Unfinished Business - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by X-Treme and Loup Garou
Last updated: 01/02/2007 02:01:11 AM

Chapter 5

Gambit sat in his room the next day contemplating yesterday's events. He, in one day, became the luckiest man alive and the stupidest.

On one hand, Rogue had agreed to marry him. Aurora, he mused. She told him her name was Aurora the moment he got back. It suited her.

And on the other hand, he was now in charge of Warren. If he made one slip, his life would be forfeit.

It was a delicate position he was in. He was an X-man. But, he was also a Guild member. It was a precociously balanced life he led. His every word was always thought through to make sure a slip didn't happen.

Warren all of a sudden tapped him on the shoulder. "So, what do we do now?"

Gambit was startled inside and only his eyes gave that fact away. Damn, I'm getting careless. But Warren didn't notice.

"Y' said de chip y' were makin' was for Shaw, right?" asked Gambit pulling his thoughts together.

Warren shook his head. "Den dat's where we go next." Gambit replied firmly.

"You suspect Shaw?!" gaped Warren. "But the chip was for him in the first place."

Gambit narrowed his eyes. "What exactly is dis chip supposed t' do?"

"It's like a Shi'ar memory chip, except made with human material." Responded Warren flatly.

"Y' be makin' Shi'ar technology!" hissed Remy furiously. He was glad that his bedroom door was closed.

"No," stared Warren. "I mean that it is human made, thought up and designed, but it has the same capabilities of a Shi'ar memory chip."

"Shit." Murmured Remy. "De world is not ready f' somet'ing like dat yet!"

"The configuration also looks alien in origin, having many Shi'ar characteristics…" started Warren.

"But it's man made. Yeah, I got'cha." Sighed Remy. "We need t' find dat chip."

"Well if your Thieves Guild hadn't stolen it, then we wouldn't have had this problem, now would we?" snapped Warren.

Remy gave him a deadly glare, "Y' wanna say dat a little bit louder so dat y' can give me more of a reason t' kill y' myself?"

Warren just glared back.

With a motion of Remy's hand to exit the room, they both left.

"Mr. Shaw, there is a Warren Worthington here to see you."

"Show them in Claire."

A young beautiful woman showed him in.

"Ah, Mr. Worthington, it's nice to see you again."

Warren walked into Shaw's office and sat down in the empty chair. The other chair was occupied.

"I don't believe you've met Mr. Levy have you Mr. Worthington?"

"No I haven't." smiled Warren. He reached over to shake the man's hand.

"Pleased to meet you." He replied in a heavy English accent.

"Coffee?" asked Shaw pleasantly.

"No thank you. Actually, I came here to talk about my chip. We still have Dr. Clark to redo the plans and we are planning to reproduce it once again. Since it was originally going to you, I wondered if you wanted it again or if we are out of our contract so that we may sell it to someone else."

The two men looked at each other warily. "Mr. Worthington, since we did not receive the chip the first time, by your gracious offer, we accept it." Replied Mr. Levy.

At Warren's confused expression, Mr. Shaw stepped in. "My. Levy is the head of our research and development."

"Ah." Smiled Warren in understanding. "Anyhow, I know that you are a busy man and I interrupted what looked like a meeting, therefore, I will take my leave."

All three stood up.

"It was a pleasure." Smiled Mr. Levy.

"Likewise." Warren responded as he left the room. He walked past the secretary and into the empty elevator.

"It can't be Shaw." Said Warren firmly.

"Warren, dat man, Mr. Levy, is de man dat wanted us t' steal y' chip." Said Remy firmly, invisible from head to toe because of Carl's secret spray.

"No way Remy, he wouldn't have wanted to steal what was going to be his anyway." Said Warren exasperated.

Remy let out a frustrated sigh. He had expected some information to work on from this visit to Shaw, but this left him puzzled. "But…"

"No buts," Warren cut him off. "He is an honest businessman."

"And de leader o' de HellFire Club." Remy shot back.

"Don't compare what he does on his spare time with business." Warren said hotly. " You of all people should understand that."

Remy kept silent. "Are you still there Remy?" Warren asked uncertainly.

