DISMAL ANGEL REVELATIONS
EPISODE 5 – Finding Me
Chapter 1 – Footprints in the Snow
The first cigarette in over two weeks was something of a shock to the system, he felt. First he coughed, choking on the hot smoke that filled his lungs. His eyes watered and his chest burned as he coughed. He looked at the cigarette and shook his head, wondering why after two and a half weeks of abstaining from smoking, he'd gone and bought a pack.
He flicked the ash and watched it land upon the pristine white snow that lay crystal like and shimmering on the Xavier estate.
Remy LeBeau glanced up to see the snow lightly falling, large and fluffy almost featherlike. He wondered if Ororo had anything to do with the wintery Christmas weather, or it had come on naturally as snow always should. The sky was white to where he couldn't even make out clouds, just hundreds of fluffy flakes floating down to kiss his cheeks and nose like an old friend.
He'd never been all that fond of the cold, having grown up in the south. He took a long drag and tried to refrain from coughing this time. Damn system rebooted itself and messed with my tolerance for smoking too, apparently, he thought dully. The effects went to his head, leaving him slightly dizzy and sick.
A crunching sound disturbed him, he spun around but could see no one, all he could see were the trees behind him, the small woodland area that stood at the south of the lake. He supposed it could have just been snow falling from the trees, or even an animal looking for food. He leaned against a cold and icy tree trunk, took another drag and exhaled the smoke so it disappeared into the snowy air.
Crunch, crunch.
He listened closely, something was definitely moving around. It sounded human, definitely not animal and definitely not tree. He tossed the cigarette down into the snow and heard the soft hiss as the lit end went out.
"Who's there?" he asked, accent thick in concern.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.
Quick light movements through the trees and frosty bushes. Remy reached for the telescopic bo staff he kept in his inside pocket, he took three steps forward, carefully. "Show yourself!" he commanded.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
He extended the bo, and keeping it nice and tight in his hand, ready in case he were to be ambushed. He proceeded forward into the trees, there were footprints in the snow, leading around the trees, he'd guess around an adult woman size, not much bigger.
The wind picked up and howled, he heard it whistle through the trees like a warning song. He heard the sounds, closer, closer. A familiar crunching. Just behind a tree.
Remy frowned. Someone tryin' to sneak up on me, but I'm sneakier than they are. He retracted the staff and put it between his teeth, he grabbed onto the low hanging branch of a tree above, the cold snow stinging his bare fingers. He pulled himself up and caught his foot on the trunk, he hauled himself up into the branches, and passed along the thicker branches from tree to tree, he was light footed, with the wind rustling the branches in the trees, making them click together, he couldn't be heard, he wouldn't be heard.
He heard running beneath him, frantic. He took the bow from his teeth and extended it and dropped down, "why are you following me---what the hell...?"
Jessie Crowell, startled by his ambush, fell on her backside in the snow, large blue-grey eyes wide in panic. She was wearing rubber boots that belonged to someone else, and were far, far too big for her tiny feet, the legs coming all the way up to her thighs so that she probably had trouble bending her knees wearing the things. She had a scarf on and a white bodywarmer that almost matched the snow, her tawny hair was partly tucked into a white woollen hat that had pop-poms dangling from it like furry snowballs.
"Jessie..."
Her eyes landed on the staff he was wielding, she didn't say anything.
He realised how intimidating he must have seemed, he quickly retracted the staff and slipped it into his inside pocket where it belonged, "what are you doing here?" he asked, he softened his voice.
"I'm sorry..." she whimpered, near to tears.
Remy sighed, he supposed his paranoia had definitely got the better of him, and now Jessie looked like she were about to start bawling any minute, "I'm sorry too. Shouldn't sneak up on someone though," he said softly, he crouched down before her and reached out his hands to her to help her up, giving her a chance to refuse. "Lets get you out of this cold, huh?"
She nodded, sniffing back tears and she put her mittened hands in his. He pulled her up with ease, she was so light and tiny he could have carried her with one hand.
"Where did you get those boots?" he asked as they began to walk along the path by the lake, she took big awkward galloping steps in the oversized adult boots which were black and grey.
"They were in the hall – I think they might be Jean's..." Jessie looked down at them thoughtfully, "they're too big."
"No kidding..." Remy said. He had the feeling if he picked the girl up, both boots would instantly fall off her feet – probably never even leave the snow. The back of her pale blue jeans were soaked with snow, he felt bad now for having made her fall in the snow. "Jessie...why were you outside and...following me?" he asked, curious.
Jessie pursed her lips, she apparently didn't want to say why.
"Jessie...answer me..." he ordered, then softened his voice, "uhm...please?"
She stopped, "I heard Mr. Drake say bad things."
He stopped too, "what do you mean? What bad things?"
Jessie hesitated, her eyes looking everywhere, except him. Remy got the distinct impression she was furious about something but whatever it was, she seemed reluctant to explain.
Remy knelt down in the snow, not caring if his jeans got soaked, he took her by the shoulders, "Jessie...what did he say?" he became increasingly concerned. Just what did Bobby say to her? Or say to someone else that she might have overheard? That he'd killed a boy? That he was a thief?
"I don't like Mr. Drake, much," Jessie said, as if trying to change the subject, "he says a lot of mean things a lot..."
"About me?" Remy asked.
Jessie nodded, she met his eyes for merely a moment, then looked away. Her tawny hair stirred in the wind, her curls dancing in the air.
"What did he say?"
