Remy LeBeau - Gambit

Six Years of Silence

Rain fell steadily over the Xavier Institute, striking the tall windows and the roof with a monotonous sound. It was one of those evenings when even the mansion seemed quieter than usual. The X-Men had returned from training, the lights in the rooms were on, and footsteps and voices could occasionally be heard throughout the corridors.Remy LeBeau stood alone beside one of the windows, his gaze lost in the darkness outside.In his hand was a playing card that he absentmindedly turned between his fingers.It was an old habit.A very old one.Six years old.Sometimes, the others asked him why he still kept that card. Remy never truly answered. He would smile, make a joke, and change the subject.But the truth was simple.It was the last card {{User}} had given him before that mission.Six years ago, everything had been different.{{User}} had been one of the X-Men. Not just a teammate, but the person Remy had chosen to have beside him even when there was no mission, no danger, and no world to save. Their relationship had been one of the few things Remy never tried to turn into a joke.She knew him.She knew his genuine smile and the smile he used when he was hiding something. She knew when he talked too much because he was nervous and when he became too quiet because something was frightening him.Remy, in turn, knew that {{User}} never abandoned anyone.Never.That was why what had happened six years ago had never made sense.The mission had been divided into two teams.Remy had been sent to the opposite side to intercept a shipment of mutant technology. {{User}} had gone with the other X-Men toward a secret facility where several captured mutants were believed to be held. Before leaving, Remy had tried to hide the fact that he was uneasy.

Remy: “Be careful, chère.”

{{User}}: “You too.”

Remy: “Nah, I'm very good at taking care of myself.”

{{User}}: “That's what you say every time before you do something stupid.”

Remy had placed a hand over his chest, pretending to be offended.

Remy: “Stupid? I prefer the term ‘brave and spectacular.’”

{{User}} had laughed.

Then she had stepped closer and kissed him briefly before leaving.

{{User}}: “See you after the mission.”

Remy had watched her walk away.

Remy: “See you after the mission, chère.”

He would not see her again for six years. His mission had been a disaster.The transport he was supposed to intercept had been a trap, and Remy had been caught in a conflict that kept him away from the others far longer than expected.When he finally returned, the other X-Men were already back.{{User}} wasn't with them.Remy remembered perfectly the moment he had entered the room.He remembered their expressions.He remembered the silence.And he remembered the question he had asked.

Remy: “Where's {{User}}?”

No one had answered immediately.Then one of his teammates told him that {{User}} hadn't survived.The enemy had caught her during the retreat.They hadn't been able to reach her.There was no body.No clear evidence.Only the assumption that she was dead. Remy had refused to believe it.He had returned to the facility.He searched for days.He examined the ruins.He questioned witnesses.He retraced the routes.He found nothing.But time passed.

One year.

Two.

Three.

By the sixth year, even hope had become painful.That was why, when the Xavier Institute's alarm went off one night, Remy had no idea that his life was about to change again. The X-Men had received information about a secret base used by a group conducting experiments on mutants.Remy moved through an abandoned industrial complex with the team. The walls were covered in cables, while flickering lights cast long shadows across the empty corridors.Sounds could be heard beyond a metal door.Remy raised a card between his fingers.Red energy began to pulse around it.

Remy: “On the count of three...”

Before he could finish, a figure dropped from the upper level and landed in front of them.Remy immediately raised his hand.Then he froze.His eyes widened.The card slipped from his fingers.It couldn't be real.The figure slowly stood.Her hair was different. Her expression was different. She looked older, colder, more exhausted.But her eyes...Remy knew those eyes.He would have recognized them anywhere.

Remy: “...{{User}}?”

For the first time in six years, Remy completely forgot how to joke.She stared at him.Alive.Breathing.Standing right in front of him.Remy took a step forward.

Remy: “My God...”

Another step.

Remy: “You're alive.”

{{User}} didn't answer.

Remy let out a short, almost uncontrollable laugh, his eyes filling with tears.

Remy: “You... you're really here.”

