Title: Dark Gambit

Genre: Romance/Drama/Angst

Pairing: Logan (Wolverine) x Remy (Gambit)

Series: X-Men 1993 Cartoon Series. Phoenix Saga.

Warnings: Spoilers. Fluff. Angst. Language. Perhaps some OOC-ness from both characters. I think that is about it. I will let you know at the beginning of each chapter if there is anything more that I need to add onto the list.

Overall Story Rating: Mature. I'm sure something will come up that will make it mature. Maybe the epilogue. XD

Author's Notes: I have to say---the Phoenix Saga is one of my favorite sagas in the entire X-Men Universe. I have not yet read it in the comics, I've only seen it in the 1993 cartoon series. I am not a fan of Jean's character, but I do like her as the Phoenix. If you have not seen it, I definitely recommend it. So, after I was done watching it, I literally sat and just thought, "What would it be like if Gambit was the one possessed by the Phoenix, instead of Jean?" Thus, a new fan fiction was born. I will be using the cartoon for reference, so some of the dialogue might be from the episodes.

But since Wolverine is going to be taking the place of the worrisome Cyclops, the dialogue will be changed since he is…not as soft as Scott is. And, since Gambit is Cajun/French, Jean's dialogue won't be the same either. I will try and switch it around as much as I can. I will be incorporating some of the scenes from the show in this story. The first few chapters are all me though. So the entire plotline from the Phoenix saga in the cartoon is going to be the same, Jean is just going to be replaced by Gambit, and Scott by Wolverine. Gambit is a powerful mutant---so why wouldn't Phoenix want to inhabit his body, hm? So, I am going to write a story where Phoenix took over his body instead of Jeans. I would really appreciate some positive feedback because I really am looking forward to writing this story. I hope everyone likes it! If you don't, please refrain from leaving flames and just click the back arrow on your browser window, okay? XD Thanks!

Dark Gambit - Prologue

One moment he was flying.

The next he was immersed underwater.

Crashing into the cold water of the Atlantic was what brought Remy back to reality. The flames were extinguished, and now he felt completely useless. He knew he was drowning, but even so, his legs couldn't find the strength to kick him up to the surface to breathe. He was afraid of opening his eyes, for fear of seeing just how far he was from salvation. His lungs were tightening with every second that passed, throat constricting with the need to intake oxygen. He was so deprived of that luxury that he could barely think straight, so much that he couldn't even think of how to save his own life.

Gradually, his weakened body unhurriedly floated up to the surface of the water. His lids slowly parted, looking up, heart swelling when he saw just how close he was to his own rescue. Though, he doubted if he would be able to hold on to his conscience long enough to make it. The pressure in his head wore off greatly, giving him hope that his body would refuse to give up on him. As he continued to ascend, the sound of waves crashing against a nearby cliff were echoing in his ears; more so when he broke the surface. Remy sputtered as he was finally exposed to the air, reaching around to grab onto anything he could get his hands on.

When the tips of his fingers brushed a rock, he reluctantly inched closer. He forced himself to pull his body up on the rock, not caring how weak his muscles were. As if it wasn't enough that he was suffering, a wave crashed into him and resulted in him toppling over onto the hard stone, but not losing grip. Remy didn't bother to attempt to sit up as he violently coughed up loads of water that had been trapped in his lungs, head throbbing with each individual heave. Once the tremors were over, he clenched his eyes shut. He didn't know where he was, nor did he know if anyone else did.

He'd never felt so close to death. But there was something in the back of his mind that refused to let his body shut down, even though that something got him into this whole situation. Not even he could explain what was going on, because he was still trying to piece it together himself. Remy had gone from feeling so unbelievably alive, veins coursing with unimaginable power, to feeling utterly weak and fragile. He wasn't going to say that he missed the feeling…

It scared him.

There were now two reasons why he feared for his life.

One of them was hiding in his subconscious mind.

"Where is he?!"

Wolverine slammed his fists angrily down on the control console in front of him, making a fellow teammate beside him jump in surprise. Beast, as well as everyone else present on the Black Bird, had been listening to Wolverine's hysterics for going on a half hour. Each of them feared what Wolverine might end up doing if they didn't find his lover---and soon. No more than an hour ago, they had received the coordinates that would lead them to Remy. Within the minutes that Beast had access to them, they vanished. Remy's movements were so unexplainably erratic that Beast was having a hard time pinpointing an exact location. "I wish I had an answer for you, Logan. I am doing my best to re-locate him. We just have to have a little bit of patience."

