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shadowphoenixrider · 29 days

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The Rescue Gambit (1/5) Meet the Team

(When Gambit's solo mission goes terribly wrong and the rest of the X-men aren't available to bail him out, Shadow turns to some old friends to mount a rescue mission. Shenanigans ensue.)

(Welcome to this monster of a fic, the longest I have ever written in my life (14K in total, give or take). Thankfully for you, dear reader, this is split into parts! Who knew writing a silly little rescue fic with my friends' characters would turn into this. Regardless, enjoy!)

Shadow strode down the street, weaving past people with single-minded determination. Her destination was a small, non-descript cafe on the corner of a city street, and she pushed her way inside.

The cafe’s atmosphere reflected the more relaxed area of the city; only a couple of patrons taking up the wooden tables and chairs as they sipped their beverages, and the person behind the counter only barely glanced up at the new arrival into their establishment.

Shadow’s eyes wandered over the room until she spotted a group of men and a woman gathered around one of the larger tables by the window, three of the gents on the hard chairs and the woman and other man in the plush cushioned seats backing up against the glass, supplying most of the noise with their chatter.

She grinned broadly, and headed towards them.

One of the men saw her first, large and bald with a neatly braided brown beard, and he threw his arms wide, beaming widely.

“Shadow!” He cried in his rich Geordie accent, and the others’ heads immediately whipped around to see her approaching.

A chorus of greetings went up as they rose out of their chairs and stumbled out from behind the table towards her, taking it in turns to wrap her up in a hug.

The first was Ber, a large Polish man whose true name was beyond the English speakers' ability to pronounce, as much as they tried. He shared a similar build to the man who had spotted her; a large, five foot nine man with soft features and body, bald except for his neatly trimmed dark brown beard and icy blue-grey eyes. He was clad in a light brown jacket over a pink top with the picture of a grinning, winking demon over the text of ‘SMILE MORE!’, soft grey tracksuit bottoms and well-worn green trekking boots. He hugged her close and yet with an endless gentleness that befitted the animal his name was related to.

Myst was second, a more wiry fellow of five foot six, with short brunette hair that was also trimmed short in a beard and moustache and darker brown eyes. A dark shirt and jeans, a shield with a grey-ish purple skull and crossbones printed on the former, with a teal zip jacket overtop was his clothing ensemble, and he gave Shadow a cheeky grin, eyes darting to the side just to check no-one had followed her.

Lemming, the man who had seen her first, gleefully swept her up into his embrace almost as soon as Myst had stepped away. His hazel brown eyes, sequestered behind his rectangular glasses, sparked with excitement, his grin wide and crooked, wearing a black shirt proudly displaying the logo of a local metal band. This was overtop of black cargo pants and equally dark coloured trainers. He was the tallest of the group, at five foot eleven.

Drifting came next, smiling serenely as she stepped up to the smaller woman. She, like all the others, stood taller than Shadow at five foot seven, with bright green eyes and gorgeous long wine-red hair, wearing an asymmetrical halter top of white and green on top of black jeans. There was a brief hesitation before she embraced Shadow too, which Shadow warmly returned.

And then last, but certainly not least, came Shadow’s adoptive brother and the only one of the group she could look directly in the eyes: Ebak. He strolled up to her casually, his cheeky, knowing smile on his face, reflected in eyes so dark brown many mistook them for black. His long curly ginger hair was tied back in a ponytail, a scruffy stubble over his cheeks and chin whilst a childhood scar slashed through his thick right eyebrow. He wore a button-up green and grey varsity-like hoodie over a black shirt displaying the red targeting computer from the first Star Wars movie, along with blue jeans. The short, stocky man opened his arms widely, gathering his sister up in a tight embrace.

“It’s good to see you again.” Ebak spoke as he pulled away, his accent rich and soft around the words.

“We’ve missed you!” Ber added from close by.

“I’ve missed you all too.” Shadow smiled, her heart feeling so swollen it threatened to burst out of her chest. She took a breath to hold back the tears threatening to well up in her eyes. “I’m sorry I’ve not managed to see you guys again before today. Things have been…complicated.”

“So I hear.” Lemming replied, leaning back in his seat.

“Yeah, I was wondering what happened to you after you suddenly stopped turning up at the hospital.” Drifting commented, as the rest all took their chairs again. Shadow slipped into the empty spot in the window beside her and Lemming, sighing.

“It’s a long story.” Shadow admitted. “But the short version is someone got me suspended on the 'suspicion’ of being a mutant - a suspension that’s still in place, by the way - and then I went and got myself involved in a fight between a Friends of Humanity weirdo and the X-Men. The latter of which took me in to their place to keep me safe from retaliation, which is why I haven’t exactly been present until now.”

“Wait, hold up.” Myst held his hands up. “You’ve been living with the X-Men this whole time?!”

“Technically still am.” Shadow added.

“What?!” Multiple people exclaimed, except for Ebak, who just listened calmly. Myst turned to him, narrowing his eyes.

“You knew already, didn’t you?”

Ebak shrugged nonchalantly.