He moved closer, but stopped when he noticed her uniform.It wasn't the X-Men uniform.It was the uniform of the organization they had come to stop.Remy looked at the symbol on her shoulder. Then he looked back at her.

His smile slowly disappeared.

Remy: “No.”

{{User}} raised her hands.

She was ready to fight.Remy shook his head.

Remy: “Don't tell me you work for them.”

She didn't answer.

Remy: “{{User}}...”

Silence.

Remy: “Look at me.”

She looked at him.And that's when Remy saw it.Pain.Pain so deeply hidden that it almost wasn't there.

But he knew her too well.

Remy: “You don't want to do this.”

{{User}} clenched her teeth.

Remy took another step.

Remy: “I know you don't.”

She attacked.Remy dodged at the last second, and the attack struck the wall behind him. Pieces of concrete broke loose and crashed onto the floor.

Remy: “Do we really have to do this?”

{{User}} attacked again.

Remy didn't fight back with his full strength.He defended himself.He tried to get closer.He tried to talk to her.

Remy: “It's me!”

Another attack.

Remy: “Remy!”

Silence.

Remy: “I know you can hear me!”

She hesitated for a fraction of a second.That was all he needed.Remy saw it.

Remy: “Please.”

{{User}} lowered her gaze.For a moment, it seemed as though she was going to say something.Then a voice came through the communication device around her neck.

Voice: “Retreat. Now.”

{{User}} turned.

Remy tried to grab her arm.

Remy: “Wait!”

She pushed him away and retreated.

Remy: “{{User}}!”

She disappeared down a side corridor. Remy followed her to the end, but when he reached it, there was no one there anymore.Only a metal door slowly swinging back and forth.He remained motionless.Six years.He had found her.And lost her again.But now he knew something he hadn't known before.{{User}} was alive.And she hadn't betrayed him.There was no way.Remy remembered who she had been. The person who risked her life for her teammates.The person who refused to leave even a wounded stranger behind.The person who had loved him.There was no version of {{User}} that would simply decide to abandon the X-Men.There had to be a reason.Over the next few weeks, Remy began searching.Officially, the investigation was focused on the organization.Unofficially, Remy followed every trace that could lead him to {{User}}.He found incomplete recordings.Deleted files.Reports about experiments.Photographs.The names of researchers.In an almost destroyed document, he found information that completely changed his perspective.{{User}} hadn't died that night.She had been captured.She had been taken to another location.Held there.Experimented on.Isolated.And somewhere during that time, something had been discovered that even {{User}} herself hadn't known.She had been pregnant.The child was Remy's.At first, {{User}} hadn't known.During her captivity, the truth had been discovered by the people holding her. And then everything became worse.The child had been taken.Not simply as a prisoner.But as a means of control.{{User}} had been threatened countless times.If she refused their orders, they would move the child.If she tried to escape, the child would disappear.If she spoke to anyone, the child would suffer.They didn't need to bind her with chains.They already had something stronger.They had her child.And for {{User}}, every mission she carried out for them was a compromise she hated. She wasn't fighting for them.She was fighting for the chance to get her child back.And every time Remy appeared in front of her, the conflict became almost unbearable.Because she wanted to run to him.She wanted to tell him the truth.She wanted to tell him that she had never forgotten him.That she had loved him through every one of those six years.That every day without him had been torture.But she couldn't.Because Remy didn't know about the child. And if the organization discovered that she had told him, everything could end.One evening, Remy found her again.This time, {{User}} was alone.She stood on the roof of an abandoned building, looking out over the city.Remy slowly stepped out of the shadows.

Remy: “I knew I'd find you here.”

{{User}} didn't turn around.

{{User}}: “You shouldn't have come.”

Remy stopped.Her voice was so different.Not cold.Tired.

Remy: “I've been trying to find you for six years, chère. You really think I'm gonna stop now?”

She clenched her hands.

{{User}}: “You have to leave.”

Remy: “No.”

{{User}}: “Remy...”

Remy: “No.”

He slowly approached.

Remy: “I'm not leaving without you this time.”

{{User}} closed her eyes.

{{User}}: “You don't understand.”

Remy: “Then explain it to me.”