"Yeah," sighed Remy. "Let's go home. It's my turn t' cook."

"Urgh." Grimaced Warren. "I'm going out to dinner."

"My. Levy, I thank you for the information." Smiled Shaw after Warren left.

"My pleasure. It is coded so you will have to break it… but I think the information will serve its purpose."

"Good, good. Thank you again Mr. Levy. If I should require your services once again, you are the one I will call."

"Oh no, Mr. Shaw. It is I that should be thanking you." He smiled as he shook Shaw's hand. Without a word he left the room.

Mr. Levy didn't go down into the lobby. He was here for another purpose. And it included kidnapping Carl Wellington.

Thomas, New York's Guildmaster, paced nervously as he waited for an audience with the King of Thieves, Jean-Luc LeBeau. He looked at the mysterious disk that he had been given while walking out of a restaurant

that night.

"You may enter now." Barked a voice from inside. The man inside was a busy man as shown by all the paper work on his desk. He was the Guildmaster of New Orleans, but of late, he was spending a lot of time up in New York. In fact, so much time, that he setup office. Was it because he wanted to be closer to his son?

Things were tense when he walked into the New York's Guild Complex. The longer he stayed, the more he seemed to be taking over.

With a breath, Thomas walked into the room.

"King of Thieves." He bowed respectably.

"Guildmaster." He acknowledged.

Thomas walked over to the desk and put the disk in front of him.

"What is this?"

"Just take a look."

Curiously, Jean-Luc put the disk into his PC and opened the file. All he saw were little lines and squiggles and lines.

"What is this?" Jean-Luc exclaimed.

"I don't know." He replied honestly. "Someone I trust gave the disk to me. We are having trouble breaking the code though."

"Really?" he asked surprised. Then he became suspicious. "Why would a 'trusted' friend give you something you couldn't decode?"

"God knows. When he gave it to me, he was almost in hysteria, babbling something about aliens and a place called Mir Island." Sighed Thomas.

"Mir Island…" Jean-Luc mused out loud to himself.

"You know of the place?" asked Thomas confused.

"I've heard it mentioned a couple of times." He replied guardedly. "But

I do know of some people that could decipher all these scribbles."

Thomas suddenly became interested. Like a bee to honey, grinned

Jean-Luc.

Gambit walked downstairs after a shower, visible. Something about that Mr. Levy nagged at him. He walked past the kitchen to grab a drink of water. This day, Warren seemed… almost compliant. After that drop in

the garbage bin, Warren was acting smugly as if he had a secret. He didn't like it one bit.

Anyhow, tonight was not a night to contemplate it. This was second night sleeping with Rogue. With a slight grin on his face, he went back upstairs.

As he entered his room, he saw the loveliest vision. There was Rogue in skimpy black, satin negligee. It was going to be another long night.

Warren took Betsy out for a walk when hey got back. The run was setting and there was a magnificent view by the pond.

"You look beautiful tonight Betsy." Warren commented seriously.

She gave a laugh, "Liar. In these old clothes?"

He stopped her abruptly, "No, it's just not your clothes Elizabeth. You are beautiful inside and out. And I'm damn lucky to have you."

"My angel," she smiled mischievously. "And I'm lucky to have you." She was trying to lighten his mood. He had been tense ever since he has asked her to walk with them.

Together they walked up to the cliffs and as the reached the top, the sun had finally set, the moon was shinning bright and billions of stars could be seen overhead.

"It's so beautiful." Sighed Betsy lying down on the rocks to get a full view of the starry sky.

"I say we claim a star." Gulped Warren nervously. "Pick one star, then point it out to me."

Biting her lip, she took her time deciding which of the billions would he hers. "That one," she said after a minute. It didn't take long for Warren to find it. It was the brightest star in the sky.

Warren decided now was the time.

"Betsy, like that star that shine so bright like my never ending love for you, would you marry me?" asked Warren quietly holding out a little box.

She didn't know what to say. Carefully she took the box from his hands and opened it. Inside was a beautiful ring. There was a bright red ruby that was set in white gold. Inside was the inscription, 'Peace in the Soul.' "Yes."