“She called me a couple of days back to tell me what was happening. Which was good, because I was juust about to go and have a look around the place myself.” He eyed Shadow, arching his scarred eyebrow.

“Which was what I was afraid of.” She replied, folding her arms. “The last thing I want is my brother coming face to face with Wolverine and having to work out how to un-fillet him. As you can imagine, I've not really had the experience re-attaching limbs!" Ebak waved his hand dismissively.

“I’m glad they’ve been keeping you safe.” Ber said, his voice gentle and reaching across the table towards her. “I was worried about you.”

“I know.” Shadow smiled weakly, squeezing his hand. “I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet about it. We’re pretty sure any time those thugs would kick off is long past, though.”

“Let’s hope so.” Drifting commented. “But, correct me if I’m wrong, but you have a reason for calling us all here, right? I’m pretty sure hanging out with your friends involves less panicked 'hey can you meet at Leon’s as soon as you can, please?’ messages.”

“Maybe Shadow really, really missed our company.” Replied Lemming. Drifting gave him a tired, long-suffering look.

“As much as Shadow likes our company, I don’t think she’s ever been that desperate to see us.” Drifting retorted.

Ebak cleared his throat loudly, silencing any further discussion.

“Shadow?” He asked.

She took a breath, looking between all her friends.

“I need your help with a rescue mission,” she said.

“Rescue mission?” Myst asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Shadow nodded. “Bit of background. This morning, I and another one of the X-Men, Gambit, were out in the city…”

“Gambit, I’m not sure this is a great idea.” Shadow said, glancing around the wall to the small fenced compound beyond. “You’re not exactly geared for infiltration right now.”

The Cajun grinned.

“Don’t worry chère, Gambit not gonna stay for long. Jus’ quick in an’ out, get de lay of de land, swipe some formula, den come right back to you.”

Shadow sighed, exasperated.

“Look, I don’t doubt you’re an excellent thief, but I’ve really got a bad feeling about this. This isn’t just some shady office block downtown. We should at least wait until the others are back.”

“Contact said dey recently got a shipment in.” Gambit replied, his tone now serious. “Dis be the time to swipe it. Waitin’ for backup might give 'em the chance to move it on. Den we might never figure out what it is.”

Shadow swore internally, knowing he was right. And yet…

“Okay. At least let me call for backup if you don’t make it out, alright?”

He looked back at her, searching her face.

“Give me least fifteen minutes, chère,” he said. “If I’m not out by den, call de others.” He grinned widely. “But Gambit will be by ya side soon enough, you’ll see.”

“I sure hope so.” She sighed, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “You take care now, alright?”

“Always, mon amie.” Gambit flashed her a wink. “See ya on de other side.”

And with that, the lithe mutant sprang gracefully up the side of the building, hopping from wall to wall until he disappeared over the lip of the roof.

“Considering we’re here, I’m guessing he…?” Myst trailed off. Shadow sighed, shaking her head.

“I gave him twenty minutes, just in case something came up. But when I returned to our previous look out, I was just in time to see his unconscious body being taken into the main building.” She explained. “As far as I know, he’s still being held in there now.”

A brief silence settled over the friends, all pensive.

It was Drifting who spoke first.

“Pardon me, but you’re with the X-Men, right? The group of mutants who go around saving people and blowing those Sentinels up? Why didn’t you go to them?”

“I would, if they weren’t dealing with some important mission right now.” Shadow explained, running a hand through her hair. “I don’t know if they’d be able to get over here in time before something happened to him. At best they’re just going to move him, at worse…” She shook her head. “I know you guys aren’t the same, and neither am I, but you were the only people I could think of that could get together to help me break him out.”

They looked amongst each other.

“Shadow, you really think we can go up against guys who took down an X-Man?” Lemming asked uncertainly.

“Just because Gambit’s an X-Man doesn’t make him any more a mutant than the rest of us.” She shook her head. “And he wasn’t geared for a mission, just casual clothes. All it would take is for someone to sneak up on him, or to make a mistake, and he’d be captured like anyone else.”

Ebak rubbed his scruffy chin thoughtfully.

“So sneak in, get Gambit, and sneak out again?” He said. Shadow nodded.

“Yes. If we could get a sample of that chemical formula those guys seem to be moving around, that would be ideal, but the main thing is to get Gambit out of there before anything happens to him.”

“That’s easy for you.” Myst folded his arms, eyeing the smaller man. “You can just blink in there when no-one’s watching.”

“If no-one’s watching.” Ebak repeated. “There’ll be security cameras in there for sure, and going in alone is what got Gambit caught.”

“Yeah, and I would prefer not to lose you to those bastards too.” Shadow added.

“I’m not sure my power is going to help you to be sneaky,” Ber piped up, smiling widely, “but you know that I will always help you, Shadow. Any way I can.”

She smiled warmly back, touched as always by his unwavering loyalty.

“Oh, I’m sure there’s something a big bear man can do to help us.” Ebak grinned over at his friend. “You always need a little bit of muscle when the stealth mission goes awry, right Number One?” He flashed a wink in his sister’s direction, and she rolled her eyes at his nickname for her.

