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Chapters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
 
 
 

Bara Nocta - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Protege moi
Last updated: 07/30/2007 11:36:51 AM

Chapter 2

The sunlight broke through the slits of the binds and into Remy’s room. He squinted and reached for the small clock by the bedside. It was nearly mid-day. Had he really slept that long? He supposed it wasn’t too unreasonable considering the course of events these past few weeks. He leaned up on his elbow and ran his free hand through his hair. You really should get yourself out o’ bed, homme, he told himself. With that, he threw of the covers before the temptation to lie back down overcame him, sat up, and put his legs over the side of the bed. He put a hand to his torso again, holding it as he stood up. He seemed to hurt more today.

The apartment was empty; Reia was gone just as she said she’d be. It was quiet, calm. Remy half expected to hear sirens and yelling from alleyways, except all he could hear was the hum of electricity. The sun was shining brightly through the kitchen window, or was it two suns? Remy couldn’t remember. And the kitchen wasn’t as Remy had imagined it to be. Instead of something you would expect to see in a futuristic, technologically advanced world with replicators and the like, the kitchen resembled something akin to Earth’s. Remy could identify a stove, refrigeration unit, a pantry...Okay, so he’d be able to fake his way around in the kitchen. J’ai besoin du café. But he couldn’t find any; this was going to be a problem. Dieu, I’m goin’ t’ave de biggest ’eadache later on, he told himself as he remembered someone at the Palace telling him once that they’d never heard of caffeine or the likes. Dommage. Whether it was more of a shame for him or for the people of Chand’lar...Remy couldn’t decide.

After giving himself a thorough tour of the kitchen, Remy found himself something for breakfast. It was awful. It probably would have been a good idea to have known what the foods were before just putting them together. Damn, why couldn’t Xavier have sent him on an assignment to the Palace? You know de answer to dat one, homme; you de only X-Man qualified, really. And he was. Lilandra had called Charles while he was with the X-Men on a joint mission to Mars with NASA. There was an alien species building an outpost there, and they were beginning to pose a significant threat to Earth. Remy had hated every moment of it. He’d always hated space travel. He hated the US government even more; he didn’t trust them. That was a fun time...a month on a space shuttle stuck with US government NASA big-wigs you didn’t trust. Bobby felt it too. Alex told them they were being silly, that there was nothing to worry about. How wrong was he! The moment the team had landed, the astronaut pulled their guns and shot. Remy winced as he remembered hitting the tarmac. His side remembered it to.

When he woke up in the hospital, Xavier was sitting at his bedside. He remembered thinking, Must be bad news. Bobby and Alex must be in bad shape. Charles was rarely ever at his bedside when Remy was injured at the Institute...so why else would he be here, at his side, in Florida? Am I dying? He was suddenly aware of IVs, oxygen tubing, heart monitor panels...all attached to him. He chided himself later for that thought. Of course he wasn’t dying.

"How do you feel, Gambit?" His words sounded distorted; Remy’s head was fogged.

"Like shit." He was blunt.

"Robert and Alex are doing fine. Robert was able to regenerate by shifting into ice. Alex has a graze wound amounting only to some minor tissue damage, and is doing well. You, however, seem to have bad luck."

Oh, Dieu, je meurs! "’Ow bad?"

"You were shot three times. One bullet nicked your liver and there was damage to your small intestine, but the doctors expect you to be out of ICU by morning."

Intensive Care Unit?! Merde! But Charles didn’t give him time to dwell on that very long before speaking again.

"I received a subspace communiqué from Lilandra while you were in Space."

"’Ow’s Lil?" What did he care about the Shi’ar right now? He wanted more morphine and his head was really foggy. He was having a hard time concentrating. Plus, the last time he met the Shi’ar was to fight the Phalanx. Come to think of it, the Shi’ar only ever call the X-men to fight.

"She is doing well, but she needs our help."

Remy let out a groan, "Do I look like I’m in fightin’ condition?"

A small chuckle escaped Xavier’s lips. "She doesn’t need us to fight, Gambit."

