Reborn: Chapters 1-4

by Raymond Wood

The voice had been with her since that awful day, supportive in dark moments and jubilant when joy befell her. It wasn't like the curse that Carol Danvers had been, no, this time it was far different. A dying wish for a friend as fear of death took hold. A young life stolen in her prime, while experiences beyond her years, the life she lived had been short. In the end, they found Rogue clutching the still form of Jubilation Lee, sobs shaking her invulnerable body.

Jubilee had made her way to visit with friends of old, seeking out Storm's team of Mutants as she still sought to find her place in the world. Rogue had gladly accepted the task of meeting Jubilee at the small airport where the chartered jet was to land. Waiting out on the runway in a silk shirt, jacket and jeans, she looked like any other friend waiting for the arrival from a old friend. The plane came in low, too low she realized. A burst of sonic speed and she was under the nose, guiding the plane in to the runway. With the plane having touched down, she flew to the door and ripped it from its hinge, only to be encompassed in billowing smoke.

Forcing past the smoke, she made her way into the wrecked interior, finding what looked to be the results of an explosion. Fear welled in her chest as she made her way past the bodies, until she found the prone form of Jubilee huddled in a corner, bloodied and scared.

"Roguey?" Jubilee questioned weakly.

Rogue was to her side within a heartbeat, cradling her close and rocking her gently. "Ah'm here sugah." Rogue whispered.

"I'm dying Rogue." Jubilee coughed out, a trickle of blood trailing down her chin.

"No your not sugah, the paramedics will be here soon." Rogue instisted with steeled determination in her voice.

"I'm dying Rogue, getting cold, slipping away..." Jubilee coughed out once more, pausing to take in a ragged breath. "I'm scared."

"Ah'm here for ya Sugah, just hold on a bit longer. Ah can hear the paramedics." Rogue pleaded as tears filled her eyes.

Jubilee looked up weakly, the sparkle in her sapphire eyes fading. Ever so slowly Jubilee reached up and poised her hand next to Rogue's cheek, her eyes containing a pleading look as the fire of life faded. Rogue suddenly realized that Jubilee wouldn't make it, but she didn't want her death to be in vain. Ever so carefully, Rogue brushed her cheek against Jubilee's hand in an affectionate jesture, the life force slowly being leeched from Jubilee as a tiny smile fell over her face. As Jubilee took her last breath, Rogue felt a tingle in the back of her mind, as a new mind settled in. A distant and weak 'Thank you' whispered in Rogue's mind, and at that the tears and wails of pain rang out as Rogue pulled Jubilee's dead body to her own.

That had been nine months ago, and Rogue now found herself crying out in pain once more, though not from the loss of life, but from the birth of life. A mystery to this day, shortly after Jubilee's death, Rogue found herself to be with child. Controversy rang through the X world at the news, yet Rogue and Remy let it wash over them like water from a ducks back. Rogue was going to be a mother, and Remy a daddy, and that's all they cared about. Shortly after the revelation of her pregnancy, Remy proposed to Rogue, and not even a month later she was now the proud Mrs. Remy LeBeau.

With another cry of pain, she pushed and clenched down on the hands of those whom were able to give their support to the new mother, a mother possessing Super Strength and Invulnerability. Monet held one hand, her own nigh invulnerability protecting her, while Paige had husked to a form that would not have her hand crushed. Remy stood off in a corner, video taping, while the doctor, a friend of Hanks, worked at delivering the baby.

"Just one more push!" The doctor cried out, amazed that the baby hadn't been aborted yet by the strange physiology of the mother.

"Ah am pushing!" Rogue cried out as she gave one last push, screaming out in pain that she had never before experienced.

As her own scream drifted off into silence, a new scream rang out. The doctor exclaimed with joy that it was a girl, and with that the parents gave the child the name they had held dear to their hearts since the miracle happened those nine months ago. Jubiliation. After the doctor cut the cord and wrapped the baby in a blanket, he handed her to the exhausted mother. As Rogue looked down to the child, a gasp of shock escaped her. Probing her mind for the presence of Jubilee, she could not feel her nor call her. Giving another look to her baby, she stared in awe at the Asian features, but even more so, the sapphire blue eyes which looked up to her affectionatly, amazing in the fact that they had opened mere moments after birth.

