Chapter's a little short, but I think it's a good start. The actual active plot of this story won't start for another three chapters or so.

So, I had to mess around with the X-Men movie time line a little bit... or a lotta bit...

So...

Important Note:

X-Men 1: Rogue was 18, Scott was 21, Jean & Remy were 23

X-Men 2: Rogue was 19, Scott was 22, Jean & Remy were 24

X-Men 3: 8 years later. Rogue was 27, Scott was 30 , Jean & Remy were 32 – Xavier and Scott were not killed. Scott will be explained – Xavier was only put in a coma for a few months and taken care of by Moira.

Now: 3 years later. Rogue is 30, Scott is 33, and Remy is 35

Also Jean is not essential to my story (at least I don't think, things change). I just wanted to clarify her age before I get any questions.

*~*~*~*

Cordelia Chase.

When one thought of that name, they thought of popularity, glamor, money, beauty – the works.

Or at least they did in High School.

Now...

Now Cordelia Chase was just barely paying bills. She was tired all the time – and sweaty – and now had this constant drained look. Her friends from High School never spoke to her anymore; they cut her out. One too many times of showing up smelling like demon guts would do that amongst this group of friends. She couldn't afford the glamorous products she once could and found herself shopping at thrift stores – something that wold have never occurred to the Queen C.

To say Cordelia Chase had changed in the past three years was an understatement.

This whole captive experiment deal-y was just a little too much for her right now. She still had a left over bruise from Angel's betrayal. Even if she had forgiven him, it didn't mean she was still fully over it. And as much as she loved Wesley – in that platonic sense – and understood his whole obsession with Fred, it still left her sorely missing the days when they were all just her boys.

Plus, the visions never helped.

Damn, Doyle.

Since the moment Cordelia had woken up in New York, she had yet to be alone. Even now, she was talking to a thin blue man with deep amber eyes.

And no, she didn't scream when she first saw him, though it did take her a second to realize that he had been one of the people in her vision. He was watching TV. Seriously, who would scream and run if a demon was just sitting there watching TV and snacking on a bag of Funions?

When he saw her though, and oh god, the man disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared right in front of her, eager to introduce himself.

The next thing Cordelia knew, she was getting his life story about the circus, Stryker, how the X-Men saved his life, and how he came to find God...

Yeah... she totally tuned most of that out.

She was just trying to think up an excuse to leave when a familiar voice interrupted the one-sided conversation.

"Hey! Mon ami!" Remy slapped Kurt on the shoulder and grinned broadly at the two. Rogue stood behind Remy, her head pointed down at the floor, refusing to look at Cordelia, "Wonderin' if you wouldn't mind helpin' a poor homme out. Needin' some time away from da kiddies, ya know?"

"Oh? Vich one?" Kurt asked, eyes lit up with extreme interest.

"De PE class. Normally, I'd kill t'keep dat one, but I t'ink Hank wants me to lay off on de physical training fer awhile," he shrugged one shoulder and made a show of wincing in pain, "gotta let m' shoulder rest, ya know."

"Oh, no problem! I'd love to teach dem!"

And in a cloud of smoke, Kurt disappeared.

Remy turned to Cordelia with an uncharacteristic nervous smile, "Figured you could use a hand..." and much to his own personal embarrassment, he ended in an awkward shrug.

"Oh, yeah..." Cordelia gave him a polite smile, "Thanks."

"If yer lookin' fer, uh, somewhere quiet," Remy motioned down the hall, "dere's a stairway access to da roof. Um... Usually just me n' Rogue go up dere..."

Cordelia looked down the hall and turned to him with an honestly grateful smile, "Oh, um... Thank you," she gave him an equally awkward shrug before turning around and heading in that direction.

"What was that?" Rogue walked up next to Remy and gave the usually slick man a shocked look. An amused, yet forlorn smile cracked Rogue's lips, "The slick ladies' man Lebeau just got tongue twisted."

Remy didn't even glance at Rogue as he made his way to the kitchen. Rogue crossed her arms in a tight hug as she stared after him. A frown turned down her face and her eyes began to sting. Rogue quickly turned around and rushed to her room.

