably a park of some sort. Trees of all kinds surounded him, making the shadows behind them nearly impossible to see through.

 His empathic sense was screaming at him now. Something wasn't right and whatever it was had just led him into a virtual trap.

 "Merde," he swore softly. He spun around and looked for the egress within the tree line that he had come through.
 
 "You can't leave!"

 The voice echoed slightly causing the hairs on the back of Remy's neck to stand on end. The voice sounded slightly shocked; like the idea of him leaving was completely incredulous. Gambit narrowed his eyes and scanned the tree line. Still he see nor sense no one.
 
 "Who's there?" he beckoned the shadows for an answer.

 "You can't leave," the voice repeated matter-of-factly. "Not yet."

 *DANGER!* Remy's mind screamed a him. But too late. A shadowy blur lunged for his throat, a sharp stab of pain, and everyting went black.
 

END PART 1

 Well, that's the first chapter. Hopefully, it doesn't suck.

 Spade