As Paige and Monet looked to the child, gasps escaped their own lips, causing the father by marriage to draw closer. As he looked to the child in his loving wife's arms, he too let out a shocked gasp.

"Merde..." Remy whispered.

Chapter Two : Revelation

Rouge cradled her child in her arms, gently rocking her child who cooed lightly, giving the occasional giggle. Pulling out a down soft towel, she gently dabbed away a bit of drool that formed on Jubilation's lip. Her heart swelled with love as she looked to the absolute, unconditional love held in those sapphire eyes. Smiling back, Rogue tickled her nose with a free hand, earning a squeal of joy.

"And how be mon chere and ma petite ange?" Remy asked as he walked in, a cup of tea and a mug of coffee held upon a small tray.

"We're both doing fine, and how's my husband." Rogue inquired with a pleasant smile upon her face.

"Happier den I 'ave been in years." Remy replied as he closed the distance, setting the tray down and giving Jubilation his trademark grin.

Jubiliation reached up a puggy little hand, trying to grasp at a stray lock of Remy's wild auburn hair, giving a gentle tug upon it. Remy merely in return planted a kiss on her forehead, then taking a seat next to his wife and child. Today was the day to dispell all doubt over the miracle birth of their child, a child knowing no father, and an unlikely mother. The birth had brought many surprises with it indeed.

Since the birth of her child, Rogue had found control finally over her power, at first merely thought to be the family immunity to the power was soon found to be the ability to choose when she would envoke her deadlist of powers, far more deadly than the strength to kill a man with a blow or her invulnerability. Since that day, she had spent nearly all her time with her Jubilation, her hearts joy, cuddling and playing with her, tickling her and enjoying the firm grasp that would occasionaly take a hold upon her finger. Indeed, the birth had brought the long overdue joy to a most deserving couple.

"Rogu...err...Mrs. LeBeau...Hank is finished with the tests." Paige whispered as she peeked her head in, not wishing to disturb the fledgling family.

Hope tinged with confusion filled her as she knew the truth finally awaited, the reason for their return to the Westchester Estate of Charles Xavier, rather than unpacking their recently purchased New Orleans mansion. Feeling a hand taking a hold of her free one, Rogue turned to see Remy's demon eyes, looking to her with love and strength. Finally, with a calming breath, she stood up slowly form her chair in the den, giving Jubilation a gently bounce.

"Ah'm coming." Rogue replied, feeling Remy's arm wrapping about her as they made their way into the med lab.

As they entered, they found the other X-men sitting about, waiting paitently for them. With a glance from Remy, the others soon realised they wished to find out the news first, as a private matter with the man who took the place of the average family doctor. Exiting quietly, Remy and Rogue took a seat on the sofa that had been brought in, while Hank fiddled with his pen nervously.

"Come on Henri, you going ta tell us what ya found, or keep wit playing wit your pen?" Remy asked, impatience in his voice, yet too apprehension.

As the blue furred doctor looked to the fledgling family, a sigh escaped him, knowing that it would be best not to prolong it any more than it had already been, waiting the month for them to settle in and enjoy being a normal family without the dangers of the life of X-men. Walking over, he placed a clawed hand on Rogue's shoulder, a comforting gesture that brought a smile to her lips.

"The test proved positive. I cannot explain it, nor do I even find any theory of how, but..." Hank paused, taking in a calming breath as tears filled his eyes, the memory of the funeral their youngest charge stirring a painful knot in his stomach.

"But...dis be de Petite...it be Jubilee..." Remy continued, running a hand through his hair, then pulling Rogue close to his side as tears filled her eyes.

"Yes." Hank replied in a quiet voice, his mind whirling with the implications.

"Could this be why Jubilee's presence left me after ah gave birth?" Rogue inquired in an unusually meek voice for the fiery southerner.

"It very well may be, that is the closest idea I can come by for this miracle. Her brainwave activity is far beyond what a child of her age should be, though most of it seems to be reserved to mere recognition. If you wish...we could have the Professor see what he cannot find, though I leave that entirely to your judgement." Hank replied.

"Dat be why she seem so alert?" Remy asked as he nuzzled Rogue's neck with his nose.

"Perhaps." Rogue whispered, finding it impossible not to smile at the look Jubilee held in her sapphire eyes as she eyed Hank's twinkies sitting upon his desk.

"No solid food yet." Rogue whispered, planting a kiss that once held death upon its lips to Jubilee's forehead.

