AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER... with a little help Epilogue The Card Game Revisited by Kathleen Garcia Again, somewhere in SoHo... *********************************************************************** "You gonna play your hand or just stare at it all night, Gumbo?" Domino grumbled. She was down a thousand bucks and had no intention of forking over one more dime, especially not to the horny Cajun. "Ah, Chere, you break dis poor Cajun boy's heart wit' your harsh words." "Shut yer bleedin' hole and call, mate." Constantine complained, coughing out a lungful of smoke. "Never met nobody shits outta his mouth *more* than his ass than y'do, mate." Remy LaBeau smiled as if John had just paid him the highest compliment. His huge ego allowed for that type of 'selective' hearing. "The ladies love it, mon ami -- trust Gambit to know what he says is de truth." "I still cannae believe our little Kitty is getting married, Logan." Sean Cassidy, co-leader of the younger X-Men team, Generation X, tossed another fifty dollars onto the ever growing pile of money in the center of the dilapidated table that sat in John Constantine's front room. Logan had been filling Sean in on the recent events leading up to Pete and Kitty's reconciliation. "Yeah, the kid finally popped the question, got down on one knee and everything -- Kitty tells me he was stark naked... " "That sounds like Wisdom... can't say much for the imagery though." Domino noted with a distasteful grimace. "Or where he was hiding the ring," Grifter chuckled. "But imagine being reunited that way? It all seems verra strange tae me. She is called to London on a computer emergency. He just happens tae be the man assigned to the case meeting with Stuart at that exact moment. Almost too good to be true, dae you not think?" "You could say that, Sean." Logan agreed, growling at his shitty hand. Somebody was cheatin' and he was gonna find out who and rip 'em a new one. Probably the damn Cajun. "Aye, I just did. Seems like an incredible coincidence tae me." "You're a cynic, Sean," Domino teased, favoring him with a rare and beautiful smile. "Aye lassie, I am. Comes wi'the job. So where exactly are our two lovebirds? Off on that Brit Intel case already, are they?" A few snickers filled the room, alerting Sean to the fact that something strange was going on. Remy grinned. "Not exactly, mon ami. Fact is, dey won't be goin' on dat case after all." "What? Why is that?" "Because there weren't no case, mate." John explained, nodding at Logan. "'Im and me cooked up the whole bloody thing." Sean sighed, his gaze traveling around the table. "Why am'ae not surprised? What did ye devils do?" "Don't look at me, I'm just here to play cards," Cole grumbled when Sean's eyes fell on him for a moment. "It's good to know you can use your hands for something, Cash, since you can't shoot for shit," Domino accused, loving the pissed off glare in his eyes when she got him all riled. "Shut it, pale face before I come over there and shut it for you." Domino leaned over the table, pursing her lips teasingly. "What ya gonna do, Grif, cry on my shoulder and tell me about your girl troubles?" Cole was just about to launch himself over the table when Logan interceded. "Play nice, ya two or I'm gonna start bustin' some heads, startin' with yours, Cash," Logan growled. Constantine blew out a long, thin stream of smoke, explaining to Sean, "The 'job' were all just a front ta get Wisdom back wif 'is bird... Coupla favors 'ere and there made it *look* like there were a job for Brit Intel, that were the bait got Stuart 'ere in the first place. See, I knew if'in I could make it look like there were supernatural involvement, he'd come sniffin me way, then from there we just sorta pulled 'is strings a bit till he loosened up and saw things our way." "Yeah, right, *you* pulled *his* strings," Domino muttered, rolling her eyes. Sean spent some time thinking over what he had just been told and what motives brought these two strange allies together for such a sentimental event as reconciling Pete and Kitty. "Well, I can understand Logan's hand in this; our Kitty is like a daughter to him. But you, John... I mean no offense, but, well--" "There's no nice way to say it, Sean," Domino interjected. "The guy's a pig, basically. He'd sell his dying mother for a cheap bottle of hooch." "Thanks, luv, fer puttin it so delicate-like." John smiled. "So, what is it, John? What did *ye* get outta this?" Sean pressed. Logan shifted his cigar from one side of his lips to the other without missing a beat and announced as casually as if he were reading the weather, "Turns out Constantine's got a big-time boner for Pete's sister." Domino rolled her eyes. "Again with the imagery, except this time I think I'm gonna puke." Logan continued, "Romany came ta him, asked him if there was anything he could do to get Pete and Kitty back together before Pete wound up dead somewheres. John figured if he got the kids back together it might be just the thing to get him *in* with Romany -- if ya catch my drift." "You did all this just to get laid, Constantine?" Cole laughed. "Shit, you're even more pathetic than Stuart." "We all ain't as pretty as you, nancy boy. Bloke like me's gotta grab fer the flippin' brass ring when opportunity presents itself." "Did it work?" Sean asked curiously, to which Constantine shuffled in his seat uncomfortably. "Well, she ain't exactly said no," he muttered, only to be cut off by Logan. "And she ain't exactly said yes, neither," Logan laughed. Sean frowned. "And what did Stuart get outta this? You told him he was feeding Pete shite from the start and he still went along with it? Why would he jeopardize his career like that by agreeing to help ye? Surely not just for Kitty and Mr. Wisdom's happiness?" "Phssft, yeah, right." Domino snorted under her breath. "He weren't too put out, mate." John smirked, lighting another Silk Cut and casting a meaningful glance at the beautiful Domino. "What does that mean?" "Let's just say he didn't go away empty handed," Logan elaborated. "He got what he wanted outta the deal." "Yeah, some deal," Domino groused from behind her cards. "And wha' did he want, exactly?" Sean watched in disbelief as all eyes went to the beautiful female merc sitting before them. "No, I cannae believe that! Are ye tellin me that meek little lamb of a man extorted an... 'evening' wi' Domino for his assistance in this scheme of yours?" "Extortion such a dirty word, mon ami. Seem t' Gambit dat Monsieur Stuart was simply conducting a clever business transaction. Gambit only wish he had somet'in' t' barter wit to spend a night with such a goddess." "Not if both our lives depended on it, Cajun," she growled. Remy's eyes took on a mischievous gleam as he gazed at her longingly. "Ahh, you did look beautiful in that dress, Chere. What a shame you had to waste it on a man like dat. His eyes must have popped out of his head when he saw you, eh?" "Cram it, Remy -- and the next one of you assholes opens his mouth is gonna be eatin' some fist." She threatened, her eyes sliding over them all and coming to rest on Cole, who smirked contentedly and glanced back down at his hand. Sean leaned over to Logan, putting a hand to his arm. "You didn't, Logan, d'ye? *She* didn't? Logan shrugged indifferently. "Everybody wants something, Sean... Stuart wanted a li'l walk on the wild side with our Dom, and figured this was his chance to get it, ain't that right, Darlin'?" "I'm warning you, Logan..." Domino growled. "Come on, Nena, ya did if fer the kids. 'Sides, it wasn't that bad was it? It ain't like he cried afterward or nothin'." Sean's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Did he, Domino?" "Christ, it was just one goddamn dinner, it's not liked I fucked the guy or anything!" Domino shouted, slamming her fistful of cards down on the table "Not much, I'll bet..." Grifter smirked under his breath. "Yeah, well, I'd sure as hell fuck him before I'd fuck you, Cash, you..." The End... at last. *********************************************************************** please send any comments to pryde_and_wisdom@msn.com