DISCLAIMER: This the sequel to Sinister Help. All characters belong to Marvel and used without their permission. Oh, if you notice any continuity glitches, it was by accident. You try predicting one year in the future in the comics. Many thanks to the chatters at #subcafe for the French translations and plot help.

Jean sighed as she felt Scott's strong arms wrapping around her body. His smooth skin rubbed against hers familiarly. Jean smiled as Scott's love and renewed happiness poured down their newly reestablished link. Still, there was a great deal of guilt and fear that trying to stay from the link. "Scott."

"Hmmm?" he asked, as he rubbed her back in a soothing manner.

"We have to get out. The others want to know what happened to you," Jean replied, as she picked up her shirt telekinetically and brought it toward herself.

Scott looked nervously at the clock on the wall seeing that it was 8 a.m. "I -- I can't," Scott said, as he looked down.

Jean blinked and slowly stood up. "Why?" she asked. "I know we need our time alone together, but the others need to see you. They missed you." Jean put her hand on Scott's chin and tilted his head up to her, continuing, "I missed you."

Scott nodded and said, "I know. I want to see the others just as much as you but, I mean ... I can't get out of here. Sinister was the one who freed me from Apocalypse. I need to think of a good way to tell you this ..."

Jean looked up with a shocked expression. More questions sprang into her mind. Why did Sinister save Scott? How had Sinister managed to save him? What did Sinister do to him? True, Logan did tell her about Sinister’s scent but part of her didn’t want to believe it.

"I know," Jean whispered, as she stroked Scott's long hair. The hair felt long and sticky to her hands. It was bunched up in places and the oily feel of the hair made her want to cringe. "How long have you been held captive by him?" she whispered.

Scott shrugged and said, "I don't know. Sinister told me that it had been a year since I was rescued from Apocalypse. But he told me that it took only six months for my body to be regrown. After that, I don't really know. About a month, I guess, but I've been tranquilized a great deal."

"That monster," she said, as she gritted her teeth. "I don't know whether to be grateful to him or hate him."

"I know how you feel," Scott said. "Let's not worry about that now. All that matters is that I'm free and with you."

"I know," she said softly. Jean rolled off of Scott's bare chest and put on the various clothes that were scattered about. "I now know how you felt when you first realized that I was alive. Oh! Hank, Warren, and Bobby are on the other side of the door."

Scott nodded and put on his clothes. There was a knock on the door. Jean sat up and said, "It's okay, we're decent."

Hank bounded in with a bouquet of flowers and handed them to Scott. "Greetings and salutations, former fearless leader!"

Scott blushed as he accepted the flowers. "Ummm ... thanks."

"I must make up for the rigorous tests I had to conduct on your body as well as future tests," Hank blurted out, in a cheerful manner.

"Future tests?" Scott asked, as he tightened his grip on the flowers.

"Only to make certain nothing sinister has happened to your body," Hank replied, as he winked at his friend.

Bobby ran up and hugged Scott. "Great to see you back, Slim! Although, I wish you could've come back before we planted the flowers."

"What ... flowers?" Scott asked, as he returned the hug.

"The flowers we planted on your gr -- your grave," Bobby said, as he let go.

"That's nice," Scott said, as he lay the flowers in his hand on a nearby tray. When Warren stepped up, Scott nodded and said, "Hello, Warren."

"Hi, Scott," Warren said, as he stared at one of his oldest friends. Tears came to his face as Warren reached out and hugged Scott, wrapping his wings around him.

"I missed you too," Scott said, as he tried to pat Warren's back through the feathers. Warren let go and stepped back.

"I have an idea!" said Bobby. "After Scott gets into some decent clothes, we could go to the memorial?"

Scott and Hank grimaced. Hank said, "Normally, I would suggest such a activity, but now is not the proper time."

"Why?" Warren asked. "It's bright, it's beautiful outside..."

"Exactly," Scott said, "I can't get out because it's bright outside." He sighed deeply as he sat down again, and said, "Sinister made me very sensitive to the sun. The smallest ray burns me and it's so painful. There's no cure."

"I -- I'm sorry, I didn't know," Bobby said, as he sat down in a chair on the other side of the room.

