X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

As promised, here is a sneak at what would be the fan fic X-Men: Thick as Thieves. This is actually the opening of the first chapter after the prologue. It’s a bit rough still, and it’s position could change, should I ever actually get to finishing Thick as Thieves.

This is for xevg and crushedburrito.

Chapter 1

Jacob Gavin Jr. stood in the foyer of the Xavier mansion, adjusting his tie with one hand, a manila envelope tucked against his side.

“Courier,” Rogue said as she came down the hallway, crossing her arms to stand in front of the man, “is he in trouble?”

“Who?” Courier knitted his brow, then let out a breathy, “Ah. Gambit? I wouldn’t know. I haven’t talked to him since Monte Carlo.”

“Really?” everyone had heard about the Monte Carlo incident.

“Yes,” he gave her a questioning look, “what made you think he sent me?”

Rogue stilled her jaw, taking a breath, “Why else would ya be here, asking for me in particular?”

“Because it’s my job?” he replied with a grin, holding up the envelope.

“Someone sent me something?” that surprised her and she reached for the package.

Courier tipped it up out of her reach, “Gambit did tell me about what happened in Vegas, well, most of it.”

“Didn’t take you for a gossip mongerer,” Rogue said dryly.

“I have my moments,” he gave her one of his most charming smiles, not quite on the level of Remy LeBeau, but dashing enough.

Rogue frowned, “Ya want me ta drag ya out the window again?”

“Hhmm,” that wiped the smirk from his face, “this place does have a lot of windows.”

“Yes, it does,” she smiled sweetly as she took the envelope, “who’s this from?”

“Shiro Yoshida,” he spoke the given name of the Japanese mutant known as Sunfire, “it was a priority over-night.”

“Priority over-night, from Shiro?” why would he be sending her anything, at all, she hadn’t spoken to him since the incident with Gambit and the Yakuza.

Opening the manila envelope, she pulled out a small stack of papers, the top one being a card with a hand-written note in Chinese characters:

I tried to kill the story, I failed.

The next sheet was a photo, a bit grainy, taken from a surveillance camera. There were three distinct figures, Shiro, Mystique, and Rogue.

The rest of the papers was a dossier, a quick glanced showed it to be a timeline and references to specific evidence being held in lock up. Evidence of one of the greatest crimes against the Japanese people, and it all pointed to three mutant terrorists.

“Are you okay?” Courier asked when Rogue had gone silent.

Rogue’s phone started to ring in her pocket before she had a chance to answer. Pulling it out, she saw Cyclops was calling her. When was the story going to hit the news feed? Soon, obviously, since Shiro sent over the information priority. Could this be what her team leader was calling about?

It didn’t matter.

Declining the call, she looked up at Courier, “Can ya give me a lift to Japan, I know I can fly, but it’s a long way and I have a feeling I’m gonna need my strength.”

Courier smiled, “Your return passage was already booked.”

…