#it was for New Nation which i've since put on indefinite hold

[kifu]

“Remy?” Kurt shouted incredulously. Of all the X-Men Kurt didn’t expect to see, Gambit was very high on that list. The man was reclusive at best when he was a part of the team. Kurt figured he’d return to the underground, or whatever it was that he did in his spare time, after the Nation took over and leave the saving to the hero-type. It wasn’t that Kurt didn’t think Remy had good in him, it was that he thought Remy received too much malice for his good intentions and it turned him bitter. The two men didn’t have a whole lot for heart-to-heart before the fall of the world, so Kurt was speculating more than anything. If Ororo was so close to him, he couldn’t have been that bad.

            Remy’s expression, which was unreadable at first, instantly fell once he caught sight of Kurt. Kurt stepped forward from the crowd, concerned more than anything. Here he was with clothing on top of clothing to cover his appearance, despite the warm weather, but Remy was standing in plain sight, like he wanted to be seen. “Kurt, I wish I hadn’t seen you,” he said quietly. His voice almost growled. Something was wrong. Kurt could sense that, but not from where the uneasy feeling originated.

            “What do you mean?” Kurt pressed. He stopped within Remy’s arm length and dropped his stance just in case he had to flee. “Is it not good that we, as old allies, are meeting? Does this not make us stronger?”

            “Au contraire,” Remy replied. His voice was so cold. Angry. “Da more people I see, da weaker I am.” He dropped his stoic stance to face Kurt. His facial expressions were much easier to read now than they were a year and a half ago. Now he appeared less angry, more pained. Kurt unwittingly took a step backwards, his arms coming up over his chest. Something was very, very wrong. This was Remy, but he wasn’t acting of his own accord.

            “What have they done to you?” Kurt asked, so quietly so that only Remy should have been able to hear him.

            “Dey know, Kurt,” Remy hissed back. “Dey know where e’reyone is, but dey only take me as –” He stopped short, straightened up, and released a barking laugh. “Mon dieu, if history weren’t ta repeat itself. Dey got my hands tied in a way I can’t unknot ‘em, mon ami. Dis time, it ain’t a debt to da devil, it an allegiance to my friends an’ a history o’ bad doin’.”

            “Everyone?” Kurt asked. He took another step back, but in vain. Remy attacked with such speed, Kurt was caught off guard. In one, swooping motion, Remy turned their positions so that Kurt was suddenly against the wall, pinned under Remy’s arm. He pressed enough to keep Kurt in place, but not hard enough to cause him pain.

            Something flashed behind Remy’s eyes, too quickly for Kurt to catch it, before he leaned in to Kurt’s ear. “Far as I know, jus’ da group I was runnin’ wit’. Dey been doomed from da start. Rogue’s a part o’ dem, Kurt. You stay away from her … an’ me. I see you still fightin’. Find someone else to follow. Heard Captain America escaped a couple months ago an’ already has a followin’. Find him, an’ for da love o’ God, take dese fuckers down. Don’ let me, or anyone else, get in da way.” He shoved against Kurt’s rib cage to occupy him long enough to backhand him across the face. Kurt ducked the second blow Remy was preparing, grabbing on to the wall with his adhesive advantage to aim a kick at Remy’s midsection.

            Kurt noticed two things in this brief skirmish. First, Remy was completely avoiding use of his right arm. He kept it tucked close to him, barely moving it. Second, Remy was fast, completely in shape, and in apparent health. He was the pampered show dog compared to Kurt’s emaciated rescue mutt after being on the run for so long. If Remy was currently working for the Nation, as he implied, they were taking care of him and felt assured enough that Remy wouldn’t defect to save his previous team of resistance. Did that mean they perceived Gambit as more of a threat than Rogue? Who else was on that team?

            Remy took a quick step back to avoid Kurt’s kick, watching from a low, alert stance as Kurt followed through. When his feet touched the brick of the wall, Kurt barely had time to teleport out of the way from Remy’s next attack. He reappeared behind Remy, but before his feet could touch the ground, Remy had turned to take another swing at him. Somehow, some when, Remy had pulled out his staff from who knows where. Still, he only used one arm.

            “You can still teleport,” Remy observed, though very quietly. His voice dropped even lower so that Kurt could barely hear him. “Why don’t you jus’ leave? Make it easier on all’a us, non?”

            Kurt took on the defensive, backing up further and further into the market place to avoid Remy’s attacks. People scattered, very afraid but not in the way of harm.

            “They are listening?” Kurt asked.

