SquidgeWorld Archive

Visiting Old Friends
by Scorpio


Logan climbed out of his hovercar and walked around the front of it while his eldest grandchild, Shelly did the same. Her younger brothers were off inflicting themselves on their Aunt Jenny and Uncle Justin because they had wanted to spend time with their cousins, who were also Logan's grandchildren. But Shelly wanted to visit her "Grand-Dad Icy", so here they were at Remy and Bobby's house. Logan had offered his daughter Jenny the chance to dump her youngest, Hope, on him so that she could also visit *her* other grand-dad, but Jenny vetoed that. Hope had a doctor's appointment with her Uncle Thomas and couldn't miss it.

Smiling, Logan held out his hand to the pretty girl who was just about to enter the teen years. She was beautiful, but Logan's experienced eye could see that she was on the verge of blossoming into a truly stunning young woman. And if he looked closely enough, he could still see bits and pieces of her family history in her.

She would probably grow up to have her mother's build and Ronnie Drake-Lee was almost a dead ringer for her own mother Emma Frost. However, he could also see his own beloved and still missed Jubilee in Shelly's long dark hair and almond shaped eyes, although the color of those eyes was pure Drake. And Logan thanked God every day that his sweet Shelly had inherited his healing factor, unlike his darling Hope.

Shelly pulled Logan out of his thoughts by reaching up and grasping his hand. She tugged him lightly towards the front door of the neat little cottage.

"Come'on Poppy, unlike you, the rest of us are standing around gettin' older."

Flashing her a grin to cover the momentary stab of pain that always accompanied the realization that all of his friends were either dead or dying while he was still a man in his prime, Logan followed his granddaughter to the front door. Once there, he raised one big fist and banged on the wooden door several times. His acute hearing could pick out the sound of feet slowly shuffling over to the door and the lock being turned. Rolling his eyes at the wait, the door soon opened to display an old man with long fine white hair that brushed his slightly stooped shoulders and framed a pale thin face full of deep wrinkles and big burning red on black eyes. Logan smiled at his old friend.

"Hey there Gumbo, long time no see."

Remy grinned back at him for a second, then scrunched up his face in mild confusion and irritation. He tilted his head slightly and cupped a liver spotted hand around one ear.

"Huh? Say 'gain, mon ami?"

Logan never got a chance to answer because at that moment a short bundle of long braids and squealing happiness dashed passed him to wrap her arms around the thin man.

"Grande Pere Remy! Kisses!"

Smiling, Remy wrapped his own arms around the girl and braced himself to bend down and press a kiss to the top of her head. Then he leaned back up and held her out at arms length to look her over. She was dressed up in a new green shirt that had a glittery butterfly on the front of it, her hair was in twin braids and her smile was adorned with braces.

"Remy mus' confess t' ya petite, but y' de prettiest t'ing dis Cajun seen in a long while. Look at y'. Y' be de spittin' image of y'r Grande Mere."

Shelly beamed up at him and Logan suppressed a sigh. Even after all these years, Remy could still charm any female that came into his sphere of influence without even trying. Gesturing with his head to follow, Remy wrapped an arm around Shelly and led her into the living room where he sat back down on what was his favorite "comfy" chair.

"Really?"

Remy gave her a blank look and tilted his head again. Logan nudged her gently to get her attention.

"Remy's as deaf as a door post, darlin'. Been caught in the middle of too many explosions over the years. You have to shout over the ringing in his ears."

Shelly blushed lightly and mouthed the words "Oh yeah." at him before turning back to face Remy LeBeau.

"REALLY?"

Remy smiled and leaned back in his chair while making a gesture meant to take in all of Shelly.

"O' course, petite. Don' forget, Remy an' y'r Grande Mere was good friends. Jubilee was smart, funny, brave an' beautiful. Y'r Poppy has always had excellent taste in de femmes an' Jubes was like de sunrise. Y' could never get enough."

Logan made himself comfortable on the couch, a look of regretful longing on his face as his chest tightened up even after all of the years since his bright and bubbly wife had died.

"Remy's right, darlin'. My Jubilee was a wonderful woman. Special in many ways and there's a lot of her in you. I can see it too."