Warren let out the deep breath he was holding. "Now Betsy, there are some things I have to tell you and after this, if you don't want to marry me, I'll understand."

A frown of concern creased her face.

"Gambit was the one who stole my chip." He muttered.

Betsy gave a snort, "I'm not surprised. Should we beat the shit out of him?"

Warren took another deep breath, "He saved my life in return for his."

Betsy watched him for a moment. She could tell that this fact was killing him. The intense hatred towards Gambit was fueled even more.

"Well I have something to tell you too." Betsy whispered. "Jono is my son."

Warren held her in close. "Does he know?"

"The father? No. He was long gone and left me pregnant and at the mercy of my family.

"I meant Jono."

"No. I don't know how I would face him. How could I answer the question, 'Why did you give me up?' It was the hardest thing in my whole like I ever had to do." A tear trickled down her face.

"Shh… I don't blame you and I still want to marry you." Warren cuddled her.

"Me too."

With a grin, Warren picked her up and flew into the night back to the house.

Thanks for the ring Carl.

"Where did y' get de ring?" screamed Gambit. Betsy had gone around the house showing off her engagement ring the next morning.

Both Warren and Gambit were alone in Xavier's study. Warren looked at him warily. "What? You aren't the only one who can get a nice ring for your fiancée."

Gambit picked him up by the shirt and held him on the wall. "Y' damn well know what I'm talking' about. Dat's de ring o' a highly trained Guild Thief! Now I ask again… where did y' get it?"

Warren laughed, "That's the same as asking, how did you know where to hit. I'm not going to tell you."

Gambit started to slowly charge Warren's shirt. "If a t'ief had betrayed de Guild, he must be punished. Tell me NOW Warren." He whispered menacingly.

Gambit wasn't kidding.

"Carl Wellington." Warren choked out. Remy pulled the energy back inside himself.

"Get him here Warren." Rasped Remy disorientated from not releasing the energy.

Warren took a minute to regain his breath before picking up the phone that lay on Xavier's desk.

Ring. Ring.

"Hello, Carl Wellington's office. Kathy Adam's speaking."

"This is Warren Worthington. May I speak to Dr. Wellington please?"

"One moment please."

"Dr. Carl Wellington here."

"Carl, this is Warren. I was wondering if you could come for dinner tonight."

"Oh wow, um sure. I'd love to. Where?"

"Remember that school we drove to… there. It's LeBeau's turn to cook dinner."

"LeBeau! Is he there right now?"

"Un hun… so you're allergic to milk…" Warren knew that Remy was only listening to his side of the conversation. Remy was still weak from doing what he did.

"*Sigh* Yes, I'll come over… I've had a date with death since I left the Thieves Guild."

"Is seven fine?"

"Yeah."

"I'll have the company line pick you up at 6:30."

"At my house so I have time to… prepare."

"Okay, see you at dinner."

"Bye."

Warren hung up the phone and faced Remy. Without a second glance, Warren walked out of the room. "Cerebro, locate Psylocke."

"Psylocke is not on the grounds.

Must be shopping. Thought Warren.

The Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire stood smugly at the front door of Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning. Coming here had been a spur of the moment thing. She cleared her calendar for the next week to see her

lover. "I finally found a solution to our problems." She murmured to herself. Smiling, she knocked on the door.

A smiling Charles came to the door. "So glad to see you again Lil'." She rushed into his arms and pressed a hearted kiss to his lips. "Is this official business or simply pleasure?"

"Pleasure, definitely pleasure." She murmured coyly.

"I love it when you look like that." Grinned Charles. "Today, Gambit is

cooking dinner."

"Then it shall certainly be an experience." She laughed. "I burned my tongue on that jumbo stuff the last time."

As they walked into the foyer, Jean spotted them.

"Professor, we have a BIG problem. Hi Lil'." Said Jean quietly.

< We have a breach of security at Mir Island. >

"Come Lillandra, this problem concerns you too." Xavier commanded.

"Should I get Gambit, Rogue, Betsy and Warren?" asked Jean nervously.

Xavier stopped for a moment. "No." Lillandra looked at Charles in surprise.