Remy looked at Xavier, his bald head was a big blur. Remy couldn’t focus. He closed his eyes. "Oh?" Was all he had the energy to say.

"How familiar are you with Chand’lar’s political climat and geographical regions?"

"Not very."

"The let me explain a little," he paused, either not noticing or ignoring Remy’s fading attention span. "The Shi’ar have divided the planet into regions which they call hemispheres, North and South. As I’m sure you’re aware, the money is in the North."

"Okay," Remy mustered. He just wanted to go back to sleep.

Charles was enjoying giving his lesson too much to really notice. "In the South, there is a district called Bara Nocta."

"Soun’s like somet’in’ outta Star Wars."

Xavier did not appear to be amused. Or per’aps he don’ know Star Wars. "Indeed," he responded rather apathetically. Remy wasn’t sure if it was in agreement, or just one of the psychiatry ’indeeds’ to show that he was listening but really had no clue what Remy was talking about. "Anyhow, Bara Nocta is a very poor region much like you would find in the Bronx. However, I get the impression from Lilandra that it is getting out of control. She does not send anyone there unless she absolutely has to. Its politics are quite internal to the region."

This was hurting Remy’s head. "Look, Prof, dis is all interestin’ an’ all, but can’t it wait ’till my ’ead ain’t so foggy?"

"I’m afraid it cannot, Gambit." Remy could tell through the haze of drugs that Xavier was furrowing his brow. "This is a matter of utmost importance to Lilandra. You see, the power and influence of Bara Nocta is spreading outside the region into other parts of the hemisphere."

Remy huffed incredulously, "I jus’ wanna sleep. Dis...dis Lil’s problem, not mine."

Clearing his throat, Xavier moved to a more serious tone of voice. "I am sending you on assignment to Chand’lar, Gambit. Lilandra is asking that I send the X-Men to re-establish her authority in Bara Nocta. However, I do not feel that this is an attack force type mission; it’s more covert. Given your experience in New Orleans, I believe you to be just the man Lilandra needs."

"Ah bon?" This was a dream; it had to be. Remy coughed and then winced immediately at the pain it brought.

Xavier seemed not to notice. "I have informed the Majestrix of this, and she has already sent transport for you. They are standing by, ready to ’air transfer you to a hospital in New York’ as soon as you are out of ICU." He sighed, "I wish you luck, Gambit. However, I am meeting an old friend for dinner, and I am late."

With that, the Professor wheeled himself out of Remy’s room before any protest could be made. It seemed the Professor was right, Remy did have bad luck. The next four days were spent in the agony of space travel. As much as Shi’ar technology made space travel a lot more comfortable than what humans were capable of, Remy still hated it. He had just wanted to be curled up in his own bed, on Earth, with the comfort of morphine and a television. In fact, he still wanted that. And Jell-o... Instead, he had spent those four days studying Shi’ar history, law, politics, culture, language...How much of it he actually retained, he didn’t know.

***

Remy’s breakfast was now cold, as well as disgusting. He couldn’t eat it anymore. As he threw it out, he told himself that he would replace it. He felt bad for wasting it, especially when Reia didn’t seem to have an extra cash flow to just throw food away like that. She didn’t even have the money to pay for television, or whatever the Shi’ar equivalent of it was. He knew he needed to find one, though. As much as he reviewed from the transport ship’s library, he still needed to know what the local and most recent news was for the area. Remy sighed; it looked like he was going to have to go shopping.

"So, Reia, have you found a roommate yet?" Lai’Nal was trying to strike up a conversation with her best friend of one hundred and thirty six years, but she wasn’t paying attention. There was a newspad sitting in front of her, but she wasn’t paying attention. In fact, Reia had barely touched her lunch. "Hello? Best friend hailing Reia, do you copy?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry Lai, what did you say?"

"I asked if you’d found a new roommate, yet?"

"You know, I did! Just last night, in fact!" She ruffled her feathers a little bit to keep them from falling over her eyes. She had let them grow a little too long for her liking, but Lai thought they looked good.

Lai’Nal looked at Reia appearing to be a little disappointed, "And you didn’t tell me?! Girl, we’ve been on lunch break for half an hour! Tsk."

