The next chapter is finally here! Sorry it took so long. :D Hopefully the next chapter will be along shortly. I'd like to thank JenN for the beta, and for everyone that is still interested in the series.

Disclaimer: All characters depicted are property of Marvel Comics. No profit is being made from this work.
Rating: PG
Summary: A day out for Gambit and the boys turns sour.
Feedback: Certainly!
Notes: Anyone interested in the previous chapters can find them at (un)frozen because I'm currently working on my webpage.

Frozen Pop
by Shade

Day Twelve: May the FAO Schwartz Be with You

New York's Fifth Avenue is always a sight to see, but the building at 767 Fifth Avenue, is a special treat. It is the home of one of the most famous toy stores in the entire world. Of course, such history was lost on the two young men barreling out of the taxi in front of it. All they could see were...

"TOYS!" BJ yelled.

"Would you look at dat!" Remy whispered. His eyes followed the building all the way up.

"I knew you two would like dis place," Gambit said with a grin. "Now I want both of you to stay wid me, okay? Dis is a big place."

"Okay," two young voices chorused.

As soon as they stepped through the door, the music from the large toy tower overwhelmed them. Gambit made his way to the main counter with the two boys trailing behind.

"Hello, I was wondering if y'all have de Biff Baseball toy. I used to have one when I was a kid, and I'd kind of like my boys to have one, you see."

The girl behind the desk smiled and said she'd look it up in the computer. It took a minute or two, but the answer came back negative. Gambit sighed and turned to the boys to tell them the news only to discover that they were gone.

"BJ! REMY!" Gambit bellowed. He was sure that they couldn't have gotten far. Their legs just weren't that long. A quick scan of the room with a thief's eye for detail turned up nothing.

"S'cuse me Miss, but did you 'appen to see my two boys just a second ago?" he asked, still with an air of calm.

"No, sir. Would you like me to call security?"

"Non, I don't think dat will be necessary just yet. I'll look around. They couldn't have gotten far."

The young woman smirked.

"Haven't been around kids long, have you?"

Remy was headed toward the center of the store, and didn't have time to ponder her remark. He was only starting to get upset. There wasn't panic yet. No, anger was mostly taking precedent. He had told the boys to stay with him. Of course, he really couldn't blame them. He would have done the same thing at that age. In fact, he often had.

A search of the main floor yielded nothing. He headed up the stairs to the other toy sections. A quick look around and he spotted an auburn head running around a display of stuffed animals. Gambit hustled around the display and reached out grabbing the boy by his shirt collar.

"Gotcha!" he said triumphantly.

The boy in his hands screamed. When he turned the boy around, he realized that it wasn't Remy. A woman stepped in front of them.

"What do you think you're doing to my son, you pervert!" she screamed and smacked a ducking Gambit with her purse.

"Sorry! Sorry! I thought he was one of mine. Sorry!"

The abashed X-Man made his escape. When he did find the boys, they were going to regret it.

Remy sat in a child-sized recliner in the store's book section. He watched the older kids pick out books and sit down on the carpet. He remembered when Dazzler would gather together all the X-Babies around for a bed time story. Suddenly, he missed Scotty and Rogue and the others. BJ had run off when Remy was looking at the Legos, and now he didn't know where Gambit or his friend was.

"You look lost," a man said, coming up to Remy.

"I don' know where BJ is."

"Is BJ your dad?"

"Non. He's my friend."

The man smiled and said, "We can go look for him, if you want."

"'Kay."

Remy got up and took the stranger's hand. The man ran his hand over Remy's head and they headed towards the front of the store.

BJ had never seen so many balls of every kind. The boy stared at the wall in awe. There were footballs, soccer balls, volley balls, basketballs, and even tennis balls. A dark boy stood next to him.

"I want a new soccer ball, but mom says I have to wait till my birthday," the boy said.

"I have a football! Bobby bought it for me. What's a birthday?"

"What are you? Stupid? Everybody has a birthday!" the boy laughed at BJ and walked off.

"You're stupid!" BJ yelled, but the boy was already gone. BJ thought, Bet he can't even make ice cubes.

A hand grabbing his shoulder interrupted his thoughts. BJ was whirled around to face a very angry Gambit.

"Where have you been! I tol' de both of you not to leave my side!"

"I'm sorry, but, but...."