< I'll explain later. >

Down in the War Room, everyone except the four was assembled.

"Sir, three days ago your Xavier Protocols were stolen from the memory bank of Cerebro on Mir. Island. In those protocols, we know that all our information on the Shi'ar are on it among other things." Said Scott.

Everyone sat in stunned silence.

"It is also encoded in Askani. Only Betsy, Nathan, Emma Frost, you and I know the code to decipher it." Continued Scott.

"My x-men, it is imperative that we find that disk. Not only does out lives depend on it and other mutants hiding around the world, but also, our very future." Said Xavier. This seriousness hung in the room like

morning fog.

"Where is Betsy?" asked Jean to Cerebro.

** Betsy Braddock cannot be found. **

"Cerebro, world search. Locate Betsy Braddock." Commanded Scott.

** Betsy Braddock cannot be found. **

"What is going on?" demanded Scott. "Warren is acting weird, Gambit is acting weird. Do you think this theft had anything to do with them?"

"Quite possibly." Admitted Xavier. "That is why I did not let them know about this meeting."

"And Warren tried to kill Remy." Added Bobby. "He has always held himself in check, why break loose now?"

"Well, Warren did have a bad day a couple of days ago. A new chip of his was stolen, he was mugged and his new car taken and a Van Gogh miniature stolen." Admitted Scott. "He had asked me what I knew about

the Thieves Guild."

"What did you say?" asked Bishop clearly interested.

Scott shrugged, "I told him that I didn't know that much and didn't ask because I was afraid of the answer. Everyone had pasts here and until it needs to be known or the people want to reveal it… it stays their

secret."

"Good answer." Nodded Logan approvingly.

Xavier nodded, "Yes, good answer. First things first, Jean, use Cerebro and try to find Betsy. Logan and Bishop, you two go to Mir Island and perhaps try to find some clues there. Remy and Warren can't find out what is going on. That way we can absolve them of any responsibility concerning the theft."

"Perhaps we can send them on an errand." Suggested Beast.

"Well… GenX wanted someone to come down and work with the kids for a couple of days." Said Scott with a slow smile.

"Perfect. I'll inform them immediately." Responded Jean.

"And remember," added Beast. "We are doing this for their own good to make sure that they are not involved in any of this." Everyone shook his or her heads.

"Dismissed." Commanded Charles.

Everyone left the war room except Charles and Lil'.

"My love, I have found the solution to our problem."

"Are you going to come here and conquer the planet to get it back?" teased Charles.

"Not about THAT." Laughed Lillandra, all her good humor restored. "I mean about us."

Charles stiffened immediately. "I wasn't aware we had a problem."

Lillandra faced him sternly. "Charles, I won't be able to have children forever."

"I told you already Lil', your people would never allow for a half breed to rule. You know that as well as I do." Cried Charles. He loved her with all of his heart and that meant giving to her what she wanted the most - her position as Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire. "I know you would never give up your position, because your sister would wreak havoc, she would…"

Lil' put a finger over his lips, "Charles, listen to me. In my culture, a child is the most precious thing. It comes before duty and they come before the rules. The people do not want Deathbird as their leader. So they will just have to put up and shut up."

Love shone in Charles' eyes. "But where would he/she grow up? To whose society will it conform? We are separated doing our own things."

Lillandra took a deep breath, "It would live here with you. A trusted advisor would live here with you so that he/she will know about both our societies. And as for us being separated, I'd visit as often as possible. He/she could go back and forth." Lillandra looked him directly in the eyes. "I love you Charles and I want a family. Eventually, I would want marriage. Tell me right now if this is even a possibility. If not, I will back off and things will go back to the way it was before I asked this question."

A tear trickled down Charles' cheek. "Oh Lil'… do you know how long I've been wanting to ask that?" He pulled her into a tight embrace. "Come with me."

That morning, Betsy Braddock was smiling. "He finally proposed." She murmured to herself. The first thing she did this morning was show off her ring. It somehow closed the gap between her and Rogue.