"Yeah, well, I’ve got other things on my mind."

"Uh-huh...So what could be more important than telling me about getting a roommate? Is it a he? Is he hot? Common! Tell me!"

Reia leaned closer to Lai’Nal and spoke in a hushed voice, "Promise you won’t say anything?" She looked pleadingly at her friend.

Lai’Nal raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Sure, of course, I promise."

"Okay," Reia took in a deep breath. "He’s Terran."

"Terran?! What? Reia!"

"Shhhh!!" Reia put a finger to her lips and went on to chide her friend, "Not so loud!"

"But Reia, we don’t know anything about the Terrans! He could be bad news!" She furrowed her brow looking at Reia. She had a school girl grin on her tanned face, which was a little usual for a Shi’ar. Lai’Nal sighed, "Is he cute, at least?" The grin on her friend’s face transformed into something wider, and more mischievous.

"Oh yeah." Reia erased the grin off her face as best she could and tried to ease her friend’s concern, "He’s really nice, you know. Not just to look at, but I mean genuinely nice. He’s quiet, though. I think he was tired. I wonder if he’s doing okay right know...He’s at the apartment already. Should have given him breakfast suggestions, you think? I don’t know how well he knows Shi’ar food..."

"Okay, okay! I get the point. Just, as long as you’re safe. What does Tor’kol think of all this?" Lai’Nal saw Reia’s face frown a little. "He doesn’t know? REIA!!!"

"SHHHHH!!!!"

"But Reia, honestly, what’s he gonna think when he finds out? He’s not going to take lightly to having a stranger in his parts, especially an alien!" She sighed and looked at her friend empathetically, "Just be careful, kay?"

"I’m fine!"

"Okay. Now finish your lunch, our break is almost over."

As Reia and Lai’Nal were making their way back to the front of the store, Reia stopped in her tracks. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She tugged on Lai’Nal’s shirt sleeve, "By Shara, Lai, look, it’s him!" She pointed to the man, clearly out of place, trying to communicate to a store employee with hand motions.

"What’s he doing here?"

"It looks like he’s shopping." Reia snorted. "You know, people do that here, in a store."

"Oh, don’t be a smart ass, Rei, you know what I meant." Lai’Nal slapped Reia’s arm lightly and playfully.

"Common, let’s go help him out." With that, Reia took hold of Lai’Nal’s hand and dragged her over to where Remy and her fellow employee were standing. "Hey, Remy!" She waved a hand. "What brings you here?"

Remy blinked and stared for a moment. "Hi, Reia. I didn’ realize dat you work ’ere."

"Uh, yeah," she bit her lip nervously. Then she motioned to Lai’Nal, "This is my best friend Lai’Nal. I was just telling her about you over lunch." She motioned to Remy, "Lai, this is Remy."

"A pleasure," Lai’Nal said flatly as she took Remy’s hand. She gave him the once over, studying him. Remy supposed it was the best friend approval thing...After all he would do the same should one of his friends bring a new chick home.

"Pleasure’s all mine, chère." He faced Reia, "Per’aps you can ’elp me out. This homme can’t figure out what I’m talkin’ about. Can’t say as I blame him, t’ough." Reia just stared back at him. "On Earth’ we call it a TV...television. You can watch shows, movies on it? Um, broadcasted news?"

"OH! A media screen! Yeah, okay, I know what you’re talking about. Except, I’m going to have to let Mar’ak help you out, cuz I have to get back to the front; our break was over like five minutes ago."

"Oh, yeh, sure! I don’ wan’ you gettin’ in trouble b’cause o’ me."

Reia nodded and started walking to the front of the store with her friend. She turned her head around, "I’ll be home in time to make some supper. See you then!"

Oh, merci Dieu, Remy thought. At least he could learn what she cooked so he would know what to do. At that moment, he decided that he’d leave her some money for the breakfast he’d wasted instead of buying something completely inedible by mistake. He watched her walk out of sight, and then turned his attention back to the man that was trying to help him. "So, um...a media screen..."

 

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