"Do we have everything packed"

"Yes, Ashley! You have asked me that a thousand times in the last two days. I even have a checklist and they are all marked off. Everything is by the door! Let's start packing so we can get down there. Everyone is waiting on us."

"Alright!" Ashley says as she starts grabbing bags and hauling them out to the car. They eventually get everything stuffed into Awshley's jeep and are heading down to Atlanta and their hotel.Everyone is already there, and the girls just have to get everything to their room. Once we have everything in the room. Jean introduces Ashley to her other friends.

"Ash, this is Chris and Von. They have been my con buddies for a couple years. We all met in a writing group online."

"Nice to meet you!" They both say.

"So, tomorrow morning we have to go pick up our badges." Chris adds

"Where do we need to go get them?" Ash asks

"We have to go over to the Sheraton."

We put our stuff away and we all head out to wander around to see what is going on before it all starts. It's nice that all the hotels are connected, so it makes it easy to move around. It's not too crowded this evening, which is nice to be able to move around and get used to the layout of the hotels. We had headed over to the Hilton and they had a dj set out front but the funny thing was that it looked like a T-rex party. Any blow up t-rex costume imaginable was there dancing and partying it up. It was crazy. Ashley was starting to think that she made the right decision in coming. This weekend is going to be a blast. Let's hope she can stay out of trouble. Maybe having several friends might help, but then again, there are thousands of people and she probably will never see these people again. It was starting to get later and they decided to go eat dinner.

"Hey guys, how about we go to our usual first night restaurant?" Von suggests as we walk back through the hotels.

"That sounds good to me,"Jean says.

"What place is that?" Ashley asks.

"The Hard Rock Cafe." Chris adds

"I love that place. Let's go." Ashley says excitedly.

After they finish dinner they head back to the Marriott where they are staying and they head to the bar for some drinks. Ashley goes to get a drink at the bar and turns around to look through the crowd.

"No, it couldn't me." she thinks to herself. "Could it be him?"

"What's going on friend?" Jean asks as she squeezes in beside Ashley.

"I think I just saw Adam, or someone who could be his twin."

"No, way! Like I said there are so many people that you probably will never run into him."

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to run into him again. Why am I thinking that? Maybe I should ask him what went on that night. If I run into him. It's very unlikely. It probably wasn't even him. Don't get your hopes up.

"Hey, get out of your head. Don't let him ruin the weekend."

"Alright, then let's have some fun!"

They spend several hours watching people and having drinks. It was going to be an early morning and they all headed up to their room to get some rest. The next morning we get up and get ready to head down to get their badges. The lines weren't too bad and everyone around us was very friendly. We finally get our badges and head back to the other hotels. We head into our first panel with the cast from the librarians. We had a blast listening to their stories from behind the scenes and questions from the audience. We spent the rest of the day in different panels and walking around looking at different cosplays. They amount of time that people have put into getting them together is amazing. Some of them were huge and so detailed.

"Hey guys, tonight there is a sing-along going on. we should all go. It's something I always start the con off with. You guys will love it!" Chris says with a smile.

"I'm game if everyone else is. I love singing." Ashley returned.

"Okay!" Jean says hesitantly.

"Let's do this!" Von agrees

We all head over to where it's going to take place. We sit and wait for a while. It's something you have to get used to if you want to get into certain panels. Soon they are letting us in. We had a blast singing and dancing to songs from old cartoon shows, tv shows, and movies and dancing around. There was even a conga line running around the room. We had a blast. Once the show is over we head up to the bar again and watch people. I am looking around and again I see the guy I saw last night. Are my eyes playing tricks on me again? It was just a second and when I looked again he was gone. We eventually head back to our room and head to bed. Tomorrow we break out our cosplays.

The next morning we all get up and Jean and I get dressed in our cosplay. I am still apprehensive about mine, being the first time I have done this.

"Don't worry, they will love you!" Jean says with a smile.

"You know how I am with crowds, I get embarrassed easily."

"I know, but you don't have to worry. You look great!"