Wedding planes and preparations were running through her head as she walked down Winslow Street to 'Brides to Be'. But with what Warren had planned for Gambit was dangerous. Of course Gambit would be dead, but it left a lot of loose factors, Rogue for example. Rogue would beat him to a bloody pulp and throw him into the sun if she found out. Not only would Rogue be a problem, but also Xavier. He was being more cautious

to pay attention to what was happening around him. Betsy wondered if what Magnus has been telling Charles for years was actually beginning to seep in.

"Damn, the store is closed." She exclaimed to herself. Throwing up her hands in resignation, she decided to go sit in the park across the street.

Of course, Onslaught would also have something to do with it she mused. His loss of powers had affected him in a way unlike anything they could have expected. Unlike her becoming more cautious, he became looser with his powers. I wonder what Scott feels about this, surely he has noticed.

Then all of a sudden, she was hit from behind.

Betsy groaned inwardly as she tried to bring herself to open her eyes. She tried to reach out with her telepathy, but she couldn't find it.

A groan of despair left her lips. "She is waking." Said a calm voice. "I will leave now."

With more effort she opened her eyes and received a headache the size of Texas for her troubles. "I feel like I was hit by a ten ton truck." She grumbled.

"Welcome Betsy Braddock, Psylocke of the X-men." Said the man in the room.

"Wh… who are you?" Asked Betsy trying to get her thoughts in order and trying to not fall into the despair she felt with the loss of her telepathy… again.

"That is not of importance." The man replied patiently and calmly.

"Asshole, where am I?" she managed to grip out.

"That is not of importance."

"The HELL it is…" The man backhanded her in the face. Betsy blinked. Blood was dripping from her lip.

"That is better. Now, I would like to not beat around the bush. What is the decoder for something called, the Xavier Protocols?"

"Who are you to be asking?" she demanded hotly.

The man's calm, cool façade changed to that of a cold glint. "We have way of making you talk." He gave off a loud whistle and two men came into the room with a rope. "Hoist her up."

The men pulled her up and re-tied her hands behind her back, then attached her hands to the rope. The rope was thrown up and went up over a high bar.

Tug after tug, they lifted her up. Betsy screamed in pain as she struggled to keep her shoulders from dislocating.

"How can we decode the Xavier Protocols?"

"Go to HELL!" she screamed at the top of her lungs in pain.

They let go of the rope only to catch it abruptly before Betsy hit the ground. It forced her shoulder blades to nap back and puncture her lungs.

"Now Miss Braddock, we will continue this until you give in." the man said mildly.

Betsy stared at the man gasping for breath to hold back the pain and closed her eyes.

"Hoist her up…"

With a sly smile, Carl knocked on the door at the Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning. A figure of a red diamond flashed on his forehead before he got it under control.

Warren was the one to answer the door. "Carl, good to see you."

"Ho… uh, boss." Smiled Carl as he entered the mansion. "Thank you for inviting me."

"Not a problem." He smiled assuredly, guiding them away from Remy coming towards them.

"So this is where the X-men live." Carl murmured in wonder taking a good look around. "Do I get a tour?"

"Sure thing!" Warren agreed enthusiastically. This way I can steer him away from Remy.

"This is the kitchen and over there is the rec. room." Motioned Warren as they walked around.

"Quite impressive." Replied Carl in a bored sounding voice. Then Warren saw Remy forcefully striding towards them once again, so he shoved Carl into the elevator to go into the sub basement. I hope Scott doesn't kill me for this. But Carl knows I'm an X-man so it really shouldn't matter if he sees Cerebro.

"This is what us X-men call the War Room," said Warren proudly.

Carl stood opened mouthed, "Where did you get the technology?"

"Actually, it isn't human." Shrugged Warren.

"Excuse me?" Carl frowned, still in amazement.

"We got it from an alien race called the Shi'ar. Charles Xavier is the consort of its Majestrix, Lilandra Neramani.

Oh My God. So that's how they do it! "So how do you protect it?" asked Carl feigning complete wonder. It fooled Warren.

"Well, we have a computer here called Cerebro which in interactive. In it, is built a virtual mutant detector of anyone over beta class."

"You can detect mutants." Carl gasped. "At what range?"

