Disclaimer:

Roses are Red

Franklin is sweet.

If I said they were mine,

I’d be dead meat.

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CHAPTER 2: DEFINING HOME

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It was not an imposing house. It was a quiet little dwelling in the Garden District. So why did Remy feel so nervous about entering? Was it the fact that the X-men had expected him to return alone? Was it the fact that he didn’t know *what* to expect from the little blue-eyed kid that was so desperately holding on to his hand? It was in this nervous state that Gambit turned the door knob leading to Rogue Darkholme’s safe-house for the X-men.

He met only silence.

“Mr. Gam’it, where all alla the X-men?”

He looked down at the boy.

“Well, we be ‘bout t’ find out petite....an’ please, call me Remy.”

He searched the house only to find that there was not a single X-man in the place. He breathed a sigh of relief. Fortune had smiled upon him, and he now had time to think of how he would explain his new-found situation. Yet he once again began to worry. Had a mission come up without him? If not at the house, where *were* all the others? He turned to the answering machine for the solutions.

>beeeep!

“Storm, it’s Bishop. Sage has found a lead on the murders and we’re tracing a link to the Xavier Mansion. We think Emma Frost may be involved. This may take a while. We may not be able to report back for some time.”

>beeeep!

“Logan, this is Ororo. Lucas believes Emma to be involved with a scandal at the mansion. I know you want me to stay at the safe-house for therapy, but I *must* investigate this. I will return as quickly as possible.”

>beeeep!

“Watch the house, Cajun. Ya should be back from that Avengers mission by now. I’ve gone after Storm. If the house is in ashes by the time we get back, I’ll dice ya six ways from Sunday.” >beeeep!

“Storm? This is Neal. We’ve found Davis. He was beaten pretty badly by an anti-mutant gang. We’ve taken him to a hospital. Me and Heather have considered moving him to the mansion with the Shi’ar technology, but the doctors say he shouldn’t be moved. We’re staying with him till he recovers. Till then, we’ll try to convince him to return. I’m not sure if he’ll agree or not, so I guess we’ll just have to see how the wind blows...”

>beeeep!

“Hey Swamp-rat! Ah guess if ya’ll are listenin’ ta this, ya made it back from tha ‘Vengers in one piece. Ah found out this mornin’ that the fridge is positively bare. Gone out shoppin’ ta help remedy that. Till then, feel free ta order yaself a pizza or somethin’. Ah’ll be back in a few hours. Love ya!”

>bee--

>click.

“Well, p’tite, look like we got de entire house t’ourselves, neh?”

He turned to see the boy curled up in a corner, looking at his surroundings which seemed as if they would surely break if he touched them. Gambit’s face fell.

“Franklin...look...y’hurtin’. I know dat an’ I know how it feels. But de pain, she can’ rule ya. Y’can’t let it.”

He lifted the child’s face to meet his eyes.

“An’ I *want* you here. I know y’ heard a t’ing or two of what Iron Man said ‘bout sendin’ ya ta an orphanage, but it ain’ goin’ happen. I won’ let it. But, I’m goin’ t’need y’help. I need y’ t’try an’ not shut me out. Dinner won’t patch up y’soul, but it does de body an’ de spirit good. So ‘m orderin’ a pizza like de lady said...”

Silence.

“Mr. Gam--Remy?”

“Oui?”

The boy’s eyes widened, the beginnings of resolve starting to settle there.

“Where’s my new room?”

Remy gave him a gentle smile.

“Right dis way, petite.”

“What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“Petite.”

“Mean’s lil’ one.”

“Stop, then. I ain’t lil’.”

He looked down at the small Richards.

“Remy try an’ remember dat.”

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Rogue was tired. Such a simple little thing as shopping, and she was tired. A life without powers certainly took some getting used to. She hadn’t thought about the fact that she didn’t have super-strength as she began putting miscellaneous food items into the shopping cart. She now wished that she had, because that was an awful lot of grocery bags to carry. Perhaps, she mused, the cajun would be back, and able to help her.

“Remy!” she called out to him, coming in from the door.

There was the sound of running water upstairs. It was just the swamprat’s luck to choose that *exact* time to take a shower. So much for a helping hand. She walked back out to the car. She opened the truck and pulled out one of the heavy bags....only to have it dissapear from her grasp. She looked down. All of the bags were gone. She ran back in doors.

“Rem--!”

“Hi.”

Rogue did a double-take. All the bags were placed on the coffee table, neatly in rows with a little blonde-haired boy sitting down next to them. He had a tiny hint of a smile on his face, as though he hadn’t been expecting anything funny, but was somewhat amused by the surprise on her face. He also looked vaguely familiar...<> “Remy’s takin’ a shower. I thought ya could use some help, so I brought alla these in. Thought maybe I oughta help, since this is my new home an’ ev’rything...”

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Author’s Note: Not too short of a chapter, I don’t think. I hope I have ya’ll intrigued. This chapter kinda helps you understand what the X-men’s current situation is. As for Franklin, if anyone wants to give me information on his history with the Fantastic Four or suggestions of where the plot of this story could go (since I don’t have it all planned out), I’m open to listening. I can’t always use everyone else’s ideas, but it will give me help with what to write. As for right now, whether you can come up with an idea or not--PLEASE REVIEW! ^_^