A scowl fell over Jubilee's face as she spit a few bubbles in annoyance, the alert look in her eyes holding the truth that she understood the tone of the voice, and the word 'No'. With a sigh, Rogue looked back up to Hank, giving a gentle nod.

"We'll let the Professor see what he can't find. Could ya do us a favor sugah, and tell the others. Ah just can't do it right now." Rogue whispered as she pulled her legs up upon the sofa, settling down for a wait for the Professor.

"Of course. Be well." Hank whispered, quietly taking his leave from the room.

"She's..." Bobby asked, not even able to speak the truth beyond that.

"The baby is...Jubilee..." Hank remarked, the room bursting into a cacophony of questions and shock.

Hank stood stoicly, waiting for the questions to finally silence. Emotions flared, theories rang out, and relief was had. By some miracle, Jubilee had cheated death, some force had granted one who had so much taken over the years, a gift at a second chance. Jean was the first to ask the most obvious of the questions, a sputtering cough catching his attention.

"Does...I mean...will she...remember?" Jean asked.

"There seems to be a hint that it may be so, for we have all noted how she takes to those she knew, yet acts like any other baby to a stranger." Hank replied.

"The Professor..." Paige asked meekly.

"Yes...Rogue has agreed to let him see what he cannot sense." Hank replied, giving a nod and showing a hopeful look in his eyes.

Professor Charles Francis Xavier gave a warm smile to Jubilee as she giggled at him, waving a small arm at him as she tried to grasp his tie. Rouge and Remy looked to one another, truly hopeful that he would find something, yet still overjoyed at having a child all their own. As Charles placed a finger to Jubilee's temple, a small hand reached up and took a hold upon it, clinging possesivly to it.

"She has quite a grip." Charles mused, chuckling as a warmth filled his heart, of all his 'Children of the Atom', he had been overjoyed to find out that these two deversing souls had finally found peace in a small bundle of Jubilation.

"Just like her mama." Rogue replied, having found slight resemblances in her childs face, despite the distinctly Asian features of Jubilee.

"Are we ready?" Charles inquired.

"As Ah'll evah be." Rogue replied, handing her child over to Charles.

As Charles looked down to the squirming child in his arms, he let his mind reach out, touching the presence of the child. His eyes grew tear filled, while a never before seen sense of disbelief held the eternal dreamer, able to dream the most troubled of dreams, equity for his people, his children. The laughter beyond that of a child filled his mind, and a memory stirred, a memory shared by him, but from another's mind.

He and Jubilee sat about the ruins of the mansion, soaking wet and wrapped in towels to ward off the evening chill that had set in. She had granted him one last pleasure before he lost the ability to walk once more, a pleasure he had never before known as he raced with her upon a set of borrowed roller blades, ever the mischevious child as she sent the pair of them tumbling into a pond. As he made his way from Jubilee, heading back to the mansion, he felt his legs buckle, his curse returning to him. In a moment he expected to fall, she had caught him, the metaphor not lost to him as they walked back to the mansion, over coming weaknesses with one anothers strengths.

Rogue watched as the Professor's breathing became labored and tears welled in his eyes, lost to the mindscape of her child, and one time charge. In that instance, the tears welled in her own child's eyes, an unusual smile creeping over her pouty lips. Suddenly the Professor snapped back to alertness, gently handing Jubilee back to her mother.

"Well..." Remy asked quietly.

"Yes Remy, she holds the memories of Jubilee. If not in due time all of her own, we will be able to restore her memories if it is decided so to intervine in this rare miracle." Charles replied, taking a calming breath to regain his composure.

"In time oui, but for now, we be giving 'er de family she lost twice now, her parents by birth, and de X-men by death." Remy whispered, planting a kiss on Rogue's brow. "Does Mrs. LeBeau agree wit dat?"

"Yes. Mrs. LeBeau thinks that's a wonderful idea, don't you Jubilee?" Rogue asked, looking down to the bundle of joy in her arms.

A glint of recognition surfaced in Jubilee's eyes, a smile creeping across her pouty lips. The idea seemed unanimous between the family, and in that moment, Remy and Rogue whispered an oath to one another, an oath that nothing would ever hurt their family like they had been so many times before in their lives before the joining took place, in which Jubilation Lee became Jubiliation LeBeau.