*~*~*~*

Cordelia walked out on the roof. She glanced around. The sun was bright. Not as bright as it is in LA, but brighter than she liked.

Oh, God. When did she become that person? The type of girl who looked forward to working all hours of the night? When did she start to prefer the moon over the sun?

That's when her eyes started to sting. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why she started to cry. At first it was just a few tears leaking out of the corners, then the next thing she knew she couldn't breathe. The sobs began to hurt her chest. Her knees gave out and she collapsed to the floor, her knees scraping against the hard cement. She stayed like that for a few moments, letting it work through her system.

By the time the sobbiness had subsided, it was well into the afternoon. Cordelia took in a deep, shaky breath and pushed herself onto her feet. She wiped away the last few tears and prayed to the PTB that she'd be able to find a bathroom before she ran into anybody else today.

With the way her luck had been going lately, she really shouldn't have been as surprised as she was when she turned around and saw someone standing a few feet behind her.

Cordelia was torn between rolling her eyes in annoyance, shouting in anger, or stating her concern. After all, hadn't he just been unconscious in the hospital room?

"How long have you been there?" she asked instead, wiping her cheeks once more to make sure they were dry.

"Not that long," his voice was strained and tired. Cordelia had heard that enough in Wesley and Gunn to know what kind of pain he was in. Hell, she heard it enough in her own voice on more than one occasion, "Honest," he added.

As if their little exchanged never happened, Cordelia rose an eyebrow, "So... hiding out?"

"Couldn't stay in that room anymore," he gave her a wry smile and limped a few steps past her, "I figured the only people I'd run into up here would be Rogue or Remy. And neither of them would throw a fit about breaking Hank's orders," he winced as he slowly lowered himself onto the floor, "So, if you don't mind me asking," he let out a breath as he finally relaxed on the roof. He looked up at her, "Who are you?"

Cordelia smiled, and without thinking, sat down next to him, "Cordelia."

"How long were you there?"

The question caught her off guard. The only other person who had inquired about the incident was Dr. McCoy, and even then it was just about the collar,, "Three weeks," she kept her vision trained on the horizon and pulled her knees tightly to her chest, "You?"

"Three years, apparently."

Cordelia's eyebrows shot up. Her three weeks had felt like forever, she couldn't even imagine what it must have been like for him. Once again, Cordelia felt out of place. She didn't like the feeling. The last few years of her life, she only ever felt belonging with the AI gang. Even with the Scoobies (especially while she was dating Xander) she always felt out of place. Her heart yearned and begged for Angel to hurry up and come get her.

It was still a few hours till dark.

"Doesn't feel that long, you know?"

His voice interrupted her thoughts. Cordelia gave him a tight smile, but said nothing.

"Hey," he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. Cordelia looked up at him, her attention completely caught. She stared at his sunglasses, noting in the back of her mind that something was off about them. Her eyes were open with sadness to anyone who dared look at them. His words ran hollow through her ears, "I've dealt with experimentation before. I've been trained to deal with it. It's a risk that comes with my job," his voice was soft and the only thing that made Cordelia listen to him. His face leaned in a little closer, wanting her to hear the words he said, "There's no shame in hurting, in being afraid of it."

"I'm not," the whisper cracked as it left her lips, "I'm not ashamed," she clarified and turned her face away to gaze at the horizon. A drained sigh escaped her and she crossed her arms over her knees, letting her chin rest against them, "I've been used before, I've dealt with it." the memory of her unnatural pregnancy, the trouble with her visions, and Billy flashed in her mind, "It's not what happened that's bothering me," Cordelia refused to look at the man as he stared at her silently, politely waiting for her to continue, "It's what didn't happen."

She left the statement hanging, thankful when he didn't ask her what she meant.

He already knew. She knew he did.

That was little comfort to her.

*~*~*~*~*

Cordelia left the infirmary. She had escorted Scott Summers back to the basement and to Dr. McCoy's care. She was suppose to stay in there, wait for the hairy man to grab her test results. Apparently he had done some X-rays, MRIs, CAT scans, and taken a blood sample while she was out. Cordelia already knew what he was going to find.

