The Last Night: Part Two

by Kerri

After the evening meal, prepared in true X-Men chaotic fashion, Charlotte invited her guests to the library. They sprawled around the large room on couches, chairs and floor pillows, each one interested in the air of mystery surrounding Charlotte's request.

Jean's face reflected the grin on her own. The insane urge to giggle nearly burst from her.

Kurt had his own difficulties containing his laughter. His tail waved to and fro in a wild display of his inner mirth.

"Scott sent a little something for us to enjoy," Charlotte told them with a serene smile that fooled no one as she slipped the video back in the machine.

The music got everyone's attention at first, then the picture opened to the crowd scene at the strip bar.

"Scott's sending stag movies?" Bobby asked. "Did he forget to put women dancers on the list?" He frowned at the beautiful display of beef.

"But..." Betsy said slowly, recognition crossing her face.

"Oh, mah God," burst out of Rogue. "Who did this, Ah'll kill 'em!"

"Chere, dat you wit' dat boy?" Remy asked, peering at the screen. "If you wanted to see dancin', why didn' you come to Gambit, eh? I dance for you." He shot her a teasing grin.

"How come I wasn't invited?!" Kitty demanded, her eyes gleaming with laughter. "That looks like fun!"

Del tilted her head to one side. "I think I'm way too young to party with all of you," she said. "I don't think I'll ever be able to call you Grandma now, Charlotte."

"I think yer too young, too," Pete told Kitty.

"That's you, 'Ro!" Kitty said. She began to tap her feet to the music.

"It was a party, child, we were all doing that."

"Not all o' ya," Pete grinned. "Dom ain't playin'." He pointed to the older woman sitting alone, drink in hand, with a bored look on her face.

"She got a bit more lively towards the end of the evening," Jean answered, "during the bar fight."

"Bar fight?" Kurt questioned.

"But who was taking the video?" Betsy asked. "I didn't see anyone else around."

"Scott was in on this, but he was at the poker game," Charlotte mused. "My guess it was either Hank or Bishop."

"What are you doing up there?" Warren asked, watching the women push her up on stage.

"That's where Emma offered a $1000 for a muscle contest," Betsy said. "Charlotte got to pick the winner."

"Emma did that?" Bobby was shocked. He was too shocked to make any of his usual unappreciated witticisms.

"Why are you so surprised?" Kitty asked him. "You don't get a closet full of leather and not know how to use it."

"Why'd you pick that one?" Del asked. On screen, Charlotte, amid much shouted encouragement and clowning around, tucked the prize money into the winner's costume, one bill at a time.

"That's the one who said he could lick Logan," Jean giggled.

"As I recall, we were going to take up a collection for that wager," Ororo chuckled.

"'Roro, I didn' know ya had it in ya," Pete smirked. "Remind me ta take ya out some night an' show ya where ta have some *real* fun."

"I thought the boy had to have nerve for that," Charlotte laughed with her, "and he did have a cute butt, if you hadn't noticed."

"We noticed," Betsy nodded her head emphatically. Warren gave her a look.

"If anyone ever sees this, no one will take us seriously again."

"It's not like we're going to put this on cable. Unless Scott...?"

"Scott wouldn't do that. I can't believe he did this."

"Ooh, there's blackmail material right there," Kitty pointed to the screen. Emma was having the time of her life with Hercules, *Miss Frost* nowhere to be seen.

"She did say she wouldn't own up to it unless we had proof," Jean said to Charlotte. "Guess we got proof now."

"Aw, guys, it was just in fun," Rogue said, noticing Warren and Bobby's disgruntled looks. "Didn' the swamp rat here get y'all a couple o' strippers for yer party?"

The men exchanged looks, then focused on Remy.

"Hey," he protested. "Wolverine didn' want dancers, 'member?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Bobby said. "He said Char talked him out of it."

"Hey, don't blame me," she protested. "I wasn't in charge of the party. You see how well Jean and Rogue listened to him."

They watched Rogue catch the emerald satin G-string, then wave it around with a wild rebel cry, the others cheering her on.

"You didn't listen to anyone much last night, did you?" Betsy asked her.

"It's all in fun," Rogue defended herself. "Not like Ah asked 'im out."

"You were having so much fun you landed us in jail," Jean remarked. "I never did ask what happened to you and Betsy," she directed at Ororo. "Domino disappeared on us, but you two I expected to see in the cell, too."

"There was no point in all of us being detained for a misunderstanding," Storm said.

"You know the definition of a true friend, don't you?" Kitty asked with a smirk. "A friend is not the person you'd call in the middle of the night to bail you out of jail. A true friend would be *in* jail with you."

Jean and Charlotte exchanged considering looks. Scott wouldn't be getting away with this, not by a long shot.

~*~*~*~*~

Several hours later, Warren stood out on the grass, wings extended, feeling the breeze ruffle through his feathers. The cool night air felt wonderful, the urge to take to the air and ride the winds strong but he'd given his word to stay grounded until the rites were over. There would be time tomorrow evening after the ceremony to take Betsy up to the sky.

The impromptu screening had ended with a bang. Remy and Bobby both tried to take custody of the video, the video becoming the day's first casualty and the two men coming close to being second and third. Charlotte wasn't happy about that, forcing both men to apologize profusely, Remy quite eloquently and at great length until she had to accept his apology just to stop the flood of words from his silver tongue.

After that, the group broke up to go to bed, some of the ladies still feeling the effects of the night before.

