Disclaimer: None of the named characters are mine, and I am making no profit by their use. This is just a little bit o' something that came to me late at night, and wouldn't let me go to bed until I had it finished. Continuity wise, it fits in somewhere around the Magneto Staged Skirmish (No, I won't dignify it with the term 'War'). Feedback, as always, is very much appreciated, though the pressures of starting university may preclude answering it, at least for a while.

A small package lay opened in the middle of the floor. An single sheet of paper, its edges already worn by the fingers of the man who sat staring at it, reading the words written on it yet again. He held the contents of the package in his other hand, fingers rubbing over and over them with a feverish intensity.

Ther was a tap on his door. "Go away," he snarled, without looking up.

"Just makin' sure yer still alive in there." The rumble on the other side of the door held the faintest hint of concern. "Bad news?"

"No. Go 'way," the man repeated.

"Yer call. We'll be here if ya need anything." There was an almost noiseless sigh outside the door. "Don't you keep trouble to yerself, cajun. You share it with yer friends, you hear?"

Remy closed his eyes. "Ain't trouble, Logan. Just... personal stuff. Nothing t' worry de X-Men, got my word on dat. Please..." It was a whisper, but he knew that Wolverine would hear it anyway. "Just leave me alone."

"Okay." Footsteps faded away from the door. Remy opened his eyes slowly, and he began rereading the letter again.

* * *

"Remy?"

"Leave me alone, Stormy." Remy still held the letter, though he no longer read the words on the page. Instead, he stared into space, his jaw clenched, his eyes dry.

"Remy, what is going on? What was in the package?"

"None o' your business, Stormy." Remy's voice was the scrape of a blade across stone. "Dis somet'ting private, y'understand? Dis is personal."

"Very well." He could hear the hurt in her rich voice. "Please let us know if there is anything we can do."

"I will." He waited until her footsteps faded, then stood up. Restlessly he began to pace, his feet tapping on the uncarpeted floor as he traced an invisible path from one wall to the other.

Hours later, there was another tap on the door. "Remy?" A southern voice this time, with overtones of worry and distrust. "You must've just about worn a path in that floor. Why've you locked yourself in like this?"

"Just... dealing wit' some stuff, chere." He tried not to snap at her. "Remy just got some stuff to t'ink through."

"Remy..." The suspicion in her voice became clearer. "Ah don't like bein' shut out like this. Ah need to know what's goin' on."

"Rogue... dis ain't got nothing to do wit' de X-Men, or Sinister, or even you an' me." Remy leaned against a wall. "Dis is... somet'ing private."

"Remy-"

"*Please*, Rogue." His voice caught. "Dis... dis is hard enough for me to deal wit' already. You can't be part o' dis one, chere." He closed his eyes, his hand closing again on the contents of the package. "Please... let me figure out a way to deal wit' dis..."

She sighed, an impatient huff. "Well... okay." *But you better not be hiding anything...* came the unspoken corollary. "You come down and eat something soon. You're much too thin, even fer you." She stamped off, her footsteps heavier than Storm's and more hurried than Logan's. He'd hurt her feelings, and probably alienated her even more, but that couldn't be helped.

* * *

"Gambit? Are you okay?" The featherlight tap on the door was oddly muted - as if the fingers making the sound had phased slightly into the wood.

"No. But t'anks for asking anyway." He was still pacing, although a little slower than before.

"Uhm... Logan said you didn't want to talk about whatever it is, so I won't ask, but I wanted you to know that I'll listen if you change your mind." Shadowcat's voice was light, a little diffident - but concerned too. "In the meantime... well, you've been up here for hours. I...uh... brought you some juice. I figured that caffiene was the last thing you needed right now."

Worn, stressed, and exhausted, Gambit nearly burst into tears at the simple, kindly gesture. Opening the door, he took the tall glass and smiled wanly at her. "T'anks, Katie."

She smiled back at him, her lips twisting a little wryly. "I've done my share of brooding. Eating's the last thing on your mind, but it's hard to ignore the thirst." She touched his cheek lightly. "Take care of yourself." She vanished down the hall as he closed the door.