"That you're a trouble maker," she pouted.
Remy felt almost relieved, he could live with trouble maker. As long as it wasn't murderer, he supposed he could live with almost anything.
"But...that don't make sense why you're following me."
"I was supervising you," Jessie tried to explain.
Absurd as it sounded, he stifled a laugh into his fist, although he suppressed the smile, he knew the small girl saw it in his eyes, "you were...supervising me?"
"I have to be supervised all the time so I don't do bad things or get into trouble..." she tried to reason, "so..."
"So you figured...if I'm a trouble maker, you need to supervise me and make sure I don't get into any, huh?" he asked, he noticed the front of her bodywarmer wasn't even zipped up and he did it for her, securing it. He adjusted her scarf so it was a little snugger around her neck and around her ears.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"Kind of," Remy shrugged, "you shouldn't be out here in this cold...and you definitely don't need to be supervising me...I'm an adult you know..." he reminded, he stood up.
He didn't reach for her hand to hold it as they walked, but she did, and that seemed strange to him, he couldn't quite understand why she felt it quite ordinary to hold his hand as they walked by the lake towards the mansion.
"How old are you anyway?"
"Too old to be supervised," he said, smirking at her. He admired her nose, which was bright red, and adorable with it's tiny pinch. Her cheeks were rosy, her lips pale.
"That's avoiding the question," Jessie said quite smartly, she looked at him curiously, big eyes right on him.
"Why do you wanna know?"
"I don't know," she answered, "You know how old I am..." she pointed out.
"I'm twenty-eight," he answered, "does that answer your question?"
"Yes," Jessie answered, "when is your birthday?"
"November the first," he answered. "Day after Halloween," he added, just so she'd have a better reference.
Jessie looked thoughtful, absorbing this information, "why do you talk so funny?"
"I talk funny?" he asked, he didn't think so although he supposed to a seven year old from Chicago with barely little experience of the world, he probably sounded very alien to her.
"Yes, you have an accent...like Rogue, but not."
"I'm from Louisiana..." Remy answered, they approached the mansion's gardens, and walked along the cobbled path. "You know where that is?"
"Yeah, that's where Britney Spears is from," the girl said enthusiastically. "And she doesn't speak like you do!"
Remy made a face and laughed.
"Can you really speak French?" Jessie asked as they climbed up the steps of the back porch and Remy opened the door for her so she could enter.
"Oui," he answered, he slipped his leather coat off, which was heavy and the surface soaked with snow. He shook the flakes out of his wet hair. "Why so many questions?" he asked.
"I don't know," Jessie shrugged, she stepped out of the too-large boots. "You're just...interesting."
"You use big words for such a small person," Remy commented.
"You have very long hair for a man," Jessie said, quite pointedly.
He laughed again, "yes...I do...but...it used to be longer than yours..."
Her eyes widened, "really?" she asked as she took off her gloves and her hat.
Remy didn't answer her this time, he was admiring the very large Christmas tree – which stood at least twenty feet with hundreds of glittering twinkling lights adorning it's green feathery branches. Beneath the tree were piles of presents, and quite a few were for Jessie from the X-Men. His mind wandered, and momentarily he forgot where he was or what he had been doing.
"Oh my gosh, Jessie!"
They both turned to see Kitty waddling across the hall, heavily pregnant, one hand on her back, "I've been searching all over the place for you, you were meant to be napping. Where have you been?!"
Remy looked at the girl, who was suddenly looking very guilty and very worried that she was about to be punished. "She couldn't sleep," he said, before Jessie could speak, "so I took her out for a lil' walk on the grounds. I made sure she was well suited up for the cold..." he pointed to her bodywarmer and scarf."
"Oh..." Kitty said, she looked somewhat distressed. "Jessie, go upstairs and change your clothes for dry ones," she instructed, gesturing to the girls damp clothes.
Jessie nodded and hurried up the stairs without saying anything, her bare feet making light soft thudding on the stairway carpet.
"Don't do that to me, seriously...just...don't go running off without saying anything..." Kitty sighed deeply, "I've been worried sick..."
"Stop stressin', petit. She's fine..."
"She's not fine. Her clothes are soaked at the back, what the hell were you doin', lettin' her make snow angel's?"
"What if I was?" he shrugged. "Isn't that what she should be doing? Playing in the snow?"
"If she gets a cold..."
"She won't get a cold," Remy frowned.
Kitty folded her arms, "it's not that I don't trust you, you know I do. It's just...kids are different from us adults, Remy. You should remember that, you were a kid once yourself. They don't have the immune systems we have – having her out in the cold like this for any length of time and she could end up with pneumonia..."
"Yes, I know, okay?" he asked, slightly irritated now. He didn't like being confronted about these issues, especially when he was taking the blame for something that wasn't his fault.
"Well...in future, if I send her for a nap and she can't sleep and you feel like taking her somewhere, at least just tell me. And don't take her out in cold weather and snow and rain...for gods sake, Remy. You're a couple of years from thirty, you should be able to behave responsibly for once in your life."
"You wanna talk responsibility?!" he demanded. He was about to bring up the subject of her pregnancy to a boy who she intended to neither date nor marry or involve in the child's life. He thought better of it and quickly changed the subject, "y'know what...if it makes you feel any better, I just won't spend any more time with her, okay? Then you never gotta worry again," he remarked coldly towards her. Without another word, he took off upstairs. He heard her calling on him but ignored it, he wasn't in the mood for arguments.