Shelly beamed some more. They were all interrupted by a loud voice shouting out from the back of the house.

"REMY? WHO'S HERE?"

Remy turned his head to face Logan and flashed him a look of irritation.

"Wha' he say?"

"HE WANTS TO KNOW WHO'S HERE, YA SILLY CAJUN."

"Oh."

Remy blushed lightly and Logan felt a momentary pity for his friend. Remy's hearing loss bothered him more than it did other's, but there was nothing that could be done about it. The damage was far too extensive for a hearing aid and he was too old and frail to survive the intensive surgery that would help. Then Bobby's voice came drifting back towards the front of the house again.

"LOGAN? THAT YOU?"

Logan was going to answer, but Remy beat him to it.

"Oui. Now get y'r lazy butt out here an' visit wit' y'r granddaughter. Logan brought her over t' see y'."

"WHICH ONE?"

Remy smirked and winked at Shelly.

"De one dat' *ain't* a spoilt brat."

Shelly giggled and Logan chuckled.

"BECKY IS *NOT* A BRAT!"

Remy began chuckling as well.

"Den how y' know which granddaughter I meant, cher?"

Logan howled with laughter. It wasn't that he didn't like Becky McCoy or her mother Pearl, but the girl *was* spoilt rotten. Pearl pampered and mothered Becky horribly and it was generally assumed that Becky was in for a rude awakening when she was old enough to go to the Massachusetts Academy next year. Shelly would be starting there this fall.

Bobby walked into the living room from the hallway, his steps slow and steady as he made his way by feel and by memory, his sightless eyes staring ahead into their milky white film covering. Of course, Bobby could see heat if he shifted to his ice form, but his control had eroded over the years and he could no longer stop from radiating intense cold when in ice form. Even Logan, with his healing factor, found it uncomfortable to be around Bobby for any length of time when he shifted now-a-days. While no one was willing to mention it to either Bobby or Remy, many feared that when Bobby finally passed away, his death might inadvertently trigger a new ice age. But Logan didn't want to think about that. Instead, he watched as his granddaughter dashed over to collect hugs from her other grandfather.

"Grand-Dad!"

Shelly's arms wrapped around Bobby's waist and hugged him tightly even as he ran one shaky hand gently over her dark hair.

"WHERE ARE YOUR BROTHERS?"

Shelly giggled.

"You don't have to shout at me Grand-Dad. I'm right here."

Bobby grinned and shrugged, unapologetic.

"HABIT."

Shelly grinned and led Bobby over to the couch. After he sat down, she wiggled in between her two grandfathers.

"Mike and Marc are over playing with Remy and Logan."

Bobby nodded. He knew she meant Remy and Logan LeBeau, Justin and Jenny LeBeau's two sons. The LeBeau children were Remy's grandchildren as well as Logan's grandchildren. Bobby looked around with his sightless eyes.

"IS HOPE HERE?"

Remy's voice was sad.

"Non. De pitite not here, cher."

Logan coughed and caught both men's attentions.

"IT'S NOT THAT HOPE DIDN'T WANT TO COME, REM. SHE COULDN'T. SHE HAD A TREATMENT SCHEDULED FOR TODAY WITH TOMMY AND YOU KNOW THAT SHE CAN'T MISS THEM. HOWEVER, IF IT'S OKAY WITH YOU GUYS, SHE ASKED IF SHE CAN COME UP AND VISIT NEXT WEEKEND."

Remy's grin was like watching the sun come up. It was practically blinding.

"O' course y' can bring her over. Any time dat' she wants. Dat' goes de same fo' all de enfants. Y' know dat'."

*

An hour later saw them sitting at the kitchen table munching on sandwiches and eating big bowls of steaming gumbo while Shelly babbled on, content in the knowledge that she was the absolute center of attention. A place where every 12 year old girl wants to be.

"And then Nana stopped by too. She said that she knew Aunt Sabrina was capable of takin' me on a tour of the Academy now that she was Headmistress, but that she wanted to be there anyway. 'Cause I'm her grandkid and the first to go to the school and all."

Remy paused, his spoon full of gumbo hovering in mid-air.

"Petite? Y' see my S'brina dere? She show y' round de school?"

