The water shifted and moved while Gambit watched, becoming a thing of living currents. The water had just begun to take on a bloody red cast when he stopped pacing and made his decision, diving into the water.

Callie looked up, confused when she felt the water shift and begin to swirl around her in the opposite direction. This was a pond, with no tributaries connecting it to any other waterways. It should've taken longer than this for the undines to locate the distress call and answer her query.

She groaned mentally, watching a solid figure materialize to her left as the waters calmed. Damn it, Gambit.

She felt heat waves rolling up from the floor of the pond just as Gambit brushed against her. He floated in front of her for a moment, confused because he could feel the heat that came from virtually nowhere. He looked to her for answers. She arched an eyebrow and did nothing. There was no way she was about to spill the secrets of the Elements to some arrogant, idiot mortal.

The water thickened to a molten, glittering substance. Celeste's body adjusted automatically to change, but Remy had no such advantage. The water pressure had just begun to increase when Gambit ran out of air. He pushed away and began to swim for the surface. Callie shrieked and pulled him back to her. If he went to the surface while the Elements were present, he might get lifted from the water and suspended in a vortex. He would end up floating between the Elements and forfeit everything he was. For a being without an Element is nothing, neither fire or flesh, spirt nor substance. All mortals, whether they knew it or not, were servants of the Salamanders, the elementals of Earth. Adam was supposedly fashioned in God's image from dust. That was about the only thing the story had managed to get right.

But mortals need air, and Remy was fighting her in earnest. #You owe me.# she whispered before pulling his head down to hers. She sealed their lips together and felt him suck oxygen from her lungs as their world shifted around them. When he had calmed down, reasonably sure he wasn't going to drown, she continued to rage at him. #That was really stupid, Remy. I hope you're happy. You coulda been killed.#

He didn't miss a trick. He shifted his lips over hers and replied. #What a way to go.#

#You're not going to get off scot-free, Gambit. The undines have a peculiar fetish for mortals. If they see you and decide they want you in exchange for helping me, don't think some pitiful friendship with Logan is going to make me spare you. On second thought, it's probably a *good* thing you're not naked.#

#You findin' it hard to resist?#

She projected an evil smile. #Nah. Let's just say they like to play with their food before they eat it. Sometimes they like it in bite-sized pieces, too.#

#Ugh. I'm feelin' sick.#

#If you throw up, I swear they'll never find the body.#

The water pressure surged with alarming force, and Celeste's eyes went wide. Her body screamed in pain with the abrupt change, and Gambit convulsed. She prayed for deliverance and flashed her aura for the first time since she had taken the Power when she was three years old. The brilliant indigo light cut through the water like a burning star, and Gambit shut his eyes against it. But his body accepted the gift, and for a moment in time, they were no longer an Elemental queen and an (idiot) mortal. They were one and the same. . . .

Celeste opened her eyes, unsure of how much time had passed. Gambit, the leech, was falling asleep against her. Something was wrong, that was sure. The undines should have made it by now. There hadn't been so much as a whisper from above. Her questions were still unanswered.

Just to keep him on his toes, she lifted her mouth from his, making a loud pop as the vacuum was broken. His eyes went wide as he inhaled a lungful of salty water. He grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling his mouth to hers with desperate insistence.

She let him have her lips. #Something's wrong. We have to go up and see what's happening.#

#How long have we been down here, chere?#

#That's the problem.#

He took a final pull of oxygen and lifted his mouth off of hers. They looked into each other's eyes and nodded grimly. Celeste checked the direction of the air bubbles, just to be sure. She swam in their direction and felt Gambit make a blind grab for her ankle.

It took quite some time for them to reach the surface. The consistency of the water was, well, nothing like water. More like quicksand. They broke the surface and flung their heads up to the night sky. After they had reached the shore and pulled themselves free, Celeste looked around. The dark form of the mansion stood in the distance, the trees were green and tall around them, her clothes were exactly where she had left them. Nothing had changed.

"I just don't understand. They would have answered me, they would have said *something*, or left some sign."

"I dunno, chere. Have you done anyt'ing to piss dem off?"

She shook her head, "Not lately." She took a few steps forward, scanning the area. Everything was normal. Perfectly normal. Why, then, could she feel the guillotine blade poised to drop?

"Chere?" Gambit was staring at her more intensely than usual. "What's dat on your neck?"

"Sir? The male has spotted the device in the female's neck."

"It's about time they regained consciousness. They were most difficult to fish out of that damned lake, what with my Marauders constantly worrying that the X-men would launch a surprise attack," the man smirked coldly, "We managed to steal their people right off their own property. Well. LeBeau still manages to surprise me sometimes. Flip the switch. That chamber is perfectly designed to her. She'll die without sensation, without any senses. It will be interesting to see if they turn on each other. I wonder how long it will take. . . ."

"Yes, Sir." The lab technician flinched under the hard red gaze of his employer and flipped the switch.

Celeste screamed as the landscape in front of her flickered and went black. She could feel nothing under her feet, although she remained standing. There was nothing around her, nothing to see, hear, smell, touch. There was endless, shapeless blackness and nothing else. Celeste frantically called upon something, anything, to help. There was nothing. She couldn't form so much as a spark to light the darkness. "My powers!" she shrieked, "Oh, God." She cried out and sank to her knees, stumbling to her feet when she made contact with no floor. She reached inside herself, pulling at the shreds of her aura as it retreated from the hateful, black emptiness encroaching upon it. It slipped free of her and disappeared.