"No buts! I t'ink we should go straight back to de hotel. I'll take you boys out again when you learn to listen to me. Now where's Remy?"

BJ looked around, but didn't see Remy anywhere.

"He was with me before."

Gambit stood and looked for himself, but the little Cajun wasn't nearby.

He asked the boy, "Where were you when he was with you last?"

"He was looking at the Legos, an' I came over here."

Gambit took the boy's hand and went to the Lego section of the store, but Remy was not among the children milling around. Gambit took a deep breath. It wasn't like Remy to run off. He normally stayed very close to BJ. Like Gambit when he was very small, the boy was just too quiet and shy to really be a problem. The X-Man was no longer angry. Now he was worried, very worried.

"All right. We're going back down to de main desk to tell security, and if you even t'ink about running off again, so help me, I'll tan you little behind."

"I think I see your friend going outside, maybe we can catch him?" the man asked and pulled Remy towards the door.

"I don' t'ink dat dey would leave."

"If we don't catch them, we may not see them again."

Remy looked up at the man. He seemed nervous. They were very close to the front door, but Remy hadn't seen BJ or Gambit anywhere. He didn't want them to leave without him, but he wasn't sure that they would.

"Gambit's prob'ly lookin' for me. I'm prob'ly in trouble. Maybe we should ask over dere?" the boy said pointing toward the main counter where they had left Gambit before.

"I don't think that would be in a good idea. If they find out you're by yourself, they may make you leave and never let you come back. You wouldn't want that would you?"

"I guess not."

The man smiled and patted Remy's head. He glanced around them quickly and then looked at the door again.

"We'd better hurry or BJ will be too far ahead for us to catch him."

Gambit and BJ stood on the second floor overlooking the lobby. They were waiting for the robot shaped elevator to pick them up. BJ held Gambit's hand tightly. He knew he was in big trouble, but now he was also concerned. Gambit had seemed angry before, but now he looked even more upset. BJ wasn't sure why the man was so worried. Remy had to be around somewhere. He looked at the large toy tower and followed it down to the lobby. There near the doors was Remy with someone BJ didn't know.

"There he is, Gambit!"

"Where?"

"Down there with that man!"

Gambit looked to where the boy was pointing, and his heart stopped. Remy was walking toward the doors with someone. Without a second thought he picked up BJ and pushed him into the arms of a woman with three kids that was standing behind them. The X-Man grabbed the metal railing and jumped over it. He heard another woman scream. All his training kicked in as he rebounded off the top of the elevator and then launched himself into the middle of the lobby. People scattered screaming as he landed on his feet. Quickly, he started running toward the doors.

The stranger lunged toward the doorway when he heard screaming behind him. He didn't even turn to look, but Remy did.

"Gambit!" the boy called. He tried pulling away from the man, but his arm was in too firm a grip.

The stranger was one more step from the doors when a brown blur slammed into him from behind, knocking him over. Remy fell flat on his back from the impact. A woman who was entering the store yelped and pulled back. Security guards were running towards the tangle of arms and legs from every direction.

Remy scooted backwards from the man and Gambit. His Oncle was holding the man down and angrily whispering something into his ear. The stranger was trying to wiggle free, but Gambit's knee was planted firmly into his back. BJ ran up and grabbed his friend into a choking hug. Remy still didn't understand what was going on. He was even more confused when the security guards pulled his Oncle off of the man. There was a lot of talking and yelling, and some policemen came. The stranger was put in handcuffs and dragged from the store. Gambit bent down and picked Remy up.

"Gambit, what's happening?" he asked.

"It's all right now. It's all right."

"Even after all of that, you still bought them toys?" Bobby asked, shaking his head.

"Well, I t'ink he an' BJ were still a little bit scared after all de commotion. I figured dat it would calm dem down. I've already had de stranger talk wid dem on de way back. It never even occurred to dem, Bobby. Dey grew up being famous on Mojoworld. Dey were supposed to please everyone. Remy didn't know any better."

Bobby looked over to the boys who were playing with some action figures in front of the TV. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When Gambit had told him what had almost happened, Bobby had about had a panic attack. He'd grown so attached to the boys that the thought of loosing one was too much to contemplate. They were safe now, that's all that mattered.

But a small voice whispered in the back of his mind, "What are you going to do when Dazzler comes back?"

continued >>

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