She already found it.

And she definitely didn't feel like hearing it again.

With another tired sigh, Cordelia made her way through the metallic and, dare she say, futuristic hall. Her intentions were to go back upstairs, find a kitchen, and eat something. Her stomach rumbled. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had a meal. A real meal too, not a frozen tv dinner or fast food uck meal. Actually, Angel probably made the last good thing she ate. At random times, he could be found cooking something in that kitchen she dubbed as the house of rats. Weird since he didn't eat actual food, but damned if he didn't make the best pancakes ever.

Stepping into the elevator, Cordelia frowned and pressed the up button. They couldn't have a clock in the hall or elevator? How was she suppose to know what time it was?

Just as the door began to close, a hand reached out and grabbed it. Cordelia watched as he pushed the door open with just a little more force than necessary. A very wet and clean Logan entered the small space. He stared at her a moment, sniffed the air, grimaced, and pushed the 'close door' button.

There was a small moment of awkward silence. Or at least for Logan it was awkward. Cordelia just leaned her head and shoulder against the wall and let out a drawn out, overly dramatic sigh. Logan just rolled his eyes up in annoyance and ignored her.

Or tried to.

He couldn't help but crack a smile as her stomach made an obvious rumble, "Hungry?"

"Ugh," she scoffed and shrugged when he looked over his shoulder, "I haven't eaten anything since I've been here."

Logan grunted and turned back around, "Lucky."

Cordelia smiled and made an amused sound, "Heh. Alright, wanna show me around the kitchen and make sure I don't get poisoned? Or at least show me where it is and let me get poisoned. Whatever," she shrugged.

Logan kept his smirk hidden and perked up when the elevator came to a stop and opened. He stepped to the side and jerked his head for Cordelia to go first. She smiled brightly and slid past him and out into the foyer, Logan followed after her.

"C'mon, kid," he led her towards their right, "maybe we'll find ya somethin' edible."

"Hey, as long as it's not five days past the expiration date, I'll be fine," she joked and grinned wider at his curious gaze, "Had a bad income stint a few years back. Let's just say I found out that even ketchup packets have an expiration date."

A deep chuckle rumbled from Logan's chest as he shook his head, "That's not so bad. You ain't hit rock bottom 'till you wake up and find that even yer non-perishables have perished."

"Ouch," Cordy laughed and crossed her arms over her chest, "OK, you win. Oh, hey, um..." Cordelia stopped in front of the open kitchen door, "Thanks for earlier..." at Logan's raised eyebrow, Cordelia felt the awkward need to clarify, "The big cat – in that lab place – hey! I'm not gonna get like rabies or anything am I?"

Logan just laughed and walked into the kitchen. He ignored the other occupant and opened the fridge, "What's yer pleasure, darlin'?"

"Oh!" Cordelia grinned and swung herself into the room, not noticing the other occupant stiffen, "The Caribbean, Johnny Depp, and expensive drinks that I don't have to pay for combination. But for now I'll settle with a sandwich and some water."

"That I can do," Logan stuck his head in the fridge and muttered to himself, "Alright ham, where are ya? I can smell ya..."

With a swing of her arms, Cordelia practically pranced over to the island counter top and hopped up onto the stool.

She started when the other occupant announced his presence, "So you seem t' be in a better mood dan earlier."

"Oh, uh..." Cordelia's smile disappeared and she stared at Remy awkwardly, "Yeah, I just uh... needed to think," her eyes lit up when she noticed something behind Remy on the stove, "Hey, what's that?"

"Hmmm?" Remy looked back over to what he was doing, as if noticing for the first time that he was standing in front of a stove, "Oh, jus' got hungry, t'ought I'd make some gumbo. Ya want some?" he offered, his heart literally pounding in his chest. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so nervous.

Cordelia's eyebrows shot up. The question she asked left Remy to seriously reconsider whether or not they were actually related, "Gumbo? There's actually food out there called gumbo?"

Logan burst out laughing.

