xxXxx

Gambit's shirt and skin tore as Shade sent a claw across his chest. Gambit lit up a card and tossed it the short distance from his chest to Shade's. The card was charged enough to send Shade flying back but not enough to harm her. Shade landed with a thud, her hair falling in her face. When she looked up Gambit was gone.

She ran to the door nearest to where Gambit had been. Through the door was another hall. Walking along the hall she listened and smelled for Gambit. She paused in front of an open door. An arm with a gloved hand shot out and grabbed Shade, pulling her into the dark room.

Shade's body made contact with something warm and familiar. From the dark above her head, she heard, "Hello, chère."

Shade growled. "What are you doing, Cajun?" An arm snaked around her waist and pulled her close. Shade pushed against his chest but his other arm wrapped around her and held her in a gentle and firm embrace. Shade fought the embrace.

"I'm sorry, mon petit," he whispered against her hair. With that, the embrace vanished and Gambit was gone.

xxXxx

When Shade reemerged into the hall she had left Wolverine, he was pressed against the wall by an invisible force. Magneto held Wolverine in place as he barked commands to Sabertooth and Pyro. Wolverine struggled as much as one can when you can't move your bones.

Wolverine looked over at Shade. Her pupils had bled into the iris but the whites still remained white. Sabertooth charged Shade. She dodged but Sabertooth's claws made purchase in her shirt. With a violent tug, she was flung back from her previous direction like a rag doll into Sabertooth. His bear-like arms held her firm against his chest, her feet inches above the ground. She kicked at the air but found no hold. She roared out, twisting her neck wildly and gnashing her fangs, trying to reach some furry flesh.

Magneto nodded to Pyro, who made a familiar type of syringe appear. He stalked forward with a cocky, mocking grin and plunged it none-too-gently into her shoulder. The last she saw was Wolverine writhing violently, trying to get to Shade.

xxXxx

Shade woke not long after to the smell of a city and the distant sound of music and people. When she realized she was chained to a metal structure on a roof she began groggily struggling. The chains rattled, calling her consciousness to attention. "Ah, you're awake," came Magneto's voice. He came from a large machine at the edge of the roof to stand before her. His Acolytes stood behind him, including Gambit.

"Where's Wolverine?" she snapped.

"How touching your first concern is for your fellow X-Man," he turned his head towards his Acolytes and looked pointedly at Gambit, Shade had looked at him too when Magneto said 'first concern'. Gambit ignored Magneto's insinuation and looked only at Shade's eyes. "He is here; with us," he said nodding over Shade's shoulder.

Craning her neck she could see Wolverine held by a warped metal structure like the one she was chained to. It twisted like a python around his body and covered his mouth. Shade snarled. "What are you going to do? What's that for?" she asked nodding to the hulking metal device on the roof ledge.

"It will make the homo sapiens into homo superiors like us," he stated simply.

Shade spat at Magneto then hissed, "You're sick."

"Me dear, you are the one who, when learning of the X-Men, said you couldn't believe someone would go against their kind," he smirked. "I thought you hated humans," he reminded.

"I do," she snarled. "That doesn't justify genocide." She glared at the Acolytes behind Magneto. Her eyes locked with the red and black eyes of Gambit. "I expect Sabertooth and Pyro to follow this. They're nuts." Her voice softened to a disappointed tone when she said, "But not you."

xxXxx

Gambit warred with himself. Shade's life would be better if Gambit stayed out of her life and with the Acolyte's. She'd be happier with Wolverine and all the other X-Men. But he couldn't stand seeing Shade like this. The disappointment in her eyes cut him much deeper than her aggression towards him had.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Colossus had joined them. Gambit knew if Colossus had an option he'd go against Magneto. If something were to happen on this roof, Gambit was pretty sure he could count on him, not to help, but to not hinder Shade's situation.

Gambit's hand slipped into his pocket. He was about to do something he would probably regret.

xxXxx

Shade watched Gambit intently. His shirt hung open, he had four thin red lines across his chest that dripped wet crimson. She saw every stomach muscle tighten as he slipped a gloved hand into a trench coat pocket. After his broad chest rose and fall in a deep breath, his hand snapped from his coat. It rained down playing cards that blew up on and around the Acolytes, sending them to the ground in a surprised frenzy.

Gambit took their stunned moment to expertly toss a charged playing card at Shade's chains and the twisted metal form holding Wolverine. The chards were charged appropriately and blew easily through the chains and enough through the metal form to free the two X-Men without harming.

The Acolytes and Magneto were on their feet and pissed. Gambit turned to Shade. "Run, chère," he said before turning to grapple with Sabertooth. Shade started for Gambit but Wolverine caught her around the arm.

"Come on," Wolverine hissed half dragging her away from the fight. They ended up back inside the building. Shade was livid.

"What the hell are you doing?" she shouted.

"Shhh. Listen, pup. Our priority is that machine. We have a chance to destroy it now. Got it? Thank the Cajun later," he explained in a rushed tone. Shade could hear banging, scuffling, and explosions from above.

While Shade was looking at the ceiling, Wolverine had started to take off. Shade followed closely. Whatever they were going to do, they had to do it quick. Wolverine came to a halt in an office in front of a large window overlooking Time's Square. "What are we doing?"

Wolverine whipped his claws out. "It's right above us. Let's get it down here." He leapt upwards, slashing through the ceiling. Shade formed claws and did the same. It only took a few scratched from each from bring the machine, and a large portion of the roof caving in. Shade and Wolverine leapt back out of the way of debris before quickly descending on the machine.