He turned to go inside the house and up to their room. Betsy was already asleep. He laughed to himself over the entertainment Scott provided, realizing again Scott had unexpected depths that rarely got a chance to play. Fearless Leader proved he had a sense of humor. He didn't know why he should be surprised, Scott had proved over the years he could appreciate a good joke. Teasing Jean and the rest of the women was a risky undertaking, one only he would be able to get away with, and at a distance.

Whatever revenge the ladies were bound to dream up would be both amusing and appropriate. Warren was just glad it hadn't his idea.

He padded through the entry way on his way to the stairs. The house was quiet, eerily silent here in the forest. It felt odd to a man who thrived in social settings, but he could understand how this suited both Charlotte and Logan. Passing by the library he caught sight of a small movement, a flash of light. Curious, he went in to investigate.

Charlotte sat in a chair off to the side the fireplace, a glass in her hand, staring up at the portrait over the mantle. The glass reflected the firelight.

He thought for a moment he saw tears sparkle in her eyes. Uncomfortable in what was obviously a personal moment, he started to back out and leave her to her thoughts, but he bumped a table, drawing her attention.

"Hey," she said quietly. "Didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

"No," he answered. The tone of her voice was odd. "Are you all right?"

"Want a drink?"

Her failure to answer didn't surprise him, she didn't answer a lot of questions. "Sure, okay."

She poured him a glass and handed it to him, then returned to her seat. He leaned over the back of the opposite chair.

"Are you okay?" he asked again, growing a little uncomfortable with her mood.

"I'm fine. Just talking things over with Raven." She indicated the portrait. "Trying to make things right all around."

"That was your first husband?" He recalled Betsy and Ororo talking about the picture earlier.

"Yes, that's him. He reminds me the dead don't always stay dead."

"Getting married is a big step If you're not ready you shouldn't do it."

"You say that kind of quick." She flashed a wry smile in his direction. "This has nothing to do with Logan. It's me, and I've had enough to drink tonight to indulge in a little self-pity. I intend to be there tomorrow night. I'm just....working through the feeling of leaving a part of me behind. The part of me that is the shaman's woman." She nodded at the painting.

Now he was confused. "Why do you have to leave it behind? It's a part of you, what makes you who you are. The person that tried to kill me and Rogue over Gambit." It still rankled, if he thought about it, that she took up for the Cajun at the slightest provocation. He learned to ignore Gambit, especially when she was around.

She smiled at that. "I would've too, if Remy hadn't stopped me. You survived, so I guess I wasn't doing such a good job."

"I'm glad your heart wasn't in it."

"Me, too." She drained her glass, then got to her feet and crossed to the bar. "More?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No."

Charlotte refilled her glass and sat back down. "I fell into the habit of talking things through with Raven when I lived alone for so long. I suppose I feel like I've neglected him and what he meant to me. I don't want to let him go."

"Then don't, keep the shaman's woman. It's kept you alive this long."

"I think plain old muleheadedness did that."

"No, you did that. You're not giving yourself credit."

"Just following the X-Men survival guide."

He looked stunned, then laughed. "I suppose we do a lot of that."

"So does everyone else, so don't feel too special. We all have that urge to blame others for our own actions. I need to shut up and go to bed." She continued to stare at the portrait.

He tried another tact. "What do you think he would have said about this?"

"Raven? Something along the lines of 'Listen to your soul.' The man talked like a fortune cookie sometimes. Drove me crazy." A delicious kind of crazy. She missed it.

"Sounds like good advice."

"It does." It had been, for most of the intervening years since his death, but this was the first time she'd been close to taking another mate. Maybe that had something to do with it.

"I don't think I've ever seen you with an angst problem."

"I don't believe in angst, I have no reasons for that sort of brooding. I leave that to you experts."

"Your cheerfulness does get on my nerves."

"Then my job here is done, isn't it? I've had a good life and wonderful parents. I've had one good bonding, and I expect to have another one. My son and granddaughter are both good people. It'll be at least another 1000 years before I can call myself middle-aged. What reason would I have to be unhappy?"

"Well, when you put it like that...."

"Maybe it all would have been different if I'd had wings like you do, or Hank's fur, or Rogue's inability to touch anyone, or even Remy's eyes. By the time society came around to the current mutant hysteria, I was too strong and too practiced at hiding from the world."

"Maybe." He could see her point. "But you are not happy sometimes."

"Is that a smidgen of psycho babble from you?" Her tone was faintly mocking.

"Something Jean said once made an impression on me, if you can believe that," he returned her smile with a bit of arrogance. He knew very well he was not considered the most perceptive or sympathetic member of the team.

"I believe it. You're not as shallow as you want everyone else think. Gets you out of a lot of stuff, doesn't it?"

"You found out my secret, now you must die."

Charlotte chuckled. "So, what did she say?"

"She said that you treat the bad experiences of your life like an oyster copes with a grain of sand. You layer them with the years and decades until they don't bother you. You don't rid yourself of them, just bury them until they don't matter anymore."

"That's rather profound. I'm impressed. Of course, you'll never be able to pull that shallow crap on me again."

"I'll take the risk. Just don't tell the others, okay? I'd rather they didn't find out yet."

Charlotte slammed back the rest of her drink and rose to her feet. "I think I'll make a phone call and go to bed." She passed him, pausing to kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

Warren rested his hand against her face briefly. "My pleasure. Who are you calling this late at night?"

"Scott. I've got to know if he kept any more copies of that tape. I want to get a couple for Emma and Domino. Why should they miss all the fun?"

End.

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