"Why did he do that?" Jean asked, as she sat on the other side of Scott.

"I don't know. I think that he made it like that so it would be harder for me to escape," Scott replied, as he faintly smiled in an ironic. "I can't face the sun ever again."

"What will you do?" Jean asked her husband. Scott had always enjoyed the sun. It was his source of power. The days they spent together whenever things were quiet, they spent just basking in the sun. The sun was one of the few things in this insane world that was dependable. It was always there, virtually unchanged despite all that occurred.

Hank replied for Scott as he just sat there. "I'm currently working on a special suit to aid our heliophobic teammate. I've got Forge to aid me, but until then, he has to remain indoors during the day."

"I'm not scared of the sun," Scott said. "I just can't get out anymore."

"Maybe we can celebrate outside at night," Bobby said, in his ever-optimistic mood. "We can get out at sunset and just get out on the town."

"That's sounds like fun," Scott said, smiling, and patting Bobby's arm. "Jean, where are my clothes? I don't want to spend the day in this outfit." Scott gestured to his T-shirt and blue jeans. The clothes were worn out, torn in various places and they were also clothes that Sinister had given him.

"Ummm ..." Jean said, as her face turned red. "We gave them away. It was Nathan's suggestion. We had to pack up everything you had, except for a few treasured items, and we gave them away. I think Alex have some of your old clothes after he returned from that alternate universe but the rest, I don’t know. Sorry."

Scott sighed and smiled slightly. "Well, I was dead for a year. I guess that's a good reason. But I don't want to wear this."

"Wait a second," Bobby said, as he walked out of the med lab.

The four waited as Scott tried to stifle his yawns. He sat down on his med lab cot as Bobby ran in with a set of clothes. "Here you go," he said as he handed Scott the clothes.

"Thanks," Scott said, as he accepted the clothes and went into the next room. "I'll be right back," he said, as he went into one of the cleaning stations that Hank and his patients often used when they needed to be in the med lab for long periods of time.

Scott entered the room and looked at the new technology that had appeared in the time he was gone. The walls were bright white and various technologies lined the area. He shivered slightly when he recognized a piece of equipment as Celestial. The same equipment that Apocalypse used ...

He shook his head and took a deep breath. Quickly stripping off his clothing, he hopped into the shower. It was like the old shower stalls; it had the usual heavy-duty shampoo in those gallon jugs that come in economy size. With Hank's fur, he needed all that shampoo as body wash.

Scott could just feel the grime on his smooth skin. The stench of the month or so long captivity settled in. He could almost smell blood all over his hands. He took a bottle of body wash and poured it all over his body. He lathered the sweet smelling liquid up and down his firm body.

The water splattered all over his glasses. It was getting hard to see with them on. He smirked to himself as he cracked open the door and carefully lay the glasses on the floor. He didn't need them now.

He took a very small amount of shampoo to wash his now long hair. He had to wash it. The long hair tickled at his back and his neck. He felt the it run through his fingers.

He let the hot, steaming water rinse off the foam created out of the soap and shampoo. He stood motionless as he closed his eyes and felt the spray of water hitting him again and again. **Scott? Are you done yet?** Jean's voice echoed in his head, interrupting his quiet thoughts.

He sighed and focused outwards, **Almost, Hon, are we being attacked?**

**No, but we are getting impatient. It's been half hour already. It's not like you to take such long showers. Well, unless you have company.** Jean said the last statement with a wicked note laced in her voice.

**Maybe, later.** Scott sighed as he turned off the spray of soothing hot water and stepped out of the stall. He saw a device next to the stall that was labeled 'Instant dryer.' He stepped in front of it and pushed the 'start' button. A swirl of hot air circled him as he felt his hair drying immediately.

He picked up the clothes. It was a pair of black shorts with a gray T-shirt. He searched and found a pair of underwear and socks in the pile. He put on the clothes and looked in the mirror. The man standing there smiled back at him. Scott shook slightly when he saw that pair of red-on-black eyes beaming back at him. "The glasses," Scott recalled, as he looked down to see his pair of ruby quartz glasses still sitting on the floor. He bent down and picked them up. They were still wet from their brief time in the shower.