Chapter Three : First Steps

Rogue awoke to the wail of her child, pulling her from the dreaming world back to the waking world with an abrupt maternal pull. Looking next to her she found Remy slowly stirring, his hair frazzled and looking utterly adorable in a fatherly manner. With a chaste kiss, she climbed from bed, pulling a robe about herself before finding her way to the nursery that had been built in the stead of Jubilee's old room.

As she walked down the halls, she could hear the night life of the mansion still stirring in the dark hours of the new day, students merely seeking a new life away from the hatred and persecution they would face if not for this safe haven. A smile found its way to her lips as she thought of the home that this place had provided to her over the years, now offering a home to the next generation of children blessed and cursed with the X-Factor gene. Finally as she turned a corner, she found the crying had ceased, while sparkling lights from the mobile Hank had built for Jubilee danced in the hallway, carrying the greens and reds and blues of her previous lives mutant gift.

Creeping slowly to the door, she could make out a faint whispering of a nursery rhyme. With a peek in, she found Emma dressed in a robe, looking radiant despite the ungodly hour, cradling Jubilee in her arms as she whispered to her in a soothing tone. Rogue paused in this moment, taking in an unlikely visage of the elitist Emma Frost, head of business and former White Queen of the Hellfire Club. The smile further increased with the look upon Jubilee's face, having been lolled back to a peaceful sleep.

"Hello Rogue..." Emma whispered as she turned and passed a smile to the doorway.

"Nevah thought ah would see the day that you looked right motherly Emma." Rogue whispered as she crept in from her shadowy perch on the doorway.

"Nor I." Emma whispered as she sat down in the rocking chair, slowly rocking back and forth as she looked down to the slumbering form of Jubilee.

"So, what's got ya up this late?" Rogue asked as she sat down next to her on a stool.

"Sleeping in my diamond form is rather less than comfortable, though the benefit of not having the youth's emotions or dreams seeping into my own is an advantage." Emma remarked with a little smile upon her face.

"Leaving one school for another eh? Ah can't blame ya with all that happened. I used ta talk with Jubilee about it. All Ah can say is that Ah'm sorry." Rogue whispered, drawing upon the experience of living with Jubilee in her mind for those nine months, coming to know her closely as she had known anyone in all that time.

"Indeed. But that is another life now, as was my time with the Hellfire Club. Best left forgotten." Emma whispered as a sad tone entwined with her voice.

As Jubilee slowly stirred back to the waking world, she looked up to her mother with a sleepy expression in her sapphire eyes. With a quirked smile, Rogue drew upon a gift from the passing of Jubilation in that plane crash, sending sparkling lights of plasmoids drifting about the room, dancing to the lullaby she slowly began to sing. With every attempt to grasp a plasmoid, Rogue would have it vanish in a snap, earning a giggle from her daughter.

"Ya know Emma, we still haven't chosen a Godmother yet." Rogue whispered, slowly looking up to Emma.

Emma looked to Rogue with a stunned expression upon her face, speechless for once. Of all the people Rogue knew, she would honor her with this title? Not Ororo or Jean? Questions whirled in her mind, as a rare red hue fell upon her ivory cheeks. Finally a single question parted her lips, almost a breathless whisper unto the night. "Why?"

"Ya just seem a likely choice is all. Ah mean ya took care of a whole school with all but Sean ta help ya, and taking care of three headstrong teenaged girls ain't a simple task." Rogue whispered.

"Headstrong? Who might this third headstrong girl might be, as I only knew Jubilation or Page to be thus." A new voice whispered into the night, an Algerian accent drifting upon the night currents.

"Good evening Monet, what brings you up in this hour?" Emma inquired, her own question briefly forgotten.

"Have you ever shared a bed with a man who has wings of an Angel?" Monet inquired with a quirk of her eyebrow, a slow smile passing her lips finally.

"I cannot say I have, is Warren truly that impossible to bed with?" Emma inquired.

"Bedding? No, sleeping, yes." Monet whispered in a sly tone, braking the mold of her upbringing momentarily for a moment of sisterly gossip.

Giggles soon erupted in the room, being hushed down quickly as they regained their composure. Silence hung about the room like a wafting fog, billowing to the songs of the ancient lives passed on before. Finally as Emma looked back to Rogue, a smile passed between the two women.