Everyone's eyes tracked to the elderly, and deaf, Cajun. Logan bumped Shelly's leg under the table and she turned her head towards him. Gravely and slowly, he nodded his head, hoping that she'd understand. Fortunately, she did. Shelly turned back to face Remy and smiled.

"YES GRANDE PERE REMY, I SAW AUNT SABRINA. SHE HELPED ME AND MOM FILL OUT ALL MY PAPERWORK SO I COULD START SCHOOL IN THE FALL."

Remy's smile was filled with a dreamy sort of pride.

"Oui. My S'brina is a smart one. Jus' like her mere. Mebbe I email her later. Been awhile since we chatted."

Logan sighed softly in remorse at the reference to Ororo Monroe. She had been great friends to both him and Remy, but she had run off when she had found out she was pregnant. Remy had never forgiven her that, even once she returned with his daughter. Of course, Sabrina was deathly ill and she only returned so that Hank could save her life, but still, she returned. Sabrina had grown up with two doting parents who could barely stand to be in the same room together. And now that Storm was gone, Remy could kick himself for never working out their differences when they had the chance.

The mood started to turn a bit maudlin, but Shelly's bubbly excitement soon put an end to that as she began her narrative again.

"So, mom and I got the tour of the entire school and we were told about the different classes and things that I'd be learning there. It sounds like a lot of work, but fun too. Ya know? I mean, getting to know all these new kids and stuff. I even got to meet some of them. They were older students there for a summer program or something, but still."

"Eat darlin', before your food gets cold."

Without pause, Shelly's spoon dipped into the bowl of gumbo and she took a big bite. As soon as her mouth was empty, she was off and babbling some more.

"Anyway, there was this one kid. He made a snotty comment about me being escorted about by the Headmistress. I guess he didn't know she was my Aunt or something and then this other kid told him off. He said how Nana was the founder of the school and my grandmother and that I was mutant royalty or something like that. I wasn't sure what he meant, but Aunt Sabrina said that the kids at school referred to 3rd generation mutants as "royalty" because our bloodlines are descended from the first humans to mutate. I guess most of the students are 1st generation and there are even a bunch of 2nd generation, but only a very few 3rd generation. I don't really get why."

Bobby nodded his head at her.

"IT'S MOST LIKELY BECAUSE 1ST GENERATION MUTANTS ONLY HAVE A SINGLE GIFT AND VERY FEW OF THEM HAVE ALPHA LEVEL POWERS. 2ND AND 3RD GENERATION MUTANTS TEND TO HAVE MULTIPLE GIFTS AT MUCH HIGHER POWER LEVELS."

Remy's head snapped up from his lunch.

"Dat's true, chere. De kids today are strong an' talented. Look at y'rself t' see de truth of dis."

Shelly blushed a little and nodded. She was just beginning to manifest her powers, but already it was obvious that she had multiple gifts. The ability to manipulate temperature like her Grand-Dad being one of them.

"I know. Still. It's a bit odd to think that way. I guess I'm just used to it. After all, all of us kids and almost all of our parents were born at the X-Men Mansion, so it's just... I dunno, normal to me."

Shelly took another bite of her gumbo just as Logan was getting ready to remind her to eat again. As soon as her mouth was empty, she was off and rambling again to the utter amusement of the three old men.

"Anyway. Not all of the kids were rude like that one boy. In fact, there was another boy there that was *way* nice."

Shelly sighed and a dreamy look of infatuation crossed her face. The amusement instantly washed off of both Logan's and Remy's faces. Bobby couldn't see the silly smile on her face, or he would have tensed up as well. Logan was the only one daring to ask.

"Oh really, darlin'. And just who is this nice boy?"

Shelly blushed and looked down to try and hide behind her bangs. Her smile was enormous.

"His name is Chris. Chris Summers. And he's got blonde hair and green eyes and he can make things float across the room with just his thoughts. He's really really great."

Logan however, had choked up at the boy's name and sort of missed the rest.

"CHRIS SUMMERS!"

Shelly looked shocked. She frowned up at her Poppy in confusion.

"Yeah. Why? Is that a bad thing?"