They hadn't done much when Sabertooth and Colossus dropped in. Sabertooth charged right away but Colossus hung back. Shade ran up the debris to the roof where Magneto had Gambit's arms shackled with a thick scrap of metal beam, dangling him a few feet above the rook.

Shade roared and tackled Magneto. The distraction was enough for Magneto to drop Gambit to the roof. His hands still bound, he dodged Pyro's fire. Pyro sent another blast. Again Gambit dodged then lowered his shoulders to the height of Pyro's chest. His shoulder made contact with Pyro's breastbone, sending him flying. He landed in a crash on top of the pile of debris.

Magneto bent a strip of metal around Shade's forearms and sent her hovering up the metal roof structure. He hung her like an ornament atop the metal. Shade kicked at the metal behind her but Magneto was no letting go. Shade's whites glazed over black like the rest of her eyes. The area around the rooftop began to darken further from the already night sky.

The darkness reached out a hand that struck Magneto. There was an explosion from the hole in the ceiling. If Shade was thinking straight she would have assumed that Gambit destroyed the machine. The shadows closed in on the roof, small tentacles whipping out wildly.

The blue child teleported in then quickly teleported up to Shade out of the tentacles' way. He grabbed Shade's arms and teleported them down to the roof but the metal on her arms remained. Magneto sent the metal tower falling in their direction. Recognition and worry for the blue child washed over her. She sent her shoulder into Nightcrawler, sending him out of the way as the structure crashed.

Shade felt ribs snap under a metal bar. Her legs were trapped as well as her torso, her hands still bound. She looked, hearing the Blackbird and realizing that outside her shadowed wall, dense black clouds had enveloped the sky. Feeling dizzy Shade's mind started to fade.

She saw the X-Men pour out of the jet.

Then blackness.

Sight came back and she saw Magneto was gone. Wolverine was hoisting himself out of the roof's hole. He ran over to Shade.

Darkness again.

Fuzzy sight returned. She was on the Blackbird free from the twisted metal. Wolverine's face appeared over her. "Gambit?" she asked, voice barely a whisper. Wolverine's response only sounded like muffled nonsense. Sleep overtook her.

xxXxx

Shade woke in the infirmary. Her chest wrapped in bandages and gauze. ". . . rib punctured the skin. She's lost a dangerous amount of blood," she heard Beast's hushed voice. She heard the low rumbling response of Wolverine but couldn't make out what he said.

Her eyes blinked open slowly, not used to the light flooding the room. Her throat was thick and dry. "Wolvie," came out as a moan with little meaning. But Wolverine heard and appeared at her side. She took a shuddering breath, it hurt to breath.

"I'm here, pup," he reassured. He put a hand to her forehead. Looking over his shoulder he said, "She's got a fever, Hank."

"It will pass." He brought of a cool damp cloth and gave it to Wolverine who held it to Shade's forehead. It felt good and relaxed her. Shade's breaths felt sharp.

Her tongue still thick she mumbled out, "Where's Gambit?"

"The Cajun's here," Wolverine said indifferently. He tolerated Gambit being here because he saved Shade and destroyed Magneto's machine. He still hated the Cajun and didn't want him near Shade. She pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Relax, pup. Lay back down." She ignored his protests and looked around. A few beds away she saw Gambit sleeping and bandaged. One of his eyes was swollen and purple, a cheek red and blistered.

"What happened to him?"

"He let Sabertooth get a hold of him. Didn't fight back."

"Why would he do that?" she asked watching his sleeping face.

"To distract him while I took care of Pyro and the machine. He got caught in the explosion." Shade shifted and blankets off her legs and moved to the edge of the bed. She ignored Wolverine's protests and stood. Wobbling on her feet, she made her way slowly to Gambit.

She sat on the edge of his bed and stroked his face the way he'd done to her so many times before. His eyes flickered open at her touch. "Hello, chère," he said quietly.

"Hi, Remy." His lips turned up slightly at her saying his name. She was beautiful in the light blue shorts and baggy matching top. The top was too big, it hung off one slender shoulder as she sat by his side. Her blood-red hair was messed and slightly matted from laying in bed, it hung slightly in her face. Her mismatched eyes sparkled in the dim light. Her soft lips formed a small, worried smile.

Gambit chuckled slightly and coughed. "You worried, petit?"

His tease brought a slightly bigger smile to her lips. "Of you? Never," she teased.

"Ouch, chère," he smirked. His smirk brought a real smile to her lips.

Her smile faded. "Why would you do this?" she asked motioning to his bandaged form.

"Anytime you wanna play damsel in distress, mon amor," he teased.

Shade cocked her head. "That's a new name," she pointed out.

He nodded. "It is." She let it drop, he looked tired.

"You should sleep, Remy," she said worried.

His smirk returned. "You never listened to me when I told you to do dat."

"I'm used to being injured. And I've never blown myself up." Gambit chuckled. Shade sighed. "You're not going to listen to me are you, boy?"

"One of des day, chère," he smirked.

"Maybe when your healed," she teased.

"Don' get my hopes up, belle. It's not nice." Shade smiled and kissed his cheek before getting up and returning to her bed. Wolverine had watched disapprovingly. Shade walked up to Wolverine and put her arms around him. His thick arms surrounded her.

"I worry about you, pup."

Shade pulled away slightly. "I'll be alright, Wolvie." She kissed his cheek then climbed back in bed. She pulled the blanket over her chest and closed her eyes. She slept.

xxXxx

That's it. If I get feedback maybe I'll make a sequel. For now I'm going to start a Wolverine story.