"I would be honored to be her Godmother Rogue." Emma whispered, handing her new Goddaughter to her mother.

"Ah'm glad ta hear that Sugah. Now lets say good night to everyone Jubilation, we got us a big day ahead of us tommorow." Rogue whispered as she rose and placed Jubilee back in her crib.

"Good night Mrs. LeBeau." Emma whispered, taking a hold upon Rogues hand in an affectionate gesture.

"Good night Emma." Rogue whispered back with a smile, quietly taking her leave of the room with the other women.

The bags had been packed, and the vans loaded. Joining the new famliy to help with starting their new life would be Warren and Bobby, along with Emma and Monet. Rogue found herself sitting upon the lawn of the mansion, taking in a last look of what had once been her home, her first true home for as long as she could remember. She had a new home now, and a family by marriage vows and by birth. While no less close to her hold family, it was time to part ways, time to lead as normal a life as life would permit.

As a shadow fell over her, she didn't even have to turn to know who it was. None in the X-men could possess such a stoic shadow as Bishop. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought of the mission he was about to undertake, with the revelation that had been had the night prior. Turning slowly, she looked up to find him standing with a ruck sack over his shoulder, and a trench coat concealing his personal arsenel.

"Hey Sugah..." Rogue whispered, fears welling in her chest like a whirlwind.

"Morning Rogue." Bishop remarked in his ever somber voice.

"Ya got our address right?" Rogue questioned, not wishing anything to keep him from finding his way there when he finally found the man his quest would set him upon to find.

"Indeed. I will find him." Bishop remarked with as best he could do for a hopeful voice.

"Ah know ya will Sugah. Ah know. Here...give him this." Rogue whispered as she pulled out an old cowboy hat, a lifetime of wear and tear evident.

"The cowboy hat he gave Jubilee?" Bishop inquired, setting it upon his head as the most likely way to ensure the scent would pass to the wind, hopefully carrying forth to his quarry.

"Yes. Jubilee had been playing with it the other night. Ah...ah...ah don't know. Just tell him..." Rogue whispered, pausing at a loss of words, having known what Logan had meant to her all those years ago.

"I know. I should be off. He could be anywhere since his disapperance after Jubilee's funeral." Bishop remarked, giving a nod to the mother one last time.

"Be well Bishop. Thanks..." Rogue whispered as he slowly turned, walking off into the rising sun as he began the first leg of his journey.

Rogue sat upon the lawn, lost to her thoughts, merely content with the peace of the moment. Nine months had passed since that night when Remy had gotten down to his knee, struggling with his own inner demons while he summoned his will to ask a question he had long desired to ask. She had looked down to him, at an utter lose for words as tears filled her eyes, her secret desire acting out before her as Remy plucked a small ring box from his shirt pocket, a pocket that until she had been found to be pregnant had always held a pack of cigarettes. As he opened the box to her, the light of the moon caught the diamond before her, flaring with it's own inner fire, a question asked in that moment that she would never forget...Would you marry me?

A internal squeal echoed across her mindscape as Jubilee gushed with joy, rooting her to say yes. Her emotions stirred to a climax, and with her reply, her new power had burst to life in an eruption of colourful plasmoids, Jubilee having quietly purchased enough control for the fireworks display high overhead. Rogue and Remy looked skyward, enjoying the fireworks display the disembodied Jubilee had conjured, rivaling anything that had before been seen upon the face of the Earth. In that moment Remy pulled a silk scarf, green as Rogue's eyes, gently pulling it over her face and stealing a chaste kiss. The newly engaged couple spent the night under the stars, planning the life of their future famliy, while the presence of Jubilee receeded into the darkness to give Rogue privacy.

With a wistful sigh, she looked down to her wedding band and smiled, a diamond set with emeralds about it, Remy having been inspired by the way Rogue would often look coyly up to him from under that white streak of her hair, emerald eyes looking up to his own demon eyes. Slowly she rose to her feet, taking the first steps foward to the emerging crowd from the mansion doors, lead by her husband who held her daughter tenderly in his arms, the warmth of the sight reaching out to her from across the way as she knew she was ready to say good-bye to her old life, and welcome her new with open arms.