Wolverine snarled and stood up from the co-pilots chair, fingers curling into fists. "He couldn't have just disappeared like that!" He was having a hard time trying to figure it out for himself. Something must've been wrong with the X-Jet's coordinate system. The first coordinates they received led them twenty thousand feet in the air, and then alarmingly plummeted down until the signal was absent. The only explanation Beast could think of was that Remy had plunged into the ocean, and was now so deep underwater that he was irretrievable.

"I do not understand it either." Beast added quietly and kept slowly flying the plane a couple hundred feet over the surface of the ocean. "It is very strange. Very strange indeed." It was very unlikely that the X-Jet gave an inaccurate reading, but he wasn't going to discard the possibility. The X-Jet WAS still capable of malfunctioning nonetheless. But if that was the case, it would be impossible to find Remy. He could be anywhere in the wide expanse of ocean, and trying to locate him would be liking trying to find a needle in a haystack. A very large haystack. Remy's com-badge wasn't functional either; that was another reason to worry.

Wolverine looked down at the steel floor for a long time before he finally turned around to walk to the back of the Black Bird. The team (which consisted of Cyclops, Jean, Rogue, Jubilee, and Storm) all frowned and watched Wolverine as he passed by them. Jubilee hated seeing Wolverine like this. He was usually stronger than all the rest of them, and when he was reduced to this, it made everyone else upset. "Rogue..?" She started and looked over at the brunette. "Do you think Gambit is alright?"

Rogue sighed lightly before she responded. "I sure do hope so, hun. Remy means a lot to `em and I don't think I would be able to stand seein' him upset. Remy means somethin' to all of us…" She paused and turned to look at the young girl. "But to Logan he's everythin'." Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of Wolverine losing the one he loved--again. It had happened far too many times in that mans life.

Jubilee lowered her eyelids and looked over her shoulder at Wolverine, who was sitting in one of the vacant chairs towards the back of the Black Bird. "I don't know if talking to him will help…" She mused, looking for a response from the woman sitting next to her.

"You could give it a try. It might help more than you think, shuga."

Jubilee nodded and got up from her chair, cautiously walking over to her adoptive-father. "Wolvie?" came her soft voice, afraid of him just telling her to go away or that he doesn't need any consoling. When he didn't say anything in return, she took the initiative to sit down in the seat next to him. "We'll find Gambit. I know we will."

Wolverine sighed and didn't flinch as she rest a gloved hand on his upper back. "I sure hope so, Jubes. It just doesn't make any sense to me…how could we not have found `em yet?" His tone was filled with hurt, slowly ebbing into anger. But he knew to control it as best as he could manage, especially around her.

"I don't know---but I am sure we will find him soon!" Jubilee tried to be more optimistic about it, but her enthusiasm was short lived when Wolverine didn't show any sign of altering his mood. It seemed nothing she could do could pull him out of his current depression. "You'll see."

"Yeah…I hope so." It wasn't often that Wolverine looked on the bright side of things. He knew he could always depend on Jubilee to encourage him to see a ray of hope in even the most miserable situations.

She hugged him briefly before giving a warm smile. "I'm gonna go up there with Beast, okay?"

He nodded after returning the hug and then leant back in his chair. "Don't know how much fun you'll have up there."

Jubilee laughed before she sauntered up to sit in the empty co-pilots chair.

"Logan?" Beast called to the back of the X-Jet. "I have just received information about Remy's whereabouts. I believe I may have finally located him." He did his best to hide the excitement in his voice, but it was nearly impossible when all of them had thought Remy was lost for good. It was an immense relief that he was nearby. He lowered the planes altitude until they were hovering a safe distance above the water.

Wolverine immediately got up from his chair and looked out the window, eyes scanning the surface of the ocean and the various rocks scattered along the bottom of a cliff. And sure enough, he spotted someone lying motionless on one of the stones, which was without a doubt Remy. "There!" Jubilee pointed out the window. "He's down there!" A wide smile spread across her face as she hugged the blue mutant. "Great job Beast! See, Wolvie? I told you we'd find him!"

Beast chuckled and glanced over his shoulder at Rogue, who nodded. Beast lowered the gangway and Rogue flew out to go retrieve Remy. Wolverine then quickly walked over to where the brunette would have to come flying through to get back on the plane, eagerly wanting to hold his love. He had been worried sick these past few hours, and there was no way he was ever going to let Remy out of his sight again, even though that was probably stretching it a little too far. Storm had a hand over her heart and thanked the Goddess that her brother was alright.