"The whole world." Laughed Warren at Carl's facial expression.

"What is to stop anyone form getting this?" asked Carl in mock concern.

"Oh, there are various safety measure that we have in place. But most of all, it is encoded by a language that comes 1000 years from the future." Warren drawled obviously getting bored. "Anyhow, come up to supper and I'll see what I can do about keeping you alive."

"Who wants to kill me?"

"Remy LeBeau… remember." Frowned Warren.

Carl quickly made up for his mistake. "Yeah I know about him, but he could have brought in people called the Assassins Guild to hit me off."

"Oh yeah, you had told me about those guys." Warren accepted his statement without another thought. Then he looked at his watch, "Time for supper. Ready?"

Carl nodded his head.

"Who is your friend?" asked Rogue curiously to Warren.

"This is Carl Wellington. He is now the head of research and development at Worthington Industries." Replied Warren.

"Pleased to meet you Miss…" inquired Carl.

"Call me Rogue sugah, soon to be Mrs. LeBeau though." She grinned, giving Remy a little kiss on his hand that she was holding under the table.

LeBeau… MY Marauder is getting married? I will have to acquire their children… "Congratulations." He replied graciously.

"Carl, this is Remy, Rogue, Bishop, Scott, Jean, Bobby, Hank, Sarah, Logan, Charles and my fiancée, Betsy Braddock." Warren said as he pointed to everyone in turn.

"Pleased to meet you all in such… personal terms." Smiled Carl.

"Remy, you and Warren are going to the Academy for three days to help Sean and Emma tonight sometime after dinner." Said Xavier. They both nodded. No one questioned an order from Xavier.

"So Carl, what did y' do before y' became a scientist." Asked Remy.

Carl shifted uncomfortably, "I've always been a scientist." He replied truthfully.

"An' your hobbies an' interests?" prompted Remy.

Carl gave a big sigh, "I was a thief in the Thieves Guild."

Everyone stopped eating at the mention of Thieves Guild. They knew Gambit was a thief in this Thieves Guild, but that was about it.

" Was a thief?" asked Gambit dangerously.

Carl lifted his head slightly and faced Remy directly, "Yes, was a thief. I'm straight now, working a good job, with a good company and I have an awesome boss."

Remy clenched his hands under the table trying to not make a scene. "There is no leaving the Guild."

"Says who? You left that band of murderers, the Marauders?" shot back Carl.

Warren sat there unflinchingly. He and Carl thought along the same lines. Justify what we do by comparing it to what Remy has done before. But he didn't say anything to Carl about it. He probably heard it from someone in that Guild of his.

"Anyway, when are you two leaving?" asked Jean changing the topic of conversation.

"Probably right after dinner." Said Warren. "It doesn't take long to pack for three days."

"Fine," Gambit bit out. "But Carl will be comin' wit' us."

"I'm sorry, but I have stuff to do at work…" said Carl quickly, but he trailed off. "Okay, sure!" Under the table, Gambit was subtly charging the man's testicles. As soon as he agreed, the pain subsided.

"It's mah turn ta clear." Said Rogue. Everyone then left the table in a hurry.

Dat man could be useful f' now, but he is goin' t' die.

"We got the code to decode the file and we are doing it as we speak.' Smiled a man triumphantly.

"Good work." Grinned Thomas. "And remember, we don't tell Jean-Luc so that it can be a surprise."

"Of course." Both men were excited as the computer started spitting out information about the X-men.

A half an hour later, everything had been decoded except a small side portion that had heavy guards they couldn't get through.

"It's amazing." Thomas said after.

"A way to kill almost every mutant on the planet! I wonder how much the Assassins would be willing to pay for this information?" said the man who had done the torturing.

"But there is stuff that we still have to find out! I say we go to the source of people who know how to decode it. Are you sure the woman doesn't know it?" asked Thomas.

The other man grinned, "Quite sure."

"Then gather everyone together. We are going in and don't forget the genoshian collars. We do know how to kill them all, but such a loss of powerful mutant life wouldn't benefit us at all."

The man nodded solemnly as he left to gather the troops for an attack on Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning - the base of the X-men.