Chapter Four : Penance

The drive to New Orleans had been relaxing and calm, a jovial air to the trip as they stopped along the way, taking snapshots of the fledgling family at the sights. Pictures littered the family van, Jubilee looking at a rabbit with interest at a petting farm, Rogue and Remy smooching for the camera as they sat under a tree at a rest area, and the one that hung from the rear view mirror of the family standing proudly before the city sign of New Orleans, smiling for the camera as Bobby took the picture.

The jovial air had ended quickly upon returning to their home, with all settling down in their rooms to rest after the trip. Remy had settled in the living room, enjoying a moment of peace after finally returning home. Suddenly though, that peace was banished as the doors of the foyer were blown from their hinges, men and women alike poured in, guns ready and various weapons drawn. From the crowd a man emerged, dressed in a finely tailored suit, with a pistol deftly held in his hand. Looking to Remy, malice arched between the two like lightning.

"Welcome home LeBeau, a clever trap non?" The man asked as he snapped his fingers, summoning an old face from the crowd.

"Louis! You sold Remy out?" Remy cried, looking to a man he once held to be a friend.

Louis looked to Remy with pain in his eyes, bile rising to his throat from the guilt of the betrayal of a friend. As the man snapped his fingers once more, a woman was thrown to the feet of Louis, dead and cold, pale eyes holding no expression whatsoever. A feral rage built in the man, only to be ceased as a gunshot silenced his cry of outrage. Silence hung in the room, the Assassin Guild enjoying their victory after the dishonor held so long ago.

"Oui, he sold you out, because we had his sister. Now dat we have you, we can end de feud." The man remarked in a cold voice, leveling the gun on Remy.

As the gunshot rang out, no cry of pain was heard, only a swift wind cutting through the air as a fist emerged infront of Remy's chest, clenched in anger. Monet looked up to the man, and in that moment she sent the bullet flying back, to his feet, smoke slowly billowing from where it smoldered in the oaken floors.

"I would ask you to leave now." Monet hissed in a deadly voice, anger radiating from her.

"As would I." Warren remarked from the top of the stairs.

"And don't even get me started Sugah, ya just pissed off the wrong woman!" Rogue cried out as appeared before Remy in a burst of sonic speed.

X-men and Assassins stood poised at one another, waiting for the other to flinch in the deadly standoff that had arisen with the return of Remy LeBeau to his home, after the promise of safe passage by an old friend. A trap had been set, but the prey was clever in it's own sense, bringing friends to help ensure safe passage. As the man in the finely tailored suit flinched, muscles flaring to life as his gun fired a shot once more, the battle had begun.

Emma sat in the nursery, skin diamond hard as she guarded Jubilee from the battle that had ensued. While protected, she too felt naked as her telepathy laid dormant with her secondary mutation taking hold. Her eyes watched the door and window, looking for any shadows slithering in the ebon darkness that had fallen. Unknown to her, the attack would come from a distance, as a projectile smashed through the window, coming to life in a spray of gas. With her first breath she knew she didn't have time to act, the gas taking hold too quickly on her, her vision growing black. In a final desperate act, a scream burst from her, carrying over the sounds of battle that had taken hold of the night.

Mother and Father looked to the ceiling, the chilled hand of death taking hold of their souls in that moment. With a nod from Rogue, Remy burst from the stairs, a rage powering him as he dispatched any who stood in his way, falling to Bo staff and kinetically charged cards as he culled his way to the stairs. Making his way to the stairs, a shadowy figure emerged , a blade glinting in the darkness. A final hurdle to his daughter and her godmother. With a battlecry, he lunged at the man, fending off slashes with his Bo staff while ever advancing up the stairs.

As the pair of opponents found footing on the landing of the second floor, Remy could see the gas billowing from the nursery. Pain gripped him as he felt a blade find home in his thigh, cold anger at the thought of whatever poison might now be in his system. With a final defiant slash, he slammed the tipped end of his Bo staff into the assailant, sending him tumbling down the stairs in an unconscious heap. Now staggering, he made his way to the nusery as his vision became clouded. Tumbling into the door, he found two forms upon the ground, while another held his daughter. The poison took hold as he felt a pain as if a hand had gripped his heart, a scream carrying out over the battle once more as the darkness took hold.

Meanwhile downstairs, the Assassin's had fallen back, holding to the truth that their ploy had worked. Those not engaged in direct battle carried the wounded out, as a retreat was called. Rogue and the others burst up the stairs, fear and apprehension in their souls with the sudden retreat of the Assassin Guild after such a brief battle. As they burst into the room, they found a man perched over Remy, a needle pushing a serum into his heart while he cradled the unconscious Jubilee in his free arm. Rogue lunged in this moment, anger carrying her as she attempted to free her daughter, only to find a her handed freely to her.