Logan just blinked at her. Shelly hadn't been born soon enough to have met either Jeannie or Scott, and Logan had long since lost touch with any of their kids. He didn't know if Chris was a child, or more likely grandchild, of Nathan or Rachel. It was even possible that Chris was Alex Summer's grandchild as well. Truth be told, he was a bit too stunned to say or do anything about it at the moment. Bobby, however, didn't feel that way.

"REM? WHEN YOU EMAIL SABRINA, ASK HER TWO THINGS. FIRST, FIND OUT IF SHE WANTS TO STOP OVER FOR A VISIT BEFORE THE SCHOOL YEAR STARTS UP. SECOND, FIND OUT THE HISTORY OF THIS CHRIS, BOY. LAST I HAD HEARD, CABLE AND DOMINO HAD A GAGGLE OF KIDS WANDERING AROUND LOOSE. I WONDER IF CHRIS COULD BE ONE OF THEIR'S."

"Oui, chere. Dat's a goo' idea."

*

Two hours later it was time to go. Shelly had regaled Remy and Bobby with tales of how annoying and rude her younger brothers were, especially when paired up with their LeBeau cousins, Remy and Logan. She had complained about her other cousin Becky and then made them all laugh when she confessed that she had overheard Becky's Grandpa Hank tell her in the middle of one of her tantrums that her Tanaka Gene's were showing again. When she told them that at that point her Aunt Pearl had bundled them both up and stormed off in a huff, Bobby had gotten a sad look on his face and muttered something about giving Pearl a call and trying to pull her head out of her ass one more time. Now, both of the older men were worn out from her exuberant and seemingly endless energy and Logan knew he still needed to rescue Justin and his beloved Jenny from Shelly's brothers.

Hugs were passed around generously and then Logan was gently herding his eldest granddaughter out of Remy and Bobby's cottage and back into his hovercar. It only took a quick entry of the ignition code into the onboard computer to start it up and then it was hovering over the old-fashioned driveway. Logan's keen eyesight watched as Remy and Bobby both waved from the porch before turning to go back inside. Glancing over at his young charge, Logan popped an illegal cigar into his mouth and headed back down the coast.

END: Visiting Family

~~~

For those of you interested, I did the "family tree" thing so that you could better follow the convoluted twists that these guys are babbling about. Obviously, they don't need it, they lived it. But for those of you who was left going, "huh? what? who?", here you go. Enjoy.

X-Men Relationships (and the children they spawned)

- Robert "Bobby" Drake; aka The Iceman

Opal "Big Pants" Tanaka came back into Bobby's life a little more than a year after they had split up because she wanted him to know his son, whom she had already given birth to. So, being the type of man he is, Bobby married her. They soon had a second child, a girl.

(M) Robert "Robbie" Drake
(F) Pearl Drake

Soon there after, Opal, upon discovering that she didn't like being "married with children" split, abandoning her husband and children. This emotional upheaval spurred on a brief, but electric, affair with Emma Frost. They used this time to resolve many of their lingering issues and walked away from the relationship as very good friends. They had also had a child together.

(F) Veronica "Ronnie" Drake

After things calmed down and the dust settled, Bobby finally did the one thing that he had wanted to do for a long long time, but had always been afraid to. He asked Remy LeBeau on a date. Three years later, Bobby and Opal were divorced and he in turn married Remy.

- Remy LeBeau; aka Gambit

After regaining his strength from his abandonment in Antarctica, Remy began flittering back and forth between working with the X-Men and working for the "New Son". During one such assignment, Remy came across an artifact that had the power to wake his wife, Belle, from her coma-like sleep. Due to the length of her coma and the fact that Rogue had touched her, it took a while for Belle's strength and memories to make a full recovery. When she did, she slipped away into the night. Remy never saw her again and it would be years before he learned that he had fathered a child upon her during her "recovery".

(M) Justin LeBeau

After Belle left him, Remy returned to the X-Men for a while. He was then briefly a prisoner of Mr. Sinister's, who performed experiments on the Cajun. The X-Men were able to rescue him, but not before Essex had done something to Gambit's "charm power". No longer able to control it, the charm power effected anyone who came within twenty feet of him. Seeing what was happening, Remy locked himself away in a "cell" the X-Men kept to hold dangerous captives. Ororo, feeling that she had to prove to herself that she was still his friend despite everything that had happened, brought him his food each day. Upon discovering that she was with child, she felt guilt that she had "used and abused" Remy because he couldn't control the charm that had made them sleep together, causing her to become pregnant, so she left the mansion. She returned two years later when their child became ill with the Legacy Virus and needed the specialized care that only Hank McCoy could provide. Remy has never forgiven her for running off like that.

(F) Sabrina LeBeau

Soon after Remy regained control of his charm power, Bobby asked him out on a date, stammering and stuttering the entire time. At first merely amused, Remy soon found himself immersed in a romance the likes of which he'd never known. They married right after Bobby's divorce to Opal was finalized and he's been a happy man ever since.

- Logan; aka Wolverine

After returning from the disbanded Gen-X, Jubilee decided that she was finally old enough to get her heart's true desire and spent several years pursuing Logan with a tenacity that he himself had taught her. Finally, Logan gave in and admitted that she wasn't a child anymore and they began to date. Not long after, they were married and had three children. Logan was insanely happy with Jubilee at his side until she was killed in a battle with the Marauders. Going feral, he disappeared from the mansion, leaving his three children in the care of Jean and Scott Summers. He returned three years later, sane, depressed and with Victor Creed's head in a leather satchel slung over his shoulder. Jubilee was avenged.

(M) Edward "Eddie" Lee
(F) Kimberly "Kim" Lee
(F) Jennifer "Jenny" Lee {note: Jenny and Kim are twins}

- Henry "Hank" McCoy; aka The Beast

After finally finding a cure for the Legacy Virus, Hank celebrated by asking his partner in medicine to become his partner in life. He was surprised when Cecilia said yes. They enjoyed a fussy wedding that had been put together by Jean and Bobby, and then had settled into a fairly calm and sedate life. Space faring adventures and saving the planet from evil bad guys, not withstanding. They had two sons, both of whom could name every piece of equipment in the med-lab before they learned their colors.

(M) Henry McCoy
(M) Thomas "Tommy" McCoy

