Betrayal - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Valerie Jones
Last updated: 01/02/2007 02:01:11 AM

Chapter 1

Bishop crouched in the late night shadows, scanning the lakefront before him. The boathouse was off to his left, windows darkened. Scott and Jean had gone to bed some hours earlier. The sound that had alerted him repeated itself, a soft burble that came from the lake. It might be a fish or a frog, but the sound just didn't seem quite right.

He drew his weapon with silent ease as a figure climbed out of the water onto the dock. His thumb touched the power setting, ready to slide the indicator from stun to full. It was only habit now. He had not used the full power setting in a very long time. The figure stood on the dock for a moment, then raised its arms and stretched with sinuous grace. Bishop recognized Psylocke and lowered his weapon. He moved away as silently as he had approached, grateful that Elizabeth did not seem to have scanned him. She probably would not appreciate having an audience to her late-night skinny dipping.

Bishop shook his head. How easily he forgot his real purpose with the X-men! But it was so easy to absorb the almost carefree culture around him. Even the X-men did not seem to understand the seriousness of their situation. For him, it was a constant struggle to remain alert and not get distracted. And certainly not to care one whit if checking out a possible security breach had resulted in an illicit view of a female X-man naked.

Bishop emerged from the trees on the mansion's front lawn. The house was dark, with only the decorative lamps on either side of the driveway lit. Bishop stayed out of the circle of warmth they cast.

*Always know where y' shadow is, boy.* The Witness' words came back to him as his gaze swept the ground, checking to make sure that he had cast none. Bishop ground his teeth in frustration. He had caught a glimpse of Gambit earlier that evening as he went over the south wall. It galled to know that the Cajun had passed him unnoticed, as he had gone through his nightly survey of the grounds. That was part of the reason he was still at it. Gambit had not returned yet, and not knowing the man's whereabouts made Bishop very uneasy. Plus the fact that he had gone over the wall and not taken his bike made Bishop think that he did not want anyone to know that he was gone.

Bishop climbed the mansion's front stairs and settled on the top one. The grounds were quiet, as always. His stomach rumbled, but he ignored it. Hunger was a small thing, and this was just a protest from a body that had become used to eating whenever it wanted. He had not known true hunger since his childhood.

A tiny sound, the scrape of a shoe on the cement behind him, made Bishop's blood freeze. He leaped to his feet and turned, gun centering on the source of the sound, all in less than a second. A small flame erupted in the darkness, highlighting Gambit's angular face. He lit his cigarette, snuffed the match with a snap of his wrist.

The dual scents of tobacco and sulfur assaulted Bishop's nose.

"Relax, Bish. It's jus' me." Gambit has not moved. Were it not for the glow from his cigarette, he would be invisible in the shadows.

"I rarely find that to be the least bit reassuring." Bishop returned his gun to its holster. "Any particular reason you were sneaking up on me?"

The corner of Gambit's mouth curled upward. "Who said I was sneakin'? You not payin' attention." He moved out of the shadows to lean casually against one of the columns that decorated the porch front.

Time passed in silence. Gambit extinguished the remains of his cigarette and the butt disappeared with a flicker of motion. Bishop recognized the slight of hand for what it was, and also realized that it was completely unconscious. Gambit was not paying him the least bit of attention. He seemed wrapped in his own thoughts as he stared out into the darkness. Eventually, he turned.

"`Night, Bishop."

"LeBeau."

Gambit passed him and went into the house. Bishop watched him go and wondered, as he always did, what the truth really was. As he had learned from his experience in the alternate timeline of Apocalypse's domination, anything could happen. Gambit had been loyal to the X-men in that timeline. And even if he had betrayed and murdered the X-men in Bishop's own timeline, that was no guarantee that he would do so in the present one. It was a frightening prospect, not knowing. All he could do was continue to watch Gambit, in the hopes that he would be able to protect the X-men if necessary.