“Well, I guess I’m coming too,” Drifting spoke. “On account of being able to almost completely disappear.”

“Only come if you want to.” Shadow eyed her seriously. “That goes for the rest of you too. I know this is big ask for you all, and I wouldn’t judge you at all for stepping away to keep yourselves safe. But know I wouldn’t’ve called you if I didn’t think you had it in you to help me.”

Drifting considered this for a long moment, before she nodded.

“You are going to need the one mutant with invisibility in this, and someone has to keep an eye on you all.” She smiled as Shadow chuckled. “Just don’t leave me alone in there, okay?”

“Of course not.” Said Shadow. “I intend to get everyone out of that place. No-one left behind.”

Ebak leant over in his chair towards Myst, looking at his friend expectantly. The younger man folded his arms, avoiding his gaze until he uttered a long sigh.

“…Fine. I’ll guess I’ll come along too.” He shot a glare at Ebak, now grinning smugly. “Someone has to keep E safe.”

“Your portals will be very useful.” Shadow smiled. “We’ll need a quick a getaway. And, maybe,” she smirked, meeting Ber’s gaze, “an instant-Ber delivery system, should things go south.”

Ber grinned widely, his ice-blue eyes sparkling with mischief. A smile pulled at Myst’s lips at that, entertained by the thought.

All eyes now turned to Lemming, who seemed to have shrunk in his seat. He glanced down at his hands, fidgeting with his watch.

“I dunno what I could do to help,” he said, unable to meet their gazes. “My power’s useless for this.”

“Hey, be kind yourself!” Ber cried. “Don’t make me come over there and hug you!”

“I have a few ideas how a man with manipulation of time perception could be useful.” Ebak spoke, drumming his fingers together. “Besides, you’re more than just your power, my friend.” He smiled, leaning forward. “Out of all of us, you’re the most knowledgeable of weapons - that could definitely help give us an edge in knowing what we’re going up against.”

“Yeah. If we know what they’re packing, we can get an idea of how well funded they are and how dangerous.” Myst added. Shadow nodded slowly.

“And that will definitely be information Cyclops and the others will wanna know after we get out,” she said. “Also. On the very real possibility that something does go horribly wrong, we will need someone on the outside to get the rest of the X-Men.”

Lemming paled slightly.

“You…you sure about this?”

“Very sure. I’ve been around them long enough to know you also need a back-up plan, even if that backup plan is 'oh shit I fucked up, I need an adult’.” Shadow reached into her pocket for a pen. “I’ll give you the address, anyone got some paper?”

There was rustling from around the table, until Drifting pushed a small scrap of paper over to the other woman. Shadow thanked her, before beginning to slowly write it out in her neatest handwriting.

“Here.” She handed it to Lemming, who looked it over, tucking it into his pocket.

“Alright. I’ll come along.” He smiled, resting a hand on Shadow’s small shoulder. “To make sure y'all come back safely.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” Shadow smiled. “All of you. I know this isn’t gonna be easy or a walk in the park, so I’m really grateful for your help.”

“We’ll always be here for you.” Ber replied, smiling. “You know that.”

“What the Ber-man said!” Ebak added. “We’re your friends. Your problems are ours.”

Drifting nodded, as did Lemming.

“Besides, what the use of having the power to turn invisible if don’t use it to get into places I shouldn’t be.” Drifting commented, smiling wryly.

“Yeah! And think about it, how often does anyone get to say that they helped rescue an X-Men?” Myst pointed out. “Uh, provided we pull this off, of course.”

“I have faith in us.” Shadow smiled. “You’re not only my closest friends, but the finest group of mutants I know who aren’t famous. We can do this.”

“Right. Well, if we are going do this, we need to solve one very important problem,” Lemming said. “Communication. It’s not like any of us are telepathic or anything.”

“No worries, I had the exact same thought as you.” Shadow smirked, retrieving a small nylon pouch from her pocket. “When I briefly returned to the mansion to call you guys, I picked these up.”

She opened it, gently spilling its contents out. They leaned forwards to examine the small objects.

“Are these ear pieces?” Drifting asked, picking one up to examine it.

“Got it in one.” Shadow grinned. “They have the microphone attached, you can clip it subtly to a piece of your clothing, then press the body when you need to talk through. It’s what we use when we don’t have a dedicated comm. We’ll sort the frequency out in a bit.”

“Am I right in thinking you might have a plan for us, then?” Ebak asked, taking one of the ear pieces.

“A preliminary one, though we’ll need to do another rekkie before I’m sure.” Shadow said. “So, I was thinking…”

(Next: Break In)

#sprs writing #x men #x men oc: shadow #self inserts #oc/canon #shadow/gambit #x men oc: ebak #x men oc: drifting #x men oc: ber #x men oc: lemming #x men oc: myst #multipart fic #slow burn #dialogue heavy #rescue mission #does this count as a heist?#sorry it's going to be oc heavy 'til we find the cajun again #otp: heart of the cards #self insert/canon

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