"Ga-Gambit?!"

"Right here, fille."

She turned toward the sound of his voice. It came from all corners of the room, taunting her with its very presence. "Where?!"

"Walk forward."

She did as he asked, slipping and sliding on the anti-floor. "Can you see me?"

"Yeh, a little."

"Why can't I see you?"

"Don' know. Neh, chere, to your left." he sighed, "Your ot'er left, girl. I think it's 'cause I'm not de subject o' dis experiment."

"Who--?" she asked and then sucked in her breath as she fell over him. He slid his hands up around her hips as she sprawled inelegantly on the. . .floor. She reached frantically for his hands and held on tightly as he drew her across his lap. Her thighs clamped around his hips like a vice grip, and he grunted. "Ouch, fille. Relax. Gambit here wit' you. We figure somet'in out, hein?"

Celeste reached for him, the only solid thing in her universe. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. "Who did this?"

"T'ink 'bout it, pichouette," he muttered, "name one person you know like t'play mind-fuck wit' people, implantin' psi-dampeners in dere bodies," he stroked the lump on the side of her neck with one finger, "and stickin' 'em in sensory deprivation chambers."

She began to shudder uncontrollably, telling him she knew the answer to that.

"Oh, God. I lost control," she wept, "That was it. With you there, I kept having to switch elements and give you Air. I flashed my aura and we passed out, and *bam!* Sinister and his little cockroaches moved in. I lost control," she wailed, angrily clenching her fists--and digging her nails into Gambit's back. "Soamna Thepis. Even in death, the bastard comes back to hunt me down. He must have gotten Sinister's attention with his little progress reports. And when he heard I was back in the area, he just couldn't resist. . . ."

She dissolved into hot, rage-filled tears that dripped from the ridges of her cheekbones and down his chest. "God damn it to bloody fucking hell!"

"You said it, pichouette."

Absently rubbing her face against his shirt for reassurance, she glanced down at herself and froze. "I'm naked."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," his voice sounded half-strangled.

She risked a glance at his face and saw that his expression was decidedly strained. Mirth bubbled up from some perverse part of her, and she burst out laughing. It felt so good to laugh; she needed to laugh. It didn't take long for Gambit to join in, meanwhile slipping off his t-shirt and handing it to her. For a long moment, the only sound was their laughter, fending off the void of nothingness.

"Sir? They're. . .well, they're laughing."

"Really?" Essex drawled. "How. . .unusual. I don't remember having anyone do that before. Perhaps this is the first sign of mental deterioration. Keep a close watch and report any new development. This looks like a disappointingly short venture."

"Yes, Sir."

Their laughter died away, and the silence oozed forward to greet them again. Callie spoke up quickly, "I'm sorry I got you into this," she whispered, pressing her face into the curve of his shoulder, her breath fanning his neck.

"I like it dis way, fille. Gambit wouldn' want you t'be here 'lone, anyway."

"Thank you," she whispered, glancing up at him with the eyes of a vulnerable woman. She continued in a louder voice. "Thanks for the shirt, Gumbie."

"What'd you call me?!"

She grinned. "Just seein' if you're payin' attention."

"Pichouette, you are first on m'mind at de moment."

"Oh?" She lifted her head and wagged her eyebrows at him. "Really?" She shifted her hips.

"If you got any sense a'tall, y'won't do dat agin." He forced the words through clenched teeth.

"Why not?"

"Do you really wanna know de answer?"

"Nope. I already know." she pressed herself even more firmly against him. Her lips touched his throat, and she moved up to his ears. As she bit into the sensitive lobe, she challenged, " 'Zis turnin' you on, Cajun?"

He wasn't moving, breathing, even blinking. He sat rigid under her ministrations, finally forcing "No" through tight lips, fully aware that he was going to burn in Hell for lies like that. "We shouldn' be doin' dis, chere," and then he sucked in his breath as her hands drifted down his back.

"Why not?"

He gave a wheezing cough that was probably meant to be a laugh as Callie started toying with his fly. Why de hell not, indeed? " 'Cause, fille, if Logan ever foun' out he'd slice off my head. Both of 'em."

Her laugh was a husky purr. "You jus' said the magic word, babe. *If*."

If. The word hung before him like the keys to the Forbidden City. Literally. For a long moment, he made a list of why he shouldn't do what he might be about to do. It was a very long list. Then he made a mental list of why it was okay to go ahead and do what he wanted to do. There were two on that list.

1. Because he wanted to. He really, really, really wanted to.

2. Because she wanted him to. She really, really, really wanted him to.

Callie hung there, perched on the seat of indecision. For a moment, she saw it all so clearly; exactly how much like her mother she really was. Illyana Veritas, the "Sovereign Slut". Then she realized she didn't give a damn.

Gambit pushed her back, and she stiffened when she hit the floor without there being anything solid beneath her. He understood and rolled over, offering himself for her to lay on. They kissed and touched, and his mouth opened under the pressure of hers. She slid her hands up his slim stomach and through his hair. He did the same, for the first time realizing how heavy and thick it was. That small, personal knowledge made him feel ridiculously pleased.

"You're going to know lots more about me before we get done." she murmured, pressing her lips to the base of his throat. Gambit shuddered, thinking that he must have said something out loud. And then all thoughts became mangled, half-human exclamations of pleasure as she unzipped his fly and stroked the hot skin concealed by the denim. . . .