            “’s possible,” Remy replied. He added a charge to his staff and Kurt could feel the unwelcome spike of fear. Remy already had the advantage. If that staff connected with Kurt, he was done for. All of the good he had managed up until this point would add up to exactly nothing. Despite how hard Kurt tried, all of his fixes were temporary. They needed a complete Nation eradication to completely turn things around.

            “They are watching?” Kurt guessed again. With the next step back, Kurt hurled himself in the air, toward the trajectory of Remy’s staff. Before it touched him and had the chance to do damage, Kurt disappeared. He reappeared behind Remy again, throwing his weight downwards and sending a kick against Remy’s back to use his momentum against him. Kurt executed a showy somersault, whereas Remy fell forward, dropping his staff so that his left hand could catch him in a roll to his feet. When Remy spun around to meet Kurt’s next attack, he already had a handful of cards, glowing with the potential energy of his mutant powers.

            “Always,” Remy said while his cards left his fingers. Kurt dodged the throw, praying that the rogue mini-bombs didn’t hit anyone or anything important behind him. Before Remy could grab more ammunition, Kurt was close enough that he could capture his left hand. Remy was stronger, that much was obvious right away, but Kurt still had enough power to hold him off for a few more words. “Lower level guys,” Remy grunted. “Dey don’t interfere wit’ me, but dey got connections to my boss wit’ da word to take out da Resistance.”

            Remy snapped his hand away from Kurt’s grasp, throwing him off-balance long enough to kick him to the ground. Kurt landed in a heap, but instead of jumping to his feet, he only sat up to look at his ally-turned-enemy. “What happened to your other arm?”

            “It’s as good as dead,” Remy said. These words were louder than before, filled with anger and pain. “How you t’ink dey got me, huh? Wit’out a fight? She severed da nerves right t’rough.” He leaned forward to grab Kurt off the ground, and Kurt let him.

            “I never insinuated you were a coward,” Kurt reasoned as quietly as before. “I am trying to learn enough so that I may help you.”

            “You can’t help me,” Remy spat. “I seriously suggest you ‘port away, ‘Crawler, an’ leave me. I’m tryin’ ta be nice, I can see you had better days, but you makin’ it hard.” Remy shoved Kurt forward enough so that he could get his foot underneath his staff. Quickly letting go of Kurt’s clothing, he launched the staff up in the air, caught it, and swung out at Kurt, aiming for maximum damage. If Remy was holding back, Kurt was in more trouble than he thought. The X-Men had learned how effective Remy was with both hands, but even with just one hand at a time, Remy was completely ambidextrous. Perhaps his Nation attacker thought taking out the right arm would render him useless to take him captive. Maybe it was just a thing that was spur of the moment.

            Kurt took the hit, moving both his arms upwards to protect his head. He was thrown backwards and could instantly feel the stinging pain up both arms. It was a mistake, but he could only hope that Remy hadn’t broken anything. Kurt had broken a leg once long before the rise of the Nation, and that was bother enough.

            “Dey’ll want you alive, at least from me,” Remy all but growled. He took an advancing step and picked up Kurt from the front of his shirt again. “You know what you makin’ me do? Dey’ll keep you drugged so you can’t get away.”

            Kurt reached up to grab Remy’s arm, and utilizing all of his concentration, teleported them to the top of the nearest building. Remy let go and fell to his knees, but he wasn’t out. Even Kurt was able to feel the effects of the jump a little, and he was supposed to be the one conditioned to it.

            Still on his knees, not making a move to attack any longer, Remy continued talking. “Dey won’t know where we are for a li’l bit if we’re lucky. You’ll get me in trouble, which would be fine if I di’n’t have dozens of lives in my hands. Kurt, s’il te plâit.” He sounded less angry up on the roof, and resorted to begging. “Leave me, find a group, an’ work on takin’ down da Nation. Gettin’ caught, or messin’ wit’ me, ain’t gonna do Jack.” He paused, watching Kurt as he looked over and poked his forearms to assess the damage. “Dey know how I fight, mon ami. I can’ hold back. If I hurt you, I’m sorry.” Taken aback, Kurt pulled his attention away from his arms. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever heard Remy apologize before.

            Slowly getting into a crouched position, Kurt reached forward to place a hand on Remy’s shoulder. “It is I who is sorry, Remy,” he said. “I wish I could do something for you.”

            “Go.”

            “Es tut mir Leid,” Kurt repeated, “und viel Glück.”

            In a flash, the scenery had completely changed. Kurt teleported to an area half a mile away from the direction he had come earlier. He remembered the area being relatively empty and free of people, which still held true.

            It didn’t feel like Remy had broken his bones, but he no doubt left some painful bruises Kurt would have to remember him by for a long while.