I was re-reading the first few chapters. Those are pretty rough. Might re-write. Changing up name things, cuz it's weird.

Logan stormed out of the room, stopping in the kitchen to slam his fist into the wall.

"There goes the security deposit." Jubilee remarked. Logan seemed less then amused. "What's going on?"

Logan ignored her question, per usual. "Where's X?"

Jubilee pointed upwards, signaling that Laura was at the usual place. The roof. "Pack your stuff. We're going back to Westchester." Logan growled, taking the spiral steps up two at a time before Jubilee could ask why they were leaving. Obviously something had happened, wall-punching wasn't exactly a common thing. Usually more bad-guy punching. She sighed, returning to fruitlessly trying to read the French newspaper. She glanced up as she saw Gambit slip out of the room he shared with Laura.

"What's going on?" She immediately asked him.

"Problems with Logan, petite. Nothing for you to worry about."

"He says we're going back to Westchester."

"You know Logan. He gets angry."

"X looked pretty upset."

Gambit shot her a look. "They'll figure it out." He said, successfully deflecting the question. It was easier to make it look like it was an issue with Logan and Laura. Jubilee just shrugged and returned to her newspaper. It was a pretty commonly-known fact that while Logan and Laura certainly cared about each other, they had every quality of a rocky father-daughter relationship. "Laura say anything to you?"

Jubilee snorted. "You think?" She sighed, turning the page in the newspaper. "Nah. D'you think he's actually gonna take us back to Westchester?"

Gambit shrugged. Sometimes Logan didn't follow through with his threats, but he had a feeling he would with this one. "I'll need you to take care of Laura for me."

Jubilee looked up. "Aren't you gonna come back with us?"

"Nah. I got business."

Jubilee raised an eyebrow. "Sounds honest."

Gambit smirked. "Ain't it always?"

Jubilee rolled her eyes at that, grinning despite herself. "Hey, what does trops de chats mean?"

"What are you reading?" Gambit walked over to her to read the newspaper over her shoulder. He began explaining to her the gist of the article, but noticed she was distracted. "Where's your mind, petite?"

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Jubilee nodded at the staircase, referring to the two on the roof.

Gambit paused for a moment. "They usually are." He finally answered. Jubilee looked unsatisfied with his response, but returned to the newspaper as they both pretended to care what it said.

Laura smelled Logan before she saw him. She continued to look out over the city as he sat down beside her, mimicking the way they'd sat the first night he'd showed up.

"Listen, kid-"

"I am not a child." She said sharply.

"Don' matter. What you and Gambit are doing, it ain't right."

"I have nightmares." She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "He makes it better."

"X, a girl your age and a man... don't matter the intentions, it ain't good. Sooner or later, it becomes a problem."

"It is not a problem."

"It will be. I'm taking you back to Westchester."

She looked up so quickly her neck cracked. The was a mixture of alarm and anguish on her face. "I do not want to."

"I don't think you're ready for this. You gotta work on your judgement."

"You are punishing me."

"I'm keepin' you from doing something stupid."

"I did nothing wrong."

"That's the problem. You don't think it's wrong."

"I can make my own decisions! They are mine to make!"

"Christ, X." Logan said sharply, standing up. He walked a few feet away from her, seemingly intending to leave. He stood there for a second, looking at the part of the city that Laura had her back to. "I don't want-" He swallowed. "I don't want more men takin' advantage of you, X. I can't have that." She didn't respond. Logan turned to look at her, and she continued to look at the lights of Paris spread before them. "...We're leaving tonight. Pack your stuff." She didn't say anything to that either. Logan glanced at the sky. "Better come inside soon. Looks like it's gonna rain." With that, he headed back down the stairs. He wasn't afraid She would run off. While she generally did as she pleased, he knew that she would almost always do as he asked. Laura tilted her head back as the first drops of rain began to hit her face.

Going back to Westchester was agony for Laura.