Within moments, Rogue flew back up and Beast raised the gangway so that the entrance was now sealed shut. Remy lay limp, but conscious in the woman's arms. Wolverine was glad to see that he was breathing and seemingly okay. He didn't appear to have any physical wounds, but he clearly showed exhaustion. "Remy--!" Wolverine went to retrieve him from Rogue's arms, but Rogue took him over to one of the beds in the medical wing of the X-Jet. Wolverine growled at this, baring his sharp canines.

"He's gotta lay down! Jean---would ya mind takin' a look at---!" Rogue started but her words halted when she felt a warm hand wrap around her wrist.

"Non, chere. Remy's fine." Those piercing red-on-black eyes looked up at her, followed by a reassuring smile. "Don't need to be checked out."

Rogue frowned. "Alright, if ya say so shuga. Let me just get ya a blanket. Don't know how long ya been laying out there---sure enough that water can't be warm." If his clothes were completely soaked by the cold water, she was surprised he wasn't sick. There was no discoloration to his skin, which was a good sign that it would probably stay that way. She reached into an overhead bin and pulled out a soft, cotton blanket and laid it over Remy. "Ya need anything I will just be right over there, okay?"

"Oui, chere. But I t'ink Logan's got it handled from here." Remy smiled as Wolverine walked up behind the brunette and nodded, Rogue taking that as a cue to leave. "Hello, Logan." His smile only widened when Wolverine's gloved hand took his own bare one.

Wolverine took a seat on the edge of the bed and removed his mask, fully exposing his face for his beloved Cajun. Worry was still present on his features, as well as relief. "Hey, darlin'." he replied, letting his thumb trail slowly over Remy's knuckles. "Don't ya ever…and I mean ever make me worry like that again. Or I might just have to kill ya myself."

Remy mustered a weak chuckle and looked up fondly at his lover. "Jus' as long as I'm dyin' by y' hands, cher."

Wolverine smirked in response and leaned down, their faces a mere few inches apart. "I see ya still managed to keep track of this…" he lifted Remy's hand to eye level and a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. A gold band was on the man's ring finger, and Logan had one to match (it was currently hidden under his glove). Even though they couldn't legally get married, this symbolized their relationship on a whole other level. Logan had come to realize that Remy was the most significant thing in his life and he would be absolutely nothing without him. This was his way of bonding them together, as marriage would for a man and a woman.

"O' course. I promised myself dat I would neva again lose da t'ings dat are most important to me." Remy eyed the ring and smiled. When Logan gave it to him, it came as a big surprise. He'd never expected Logan to be that type of person, but behind closed doors, Logan was very much into romance. That was something Remy didn't have any problem with. Though, sometimes he didn't mind the animal that he was. "Dis is no exception."

Wolverine closed the gap between their lips, still keeping a firm hold on Remy's hand. Despite the fact that they were only separated for a few hours, it might as well have been an eternity. This had been the worst few hours of Logan's entire relationship with Remy. Not knowing if the one you love is okay or not is the most heart-wrenching feeling in the world. "So…" Wolverine started once the kiss ended. "What happened to ya?"

Remy frowned. "I don't know. I wish I could tell y', cher." That was the truth. He couldn't even begin to explain what happened. It was still a mystery to him. "I was in da air…and da next t'ing I knew I was drownin'. Managed to get up to da surface in time. Den I just reached for da thing nearest to me and stayed dere…couple hours later y' guys showed up."

"I'm sorry it wasn't sooner." Wolverine whispered against his lips and furrowed his brows. He was angry that he made Remy wait so long for him to come to his rescue. "But I'm just glad yer alright." Wrapping the blanket around Remy a bit tighter, he kissed his forehead.

Remy closed his eyes and sighed. "Oui…I'm fine."

-End of Prologue-

Author's Notes: Holy. Crap. I seriously must have rewritten this chapter ten times in the past week! Every night for the past week---I vowed that I would finish this Prologue and it never happened! XD Now, I am so glad that I finally finished it. The first few drafts were half as long as the final outcome. I am going to make these chapters a bit longer than the length I normally make the chapters of my stories. Of course, even if this chapter seems short, remember it is just a prologue. Hopefully, I will be able to make them longer in the ACTUAL chapters. I'm sure I will manage it somehow. In the meantime, positive reviews are much appreciated. This prologue as well as the first three chapters are entirely made up by me, and chapter four it where it starts to pick up on the Phoenix Saga storyline. Thanks for reading!

P.S. Never again…will I write a Prologue. XD It was by far---the hardest thing I have ever had to write! I have never started over so many times on one document. Maybe it was because I hadn't outlined it beforehand and pretty much just went with the flow. Who knows? I'm just glad I got it done.