"Thanks sis. Let's get this day started." I say as I pick up my backpack and we head down. We stop at the coffee shop and get our morning coffee.

"Crap, my badge is back in the room. Hold my bag and I will be right back."

I head back to the room and grab my badge and start to head back down. I am standing there waiting on the elevator. It arrives and the doors open. Standing by himself is a Gambit cosplayer, wearing sunglasses. I freeze for a second, unable to move.

"Headed down, chere?" he says with a smile. His voice seems familiar but she can't quite place it. She shakes it off and steps in.

"Why yes, I am, sugar."

On the next floor several more people get on. They compliment their costumes assuming they are a couple, but they don't correct them. As they get closer to the lobby, more people get on and they are pushed closer together. The heat between them could set the place on fire.

"Hey handsome, fancy meeting you here." Ashley says as she is pushed closer to him and her hand travels to his chest. He places his hand over hers. and she can feel that familiar electricity flow down her arm from where their skin touched. She only felt that with one other person. Could it be?

"Just waiting for you, chere."

"Well, it is a nice surprise, sugar." She looks at her hand and realizes she does not have her gloves on. She chuckles a little. "Sugar, you may not want to hold on to my hand for too long. I might just take all your powers."

He laughed as he realized he was still holding her hand to his chest.

"I was wondering why I was feeling weak in the knees." He said as he let go of her hand and she put her gloves back on. She had taken them off when they had gotten coffee and had tucked them into her waistband and had forgotten to put them back on when she ran back up to get her badge.

The two flirted with each other until the elevator came to a stop at the lobby. Several people asked for pictures when they arrived at the lobby and of course they both said yes. She even got someone to take a picture of them with her phone. She had to show Jean when she got back to them.

"See you around, sugar!"

"Yes, you will, chere!"

She quickly headed over to her friends, occasionally being stopped by random people asking for pictures.

"Oh, my lord. I ran into a Gambit cosplayer in the elevator. What if it's him?" Ashley says worriedly, and shows Jean the picture.

"Calm down Rogue. Do you really think he would be here?" Jean askes trying to calm her friend down.

"It could be a possibility. I got the same tingle when we touched."

"Wow, maybe fate has stepped in for you two."

"Maybe, but I doubt it. I never let him explain and he probably hates me now."Ashley added with a frown.

"Hey, we can't forget the Marvel costume contest tonight. It will be fun and you look great."

"Thanks, I've had a lot of people stop me on the way back which is why it took so long."

They spend the rest of the day just like yesterday. They actually venture into the walk of fame. It's actually kind of intimidating for Ashley. They walk around several times before she can venture up to any celebrities. It was getting close to the contest time so they wandered over to where it would be held. The girls head out to be seated and Ashley heads to the back waiting to be called. It soon starts and they call out the judges first. She hears the last judge called and she hears Adam Douvee, and they talk about him being new in the comic book writers. Her heart starts beating faster and the butterflies start flying in her stomach.

"What do I do now? Do I run? No, I can't let him see he even has an effect on me still." she thought to herself pacing around the back area.

Soon they call her name and she heads on stage. She walks out and up the catwalk and there sits the Gambit person and her stomach flips. It was the guy in the elevator. She does a quick walk and heads to the back.

"Oh my god! He's actually here."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Adam sits down at the judging table as a guest judge. He is still thinking about the woman dressed as Rogue that he ran into on the elevators. Her scent was so familiar, and her touch was on fire. Could it be her? Could fate be good to him? He never stopped loving her. No one could replace her. He was sitting there watching each contestant come out and walk the stage. Then all of a sudden he heard her name called and everything stopped. All he saw was her walking towards him. Their eyes met for a brief second and his heart started beating faster. He watched her walk back and off the stage. Once the judging was over and the prizes given. He saw her head out and he quickly tried to get through the crowds to find her. He could see her through the crowds trying desperately to reach her and eventually losing her. He was not going to give up. He was going to talk to her face to face and explain what he couldn't those years ago.