* * *

"Gambit?" This voice still carried the traces of a german accent. "Everyone is worried about you, mein freund. Are you still all right in there?"

"Fine." He sat slumped in the middle of the floor, staring with bleary eyes at the letter. "Just havin' my world turned upside down, dat's all. No need to worry."

"Would you like to talk about it?" Nightcrawler sounded concerned. "I know that we do not know each other well... but I think perhaps you need to talk."

"No... no offence, Kurt, but you're de last person I should talk to about dis." Gambit rested his head in his hands.

A characteristic 'bamf' filled his room with the stink of sulfur, and he looked up into Kurt's blue, uncharacteristically solemn face. "Because I will not understand?" The german-born mutant asked softly.

"Non. Because you would." Gambit looked down at what looked like a handful of jewelry. Then he looked up at Kurt with anguished eyes, his chin trembling a little. "Dis... dis is..." He shook his head, unable to continue.

Kurt sat down beside him, carefully not invading his fellow X-Man's immediate personal space. "Why wouldn't you want to tell someone you know would understand?"

"Because dat not be fair to you. T' you less dan anyone." Gambit lowered his head, staring at the floor. "Hard enough for me to deal wit'. Not gonna drag you through it too."

"Remy..." Kurt let nothing but calm encouragement show in his voice, though a small shiver passed through him at Gambit's words. "Let me help. If there's some sort of trouble-"

"Not trouble," Remy gulped. "An answer I waited my whole life for." He started to shake, arms going around himself. "A letter and a package ..."

"What did it say?" Kurt rested a gentle hand on Remy's back, his golden eyes filled with concern. "And what did the package contain?"

In answer, Remy poured the golden tangle out of his trembling hand onto the floor between them. "An engagement ring. Two wedding rings. And a locket." His voice, too, had started to shake. "For me. Left to me. An' dis." He held out the letter. "Read it."

Kurt took the single sheet of expensive parchment, handling it carefully. The words on it were scrawled in obvious haste, but in what must have been a beautiful hand when it wasn't blotted and straggling. The letter was short...

My dearest Remy,

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I know that nothing can ever make this up to you, my darling. Please don't ever think that I don't love you. I do, more than life itself, I'd die joyfully if only it would keep you safe... but all I can do is let you go, trust that you'll be hidden so well that They will never find you. They will kill you if they find out about you, my angel, so we have to leave you, and never find you again.

We love you. The ties between parent and child will never break, and we'll be in each other's hearts forevermore... Never think we didn't love you. We did. We do. We always will. No other reason could ever have made us let you go.

Mama and Papa love you, Remy. No matter what. Don't forget that, no matter what happens, your family love you.

Be safe, baby.

Be happy.

The letter was unsigned.

Kurt's eyes were full of tears as he finished it and looked up at Gambit. The cajun X-Man was shaking harder than ever, the last fragments of his control falling away. "Dey left de rings for me... and de locket." Remy whispered. "Dere's a picture of me inside it, when I was a baby. De letter was supposed t' find me years ago, but I left de Guild a few days 'fore it arrived." A tear trickled down his face. "Dey didn't abandon me. Dey wanted me... dey tried to protect me..."

Kurt reached out and dragged Remy into a tight hug as the other man shuddered with deep, racking sobs. Tears trickled from yellow eyes as well as from red, as Kurt allowed himself one moment of tearing, agonising jealousy. His mother hadn't wanted him, but Remy's had. His mother had abandoned him, but Remy's hadn't. His mother hadn't loved him, but Remy's had... enough to give up her baby to protect him. For one moment Kurt shook in the grip of a searing, biting pain, of dreams lost and hopes stolen. For one moment he screamed silently in the depths of his soul... then he let the emotions go. "I'm happy for you, mein freund," he whispered, and meant it. "God has blessed you."

Remy hugged him back, sobs of pain and joy still shuddering the thin frame as he finally came to terms with what had come so late, but never, ever too late. "Dey wanted me..." He choked out, tears pouring down his face. "Dey loved me..."