Shadows Of Thought

The space in the center of Jean’s brow wrinkled in concern and she shook her head. “No Serena, I don't know what you saw,” Jean said. Gambit brought her her glass of water with a straw in it. “Drink this Cherie Mwen,” he said softly and let her drink some water. He also broke off a piece of cookie and fed that to her as well. To her surprise those things did help like he knew what he was doing. The fluids and the sugar settled her stomach almost instantly and her awareness began to level out.

Now that she seemed to be alright everyone dispersed and went back to their meals. “It seemed as soon as you two shook hands, you fell back. You hit the floor but not hard, Jean had a good grip on you,” Gambit said. “Do you think it was a vision of the past or the future? Because last time I checked, Stark Tower was still there,” Scott said.

Serena gratefully accepted the glass of water and drank some and then ate a bit of the cookie. It did help, although she was still a little shaky. She let Gambit help her to her feet and then she sat back down at the table. The vision remained in her head however and she grew concerned about what it might actually be.

"I...I think it was a vision of the future...or perhaps a possible future. I know it sounds strange, but I swear somewhere in the back of my brain I feel like...I feel like I've seen what I saw before."

“Well that...sounds pretty bleak Serena. I think your scaring the natives...maybe we shouldn’t talk about this here,” Gambit said diplomatically as he took a look around. “Scott, could you bring Jean to Charles office? I think we all need to have a little chat,” he said and Scott agreed.

Charles was grading papers when they all filed into his office. He looked up and smIled but his smile faded when he saw the looks on their faces. Gambit closed the door behind him.

“Ok Serena, tell him what you told us,” he said.

Serena walked with Gambit, Scott, and Jean down to Charles' office. Once the door was closed she explained to him what had happened when she and Jean had touched. She explained in as much detail as she could everything she saw.

"But it's not just that. It...it was like I had seen it all before. It's just this feeling I got. But I don't know how that would even be possible."

Charles sighed. All of his efforts to keep this all a secret and it was his hope that they could do what they needed to do to change the future. Or a possible future anyway.

“I had wanted to hold off on this conversation. Serena, Scott, will you all agree, will you all agree to hold off on this and keep Silent of what you know until after we help Peter?” He asked.

Serena could immediately see from the look on Charles' face that he knew something. For some reason that didn't entirely surprise her. However, she did glance at Gambit, who at the same time glanced at her, before looking back at Charles.

"I'll agree to that."

“Very well, then get some rest, you all have a mission in the morning,” he said.

Back at the room Gambit stood just at the doorway. When Serena looked back at him he looked at her as if he were thinking something over. “Beyond love I do think we make a good mix...a good team Serena. I like it here but I liked being at the tower as well. But with you I loved being at both places. Here and the tower. You are the key to happiness for me Serena. I just wanted you to know that,” he said. “Now...get some sleep, god knows how long we’ll be out tomorrow,” he said.

Despite knowing that she needed sleep, sleep did not come easily for her. Her thoughts and dreams were plagued by those images of New York City in ruins...of Peter in that black suit...and by Gambit's last words to her tonight. Finally, she just got up, well before everyone else, and she got dressed. She pulled her hair back into a sleek ponytail to keep it out of her face and picked up her suit before heading to the cafeteria. She made some coffee and then just sat there alone at a table thinking about everything. She didn't know what was going to happen today, but she needed to help Peter. She would not be able to live with herself if he did not come out of this alright. She would blame herself for not having tried harder in the beginning to get that suit away from him. She sighed and looked down at her coffee cup. It had been steaming just a minute ago, but now it was almost cold. She glanced at the watch on her gauntlets and realized that she had been staring off into space for almost 20 minutes. She sighed and got up and went to go re-heat her cup.