~~~

The children have also paired off, giving the aging X-Men grandchildren. ::grins:: Ain't that sweet?

- Eddie Lee & Ronnie Drake

These two spent a lot of time together as children since Ronnie often stayed with her father at the Mansion where the Lee family and the Drake's lived. Then, as teenagers, Eddie went off to the Massachusetts Academy where Ronnie's mother was Headmistress. Highschool sweethearts, they married as soon as they were old enough to be legal.

(F) Michelle "Shelly" Lee
(M) Michael "Mike" Lee
(M) Markus "Mark" Lee

- Pearl Drake & Henry McCoy

Despite a rocky start (of hating each other) and an explosive relationship filled with endless bickering and steamy "I'm sorry, please forgive me's", these two got married for a brief time before Henry's death at the hands of alien beings trying to take over the earth. Henry died before his only child was born and Pearl now slips into a furious rage at even a hint that her dead husband was anything less than perfect or that their marriage was anything besides storybook perfection. Everyone has learned to humor her. She also tends to pamper and spoil her daughter due to the guilt she feels as not being a "better" wife and lover to Henry while he was alive.

(F) Rebecca "Becky" McCoy

- Justin LeBeau & Jenny Lee

Justin met Jenny as a teenager at the Massachusetts Academy when Belle LeBeau sent him there once he began to manifest his powers. He was shocked to learn that he had a sister who was also enrolled there. With Sabrina, Jenny and Kim's help, he unraveled his mysterious past and finally met the man who was his father. He was even more shocked to realize that, not only was his father
*not* dead as Belle had told him, Remy didn't even know that he had been born. Breaking off all ties to his mother in retribution, Justin spent all of his energy on getting to know the other half of his family.

After they graduated highschool, Jenny and Justin both joined the X-Men and were assigned to the same team. Five years later they were married. They have three children and are still very much in love. The only real distress in their life comes from Hope's mutation which causes her intense physical pain and continuous medical treatments.

(M) Remy LeBeau
(M) Logan LeBeau
(F) Hope LeBeau

Scorpio
~*~ scorpiofic@aol.com ~*~