"Who are you!" Rogue cried out as she backed into a corner, looking to Jubilee.

"Dat any way to speak to your father-in-law?" The man asked as he slowly rose to his feet, giving Rogue that trademark grin of a LeBeau.

"Jean-Luc?" Rogue asked in a breathless voice, shocked at finding the head of the Thieves Guild tending to his banished son.

"Oui, I be seeing you two in a couple days, non? I got some business I must attend to first." Jean-Luc remarked, his voice going from casual to deadly, venom finding home as he looked to his fallen son.

Before Rogue or the others could answer, he walked away and made his way back down the stairs, heading out of the toppled foyer doors and into the night. A shadow to his departure, Rogue followed him to the stairs, pausing there to watch him leave with the grace of a man who owned the night. Shaking her head clear, she ran back and found Emma stirring slowly, with the others carrying Remy to the master bedroom. For the first time ever, Rogue saw Emma cry, knowing failure at protecting her goddaughter. Rogue slowly walked over, placing Jubilee in Emma's arms as she embraced her, whispering forgivness.

A baby's wail startled husband and wife to the waking world, a groan escaping Rogue as she checked the time. Slumping back into the warm, cozy covers, she cast a sidways glance to Remy as he stared at the ceiling. Returning the glance, Remy gave Rogue a warm smile as he slowly crept out of the covers, nodding his head.

"I know, it be my turn." Remy whispered in a tired voice.

"Thanks Sugah..." Rogue yawned as she returned back to her slumber.

Remy slowly crept from his room, careful to quietly shut the door. Looking down the hallway, a smile crept over his face as he saw the multicoloured sparkles flickering from the nightlight Hank had made Jubilee. As he made his way into the room, he couldn't help but muse if her mutation would be the one they all knew and loved, or if with her rebirth, a new, different aspect might take hold. Looking down upon the irate Jubilee, he carefully picked her up and cradled her, whispering gentle words as he bounced her.

"Shh P'tite, don cry. Dere be no monsters under your crib, or in your closet." Remy whispered as he walked about the room, taking a seat in the antique rocking chair he had bought for Rogue when the house had been purchased.

Finally she quieted, slipping back into a peaceful slumber as she cooed lightly. Smiling down to her, Remy took to softly rocking in the chair, finding this nightly routine far more appealing than his wilder years of womanizing in the bars of the world. Not that he wasn't spending this night with a beautiful woman he mused, tickling her chin and earning a giggle for his effort as her eyes shot open.

"Not ready to go back to sleep, eh P'tite?" Remy questioned, under the astute observance of her sapphire eyes.

"Papa LeBeau t'inking you be picking up his bad habits, non? Not dat you didn't stay up all hours of de night before." Remy whispered as he rose and headed to the sunporch.

Though as he made his way there, he found another surprise, sitting in one of the whicker chairs they had seated about the porch. With a glance from Remy though, the figure stubbed out his cigarette and quickly waved away the smoke. Three generations of LeBeau sat in the same room, eyeing one another with decerning glances.

"I told you I be seeing you in a couple days, did I not?" Jean-Luc questioned as he looked to his son, earning a nod from Remy as a misty look filled his eyes.

"P'tite, dis be your Grandpapa LeBeau." Remy whispered quietly, closing the distance between himself and his adopted father.

"So dis be Jubiliation? She be as beautiful as de fille dat stole your heart. Dat be a crime even de Guild couldn't pull off, settling down my son." Jean Luc replied with a fond tone in his voice, reaching from his jacket pocket and pulling out a small locket.

"What be dis?" Remy asked as he held out his hand.

"A blood oath, dat so long as you be living back in Nawlins, dat de Guilds cannot touch you or your family, de feud be over. You don want to know de price of dat, but it be well worth it to see dis day finally." Jean Luc replied as he handed the locket to Remy, Jubilee's pudgy hands reaching up to grasp it.

"Non P'tite, when you older." Remy whispered as he gave her that wry grin.

"Ah turn my back on ya gal, and ya already got two handsome men fawning over ya." Rogue whispered as she leaned into the doorway, a smile on her face.