He took a small toilette and wiped them dry. There was a time when he wouldn't so something so careless. A time when he wouldn't even think about forgetting something as vital as his glasses. Of course, at that time, he needed those glasses like a fish needed an aquarium on land. Now, they were just a fancy pair of sunglasses that he could put on and take off any time he wanted to.

He slid on the glasses as he used to do constantly. They felt heavy on his nose. It had felt that way back in the alley when he needed to look normal. Before, he hadn't minded the weight.

With one last glance at the frowning man in the mirror, he left the bathroom.

He re-entered the med. lab to see his friends sitting and waiting. "What took you?" Warren asked. "You were in there for over forty-five minutes. We were afraid that you'd got lost."

"Nah, I lost track of time," Scott replied. "I haven't taken a voluntary hot shower in over a year. I think I deserved one."

"Of course. I pray that you did leave some hot water in there," Hank said, as he stood up.

"I don't know. Sorry," Scott said, as he looked down at his outfit. "Where's Bobby?"

"He left on an errand," Jean replied "He said that he hoped that you're feeling better."

Scott blinked as he looked around. Bobby would feel nervous around him since Scott had been part of Apocalypse. After Bobby learns that Scott’s rescued by Sinister, he might be more nervous around him. Soon, everyone would know and treat him differently.

Scott sighed and lay down on the bed for a moment. "I have to tell you something," he said, as he sat back up and bit the inside of his lip nervously. "As you know, Sinister was the one who saved me."

Warren opened his mouth as Scott continued, "He did more than just make me sun sensitive." He took off his glasses and looked at them with now piercing red-on-black eyes.

Jean and the others stared at their friend. Even Hank, who knew about Gambit's DNA, was shocked at the eyes. "Oh my stars and garters."

"I know this must be a shock," Scott said, as he started to put his glasses on again.

"Keep them off," Jean ordered, as she put her hand on the hand with the glasses to stop Scott from putting them on. He looked into her eyes and noticed how green they were. Jean said, "I like seeing your face. Why do you need to wear those glasses again?"

"I thought that well ... you know," Scott fumbled, as he gestured to his eyes again.

"Jean's right," Warren said, as he stepped forward. "Why not? Don't worry. Remy and I settled our differences a long time ago while you were ... away."

"I'm glad that you don't mind my change," Scott said. "After dark, I'll tell the other teams. Please don't tell them now. I don't want any unnecessary rumors going around." He lay the glasses on the bedside table.

"There is nothing to worry about, my friend," Hank said. "Your little DNA change is nothing major. You still look like you without the glasses on. At least you didn't turn blue," Hank added, as he gestured to himself and Warren.

"Or have any clones that posed as you," Jean said.

"As far as I know, you barely changed," Warren said. "You were overdue for something like this."

"You mean that I was meant to be a semi-clone of Gambit?" Scott asked. Before anyone could answer, Scott yawned and lay back down on the bed. "I'm tired, do you mind if I sleep for a while?"

"Sleep? At nine in the morning? I thought you'd be up all day?" Warren asked, as he looked up at the clock.

"I'm just tired," Scott moaned, as he put his hand under his pillow.

Jean nodded and sat beside him. "I'll stay here with you."

"I'm certain Remy will let you have a day off," Hank said. "Perhaps after sunset we shall waltz down to Harry's for drinks and celebrations."

"Hmmm ... I wouldn't mind a cold beer," Scott said, as he smiled. "It's been too long since I had one."

"We may have to do more tests," Hank said. "You may not be out of the woods yet. -- Hello?"

Scott didn't listen. His eyes were closed as he buried his head in the pillow. Jean sighed as she pulled the blanket over him. "Leave him alone. He's exhausted," she said, as she stood up and graced her hand over his cheek.

"He look so ... different like that. Asleep, no glasses, no visor," Hank whispered, as he and Warren left the med lab.

"Yeah, he does," Warren said. "He looked just like Gambit like that."

"There has always been an uncanny resemblance between the two."

"I never noticed," Warren said, as he recalled the various times he'd seen Remy and Scott in the same room at the same time.

"Neither have I before now. It's most interesting what we X-Men tend to miss. Like that time Bishop vanished and no one cared."

"He vanished?"