*~*~*~*~* Originally I was going to end it here, but felt that was too soon/short...

At first, the meal was nice. It was just Logan, Remy, and his daughter sitting around the island, trading stories. Like, what was the worst meal you ever had? Logan won with his raw rabbit story, Remy came in second with his cousin's attempt to make crocodile soup, and Cordelia lost with her cup of ketchup (in actuality it was blood, but she managed to correct herself just in time. She really didn't feel like going into the whole demon pregnancy thing. Might cause a few questions).

Another story they shared was the worst date. Cordelia won that one. The rich and handsome Preston Angerston had taken her to dinner where he proceeded to spill half his meal on her and the other half on himself, followed by a show where he then threw up in the balcony. Feeling bad for the guy, she called him a cab, only to have him go psycho on her and try to kill her (turns out he had been fighting a possession all night). Remy came in second place, giving only minor details on his ex-girlfriend Bella, while Logan lost with his one nightstand's husband breaking into his hotel room.

It was around the third set of stories, worst jobs, that it started to go downhill for Remy. It wasn't anyone's fault really. He had already told his story of being hired to steal a pair of toenail clippers (which turned out to be made of platinum, but he didn't know that at the time), and Logan had just finished what could only be described as a bounty hunter tale, when it happened.

The kitchen flooded.

Oh, not with water.

With men.

Cordelia sat at the island, the complete center of every man's attention, telling her story.

"So there I was, like, lost in the middle of this nowhere building, and this man comes up to me," she cleared her throat and spoke in a deep voice, "'You here for the audition?'" Cordelia rolled her eyes, "And I'm like, yeah! So he takes me to this back room. And it all seems very professional, ya know. Then I walk by a set and hear this guy giving his lines, and he's terrible! So, I know I'm totally gonna make this program. Then we get to the next set and I start hearing all these strange sounds," Cordelia's lips pursed together angrily and she leaned back, giving the entire room a disbelieving look, "Turns out the guy actually thought I was auditioning to be in porn! Can you believe it? I told the guy to go to hell and got practically ran out of there. I mean do I look like a porn star to you?"

Remy could practically hear his own head explode. Especially when the group of men made disbelieving and disapproving sounds, though they obviously thought different. Oh, boy... You know, ever since the first time he heard about her, he wondered whether or not they would have anything in common, and if they did, what it would be.

He knew she was a heart breaker when he saw her.

He just hadn't expected this.

Cordelia Chase was too much like Remy Lebeau on the attraction front. The opposite gender migrated to her like they flocked to him. And just like him, she basked in their attention.

It was all just too much.

Way, way too much...

How was he going to survive this?

"Miss Chase?"

The entire kitchen went quiet as Hank McCoy and Professor Xavier strolled into the room.

"Yeah?" her eyebrows raised curiously.

"I was hoping to discuss certain matters with you," Hank waved a file in the air, "I believe it's something you need to know."

Remy's gut twisted.

Hank knew.

Cordelia grimaced and glanced around the room. A ton of worried and forlorn faces stared back at her. Suddenly, Cordelia felt too crowded. She slid off of the stool and gave the men an apologetic smile, "Sorry, boys, duty calls."

A groan filled the room and Cordelia couldn't help that little smile that slid on her face as she slipped out of the kitchen. She left behind a group of enamored men and one very confused Cajun.

"Y'alright, Gumbo?"

The question caught Remy off guard and he practically jumped as he spun around, "Uh... yeah... jus' fine, mon ami."

Logan raised an eyebrow and just stared at him. Remy returned the stare. Logan, ever the patient person, decided to hurry up to his point, "Normally, a situation like that," he motioned to the group of men behind them who were quickly dispersing, "yer the one at the front, makin' yer presence known. This time ya jus' kinda eased into the back. Not yer usual style, Lebeau."

"Yeah..." Remy murmured and looked at the kitchen door Cordelia had just slipped through. With a frown, Remy glanced around the now empty kitchen. Without even thinking, Remy asked a loaded question, "Can you keep a secret, mon ami?"

*~*~*~*~*

Next Chapter:

Angel and Wesley arrive!