She'd escaped on purpose, running away because she couldn't stand the mansion anymore. She couldn't stand the students or the teachers. She couldn't stand the way they whispered about her when she wasn't there, and then looked at her with a mixture of pity and fear when she was. She could practically feel the hatred radiating off of Emma Frost when they were near each other, memories of Emma's twisted mind games jumping back to the forefront of her mind.

When she left, she felt free. She was not tied down, physically or mentally. The answers were out there, and she was free to pursue them as she pleased. That is, until Wolverine saw the wrong thing and she was on a plane back to Westchester, curled up in the window seat, Logan sandwiched between her and Jubilee. Laura had done as Logan had told her. She'd packed up her things, silently confused and angry and hurt. When Logan told her it was time to leave, she didn't even get to properly say goodbye to Gambit. They'd hugged, briefly, breaking apart when Logan cleared his throat. "Be good, chere. I'll see you." Gambit had murmured to her before pulling away, his black and red eyes giving away nothing. He hadn't told her when or where he'd next see her, and she knew it was because he didn't know either.

On the plane, Laura rested her forehead against the window, her closed. She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped, whipping her head around, but it was just Logan. "You okay?" He asked her, and Jubilee was looking at her too.

"I was sleeping." She lied, turning again to resume her previous position. Logan didn't bother her after that. Her thoughts drifted back to Gambit, somewhere in Paris, probably in a cafe shuffling cards. Normally he would be chatting animatedly to her, narrating his shuffling. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to think of Gambit as lonely. Maybe he'd already forgotten about her. Maybe he was glad to be rid of her and her claws and her poisonous moods. She was dangerous. She was a weapon.

They never fought. Not really. Not like she and Logan did. She and Gambit fought once after they had tried and failed to rescue Indi, when they'd finally made it to a hotel. Gambit had seemed unbothered by the mission as a whole, even laying back and relaxing in the tiny boat, gazing up at the stars. She should've known it bothered him. He'd gotten angry later, a glass of minibar bourbon in his stomach and another in his hand, telling her off for attacking without having a plan first. At the time she thought it was because he was angry that Indi had been killed, that they failed at their task. She realized now that he had simply been scared of her being hurt. They had no idea what the pirates had, he'd told her. They could've had the place rigged to explode. They could have had lookouts. Laura had defended herself at first, telling him that she was impossible to kill, that they'd made it out alive anyways. Their argument escalated until Gambit shouted at her that she had no idea what she was talking about. He said that when she had somebody she was responsible for, she'd understand. Laura didn't know how to respond to that. She sat in silence. Gambit poured himself another drink.

He'd apologized later that night, his forehead resting on the lid of the toilet seat. She sat beside him with a glass of water. He made a joke about her holding back his hair, snorting at the dubious expression on her face, unsure if he was kidding or not.

At some point, Laura must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew the pilot was wishing them a good visit to New York over the intercom, and Logan was elbowing her, telling her to get up. She felt groggy and dried-out. It was 8pm in New York. Storm picked them up at the airport, briefly hugging Laura and Jubilee in greeting, and giving Logan a light peck on the cheek. Laura wondered how much she knew. She looked at Logan as he shoved their bags into the trunk, but he didn't tell her anything besides to stop dilly-dallying and get her ass in the car. Logan got in the front with Ororo, and Laura scooted into the back with Jubilee. She could feel Jubilee trying to catch her eye, but ignored her, electing instead to look out the window at the scenery that got more and more familiar as the approached the school.

Ororo and Logan chatted quietly as they drove, and Laura dozed, still sleepy from the flight. It was more comfortable to remain half-asleep and not have to think about where she was going. She thought she heard Ororo ask about her, but Logan responded with some kind of noncommittal grunt. Laura was eventually startled fully awake by the engine shutting off. She looked out the window at the school that she was so sure she had finally escaped a few months prior. It hadn't really hit her that she was coming back to Westchester until this point.

Paris and Gambit and freedom had never seemed further away.

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