A Soul Divided: Part Ten

by Kerri

Charlotte lifted her head with a sigh, reaching back to rub her stiff neck. "I'm done."

Beast looked over her shoulder, his hands resting on her aching shoulders while he took note of the work she did. "Fascinating," he murmured. He'd taken great interest in everything she did with the strange technology, hoping to recreate the same shields for the others.

"Yep." She managed to scavenge enough to wire a pendent to create the shielding. There was no time to make a matching chain. The steel links Beast located for her would have to do. She flicked a switch, then closed the back, slipping it over her head. "It's not as pretty as mine, but it will do. Time for the stress test. I'll need to get Scott to shoot some blasts at me." His large warm hands began to massage her tight muscles. "After you're done there." Her head fell forward with a moan of appreciation.

He rubbed her shoulders a few minutes longer, then stopped. "I wanted to ask you something of a personal nature."

"Okay." She looked at him inquiringly. "What can I do for you?"

"When you arrived," he smiled at his word play, "you showed no revulsion to me. In fact, you seemed to prefer my company."

"You have always been good company. I read Dr. McCoy's work for years. I was thrilled to meet him."

"Blade has never made any secret that she thought I was a freak, that she found me repulsive. I had wondered if perhaps we, in your reality, ever shared a close relationship."

Charlotte reached out and took his hands in hers. More pain, more healing. "My friend Hank is very dear to me. He is thoughtful, intelligent, kindhearted. I love him deeply."

"You and Wolverine-?"

"Yes, but that doesn't make a difference. Hank and I were friends for a long time even before we met face to face. I've lived long enough to realize some truths about human nature. You can love more than one person at a time, it's the love that counts. I love my Logan, he has my soul. I love Hank with another kind of love and it's good."

He stared at their linked hands. "Thank you." His voice was thick with unshed tears. "You don't know how much that means to me." Her arms encircled his neck, holding him to her. Perhaps she did know.

Gambit sat at the monitors watching their progress. He hadn't wanted to hear their words and now he knew why. He knew Blade was thoughtless and inconsiderate, but he never realized the depths of her cruelty. He had been blinded to her true nature, unable to see her as the others did. His heart ached with each beat.

He would have never known this if Charlotte hadn't come into their lives, wouldn't have known how the team regarded him. They all went with him to find a way to save his wife, a woman who didn't deserve their efforts. Even Beast and Angel, ignoring the dangers of being out past curfew with their visible mutations.

He had some thinking to do tonight, decisions to make before the experiment tomorrow. And he owed Charlotte a great debt. One he could but try to repay.

He left the control room, making his way to the lab. Beast was leaving, wiping his eyes. He greeted Gambit with a hoarse voice, hurrying past him.

Charlotte was in the isolation chamber, slipping on her pajamas. Gambit appeared at the doorway, not bothering to knock. He took her hand. "Come wi' me."

"Wait, I'm not dressed," she protested. She only wore the thin cotton nightshirt, her feet bare.

He pulled her along with him up the stairs to the third floor. He stopped at a door and knocked sharply.

Wolverine swung the door open. He took in Gambit's determined look and Charlotte's confused face.

"I owe both you an' Charlotte." he told him. He pushed Charlotte inside and shut the door behind her.

Charlotte felt exposed and scared. She turned to the door, trying to get it opened. Wolverine's hand on her arm stopped her.

"I feel like I'm being passed around like a keg of beer," she said, still facing the door. "I'm sorry he put you in this position. I hope he doesn't want to do something nice for everyone he knows."

He drew her back in his arms, holding her against his chest, leaning his head forward to bury his face in her hair. "I'm not."

She turned around and slipped out of his arms. Opening her mouth to speak, he placed a finger on her lips.

"No, don't say anythin'. Havin' ya here's given me somethin' to think about. What life could've been if Blade was still wi' me, if she'd been a better person. Knowin' that somewhere, somehow, I got a someone like ya an' I'm happy, makes me feel good. Like maybe my soul ain' damned. Stay wi' me tonight, let me be yer Logan."

Her Logan made her feel loved and cherished. This one made her feel she was the only thing standing between him and the abyss. She reached out to him, taking that first step over the edge.

Charlotte left him sleeping, making her way downstairs. At the second floor, Gambit waited for her, sitting on the bottom stair. She leaned over him, pressing her lips to his. "Thank you."

"Some wounds need healin'," he said.

"How will you heal yours?" she asked.

"Doan know yet." He rose and took her hand. "Come an' stay de night wi' me, chere. Let me hold you." At her look, he shook his head. "Non, doan need sex from you. Just want a warm body to hold."

He led her to his room and to his bed, pulling her down with him, resting his head against her breast. She held him tight and stroked his hair with gentle fingers. At some point she had fallen asleep.

One last night with his wife, the wife he'd believed he had. He already knew what he was going to do.

Charlotte stood in the Danger Room, her stomach jumping. This was it, the big day. She wore the pendant around her neck, looking up at the control room at Beast.

Gambit stood with her, his hand on her shoulder. The team surrounded them. Logan wasn't here yet. She felt the loss, wondering if he would come.

Beast came down to the floor. "We're ready," he told the team.

Jean stepped forward and hugged her. "Goodbye."

Magnus swept her in his arms, planting a kiss on her lips. "Thank you."

Cyclops, Angel, Storm and Nightcrawler said their good-byes, their manners vastly different from the way they were when she got here. Maybe there had been some healing on their parts. She hoped so.

Beast smiled at her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him firmly on the mouth. "Goodbye, my friend," she told him.

Gambit pulled her up in his arms, squeezing her against him. "T'ank you, chere, for givin' me a second chance." He set her down and removed the pendant from her neck.

"You realize Blade may not survive without that," she reminded him quietly.

"Oui. She'll take her chances." He wrapped one hand around her neck and pulled her close, kissing her. It was the only goodbye he would be able to give his wife, only fitting to say it to the woman who was the person he thought his wife was.

The room emptied. She suddenly felt small and vulnerable. Beast was about to hit her with a gazillion watts of energy that guaranteed to knock her into next week or fry her where she stood.

The doors open again, and Wolverine entered. His eyes had lost that haunted look. He reached for her and she went to him. He squeezed her, her ribs groaning in protest. Her body trembled in his arms.

"I wish ya didn' have to go, darlin'," he told her.

"I must."

"Yeah. He's a lucky man, ya tell him that for me." He kissed her softly, drawing a moan from her lips.

"Goodbye, my love," she whispered. She pushed away from him and took a deep breath. "Now, where was I standing?"

He moved her into position.

"You better get out of here so you don't get hurt," she told him.

He shook his head. "No matter what happens, ya won't be alone."

She blew him a kiss, then looked up at the control booth. "Okay, Hank, I'm ready."

She held Wolverine's eyes even as the room brightened to a white hot intensity, the power crackling around them. The air around her seemed to sparkle, then ripple like the surface of water. She lost sight of him. Then it hit her, she saw sparks, and the world went dark.

Wolverine caught the body as it fell, the energy still shimmering around them, the smell of ozone strong in the air.

The doors opened, Gambit and Beast ran in. Jean came behind them, drawing Wolverine away while Beast looked at his patient. She held him close, Storm putting her arms around the two of them.

Beast looked up at Gambit and shook his head. "I'm afraid Blade didn't survive the transfer," he said quietly. Jean wrapped Gambit in her arms.

Gambit nodded into Jean's hair. His breath caught at the lump of tears in his throat. "For de best."

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