"Merde. Don do dat ta me girl." Remy said as he turned to look to his wife.

"Startle ya did ah Gumbo?" Rogue inquired, closing the distance and placing a kiss on her husbands lips, then gently took her daughter into her arms.

"Non, reminding me dat she'll be dating in de future, and knowing de mommy she has, de boys will be coming out of de woodworks." Remy replied as he sat down next to his father.

Rogue merely blushed in return, then looked down to Jubilee and pointed to Remy. "Promise me now girl, ya don't go giving your Papa any heart attacks by bringing back home any boys until your allowed ta date."

"Oui P'tite, dat be when your fourty." Remy joked.

Jubilee merely let out a gurgled stream of spittle as she scrunched her face up, her head drooping back so she could cast him a piercing gaze. Jean Luc knelted down, a smile on his face as he kissed her on the forehead, then rising.

"I should be going now. You'll have ta have me over for dinner sometime, non?" Jean Luc remarked as he gave a courtly bow to Rogue.

"Don be a stranger Papa, it been too long." Remy whispered, a pang filling his chest as his eyes grew misty, finally being allowed back in New Orleans after his long banishment, the Thieves Guild finding clout enough to work out a way after the attack.

"Oui, dat be a promise. Be well." Jean Luc replied as he made his way out the door.

Silence fell over the room, accented by the light breaths of Jubilee as she drifted off to sleep. Husband and wife looked down to Jubilee, smiling at the serene expression upon her face. Quietly they rose, returning Jubilee to her crib and then back to their bed to the warm embrace of sleep.

"It looks like the picture on the box." Bobby remarked.

"Bobby, your looking at the picture upside down." Warren remarked, correcting the picture.

"Merde." Remy replied with a quick smack to his face, then ushering the other men to flip the house right side up.

The women looked on, enjoying the shade of a weeping willow while they giggled at the sight of the men working upon the play house for Jubilee, while still too young for it, one could not find reason with men at times. The last week had been spent repairing the damage to the house, while too unpacking and enjoying the peace and quiet finally offered to them.

As the men righted the house the women clapped, raising their glasses of lemonade and toasting their final success after only spending five hours upon the task. Turning, they powed to their audience and then walked over, taking their place beside their prosective loves and finally relaxing.

"So, what does the LeBeau family plan to do now that they're settled in?" Bobby asked as he wrapped an arm about Emma, getting his hand slapped for the effort.

"I still recall the other day when you iced your entire arm Robert, you're still on probation." Emma remarked as she nudged her chair over an inch.

"Ah don know, I never really evah thought much about it, ya know, having a normal life away from the X-men. For now I'm going ta raise Jubilee, then maybe when she's older Ah'll go back ta school, finish off my high school in the eyes of Government records and them perhaps go ta college." Rogue remarked, a small smile at the idea of going to college, being surrounded by people without having to fear for their lives.

"Hey, what about you Remy, going to get back into 'De t'ieving arts'?" Bobby asked as he did a lame impression of Remy's accent.

"Non, did enough of dat in me younger years now. Got a nest egg saved up for just such an occasion as dis. Time ta sit back and enjoy all de hard work, and de tricks dat accountant I hired worked, ensuring a tidy sum of intrest upon de egg way back den." Remy remarked as a grin spread across his face, knowing the small fortune he hid away would last them for a very comfortable lifestyle until he and Rogue were both gray in hair and with grandchildren perhaps running through the halls of their new home.

"I think I could use a break from the usual hectic routine of saving the world. What about you Monet, want to buy that lovely house we saw on the way in?" Warren asked as he looked down to Monet.

"A little smaller than I am accustomed to, though it did appear rather cozy." Monet remarked, understating the size of the house.

Bobby suddenly turned to Emma, puppy dog eyes going into overdrive. Emma merely glared at him in return, content with her New York condo and the nightlife to move to New Orleans. With a quiver of Bobby's lips as he brought a misty-eyed expression to his eyes, she let out a groan of a sigh.

"Fine Mr. Drake, I shall find myself a nice summer house here, but only to allow me to be closer to my Goddaughter, and not for your utterly shameless act." Emma remarked, laughs following as Bobby gave a cheer.

As chatter filled the afternoon breeze, dreams filled the minds of those present at the LeBeau household, a fresh start for all, rewards for the trials of their lives before.