Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 19
Chapter 1: His Kiss
Remy LeBeau was barely breathing, his heart thudding so hard in his chest that it might explode under the pressure. It had all happened so fast, the passion of the moment. Her touch bringing a euphoria so incredible it had been like the first time he'd ever made love, everything so new and exciting. He'd been so carried away.
And then the kiss…that sweet kiss, and the taste of Rogue's soft lips upon his. It had all seemed so perfect for a moment, but it had all gone so suddenly wrong. She'd pulled away at first, and was still, eyes wide as if she were seeing something with absolute terror.
And then she collapsed, she was convulsing violently across the floor, her eyes were wide open, flickering between black and red. Kicking and screaming. Her screams were loud, agonising even to hear, he could not imagine what kind of pain she was but it was clear it was more torturous than he understood.
"Chere, what is it?!" Remy asked, he had a hold on her arms, he was trying to hold her still but it was impossible, she kept knocking him away unintentionally, she was too strong for him, and he was failing in calming her down.
"What's going on?!" the door flew open, Logan was there, his hair mussed, his eyes bleary, his claws extracted, he had thought someone might be subject to some kind of attack.
"I don't know…" Remy was on the floor straddling Rogue trying to grip on to her arms successfully, "she's having some kind of…attack…" Rogue was halfway rising into the air then dropping again, her powers of flight seemed to beyond her control.
"Get her to the hospital wing!" Logan growled, "don't just leave her there like that!"
Remy was hit squarely in the jaw by the side of Rogue's hand and he was thrown halfway across the room by her strength, he could taste blood in his mouth, he'd bitten his own tongue, "she's too strong! She keeps fightin' me off!"
Piotr rushed into the room, still in his metallic form, he looked confused, "what is the matter, I heard screaming."
"Pete, get her to the hospital wing, now!" Logan said, "I'm gonna wake Hank, that's if he's not already awake."
Remy watched Piotr pick up Rogue, who was fighting violently, eyes closed, it was almost as if she were fighting something she couldn't really see. It was disturbing to see her this way, and what was more frightening was that he knew it was his fault.
As they entered the Hospital Wing, Remy noted Psylocke was stationed on a bed, Jean Grey was tending to her in an unconscious state. The woman was out cold, her long silken plum tinted hair splayed out over the pillow beneath her head, her eyes closed lightly. It might have been the first time Remy LeBeau had ever seen the lethal woman so peaceful.
"What's happening?" Jean asked as Piotr put Rogue on one of the empty beds, watching as the woman still fought.
"She's taking some kind of fit," Remy replied, his heart still thudding within his chest, he could barely breathe in panic.
Jean left Psylocke and rushed over to the bed Rogue was upon, "how long has she been convulsing?" she asked, she pulled on a pair of surgical gloves.
"About four minutes," Remy wiped the blood from his mouth, he felt at a loss, he wasn't a medical expert, and knew next to nothing about seizures. Helpless, he stood there, frozen as he watched Jean and Piotr.
Piotr held Rogue down to the best of his ability, Jean leaned over Rogue, pried her eyes open to examine them further.
"Pupils aren't dilated," Jean stated, she examined closely. "Remy, what was she doing when it started?"
Remy could not find his voice, how could he tell them that he'd caused the seizure with a kiss? Never before had HIS kiss been the deadly problem in his relationship with Rogue. Everything seemed to have been turned around the second he'd kissed her.
"REMY!" Jean cried at him, but got no response, sighing she continued to try and tend to Rogue, grabbing a stethoscope from the nearby cabinet she tried to further examine Rogue, but was finding it difficult with when the woman wouldn't keep still long enough for her to put it against her skin. "Piotr, keep her still, please…" Jean pleaded.
"I can barely hold her down!" Piotr cried, Rogue was raising into the air again, the braid in her long hair whipped around as her head shook back and forth in the seize. Her arms trembling under Piotr's powerful grasp.
Nearby, the medicine cabinet doors exploded off, and Jean ducked a piece of wood, "what's going on?!" she demanded.
Remy barely heard the sound of exploding wood, and was barely aware if he made it happen or not.
The clock on the wall exploded with a strange twang, a spring bounced past Piotr, and a battery hit Jean's shoulder.
"Remy! You need to get out of here, now! Before you end up blowing us all up!" Jean cried at Remy. She would have tried to get it into his head but she doubted even getting into his mind would help his condition, "REMY!"
But Remy was barely able to comprehend, still frozen in the terror of what was happening to Rogue there on that bed as Piotr and Jean tried desperately to help her.
"Can you contact her telepathically?!" demanded Piotr who was still struggling to hold the woman down as much as he could. One kick from Rogue had misshapen the bottom of the bed.
Jean closed her eyes, concentrating on trying to slide into Rogue's mind using her telepathic abilities. But it were almost as if she was hitting a wall, she could not penetrate it at all, "I can't! She's somehow blocking me!" she tried again, but no attempt seemed to be getting her any further, "Maybe the professor can break through this…mental wall…"
As suddenly as it had begun, the seizure ended, and Rogue stopped fighting with Piotr, she seemed to go limp so suddenly, she dropped down to the mattress, her arms falling lifelessly off the sides of the bed. She seemed so incredibly still that it seemed as if she might have fallen into death.
"Chere!" Remy finally found his nerve and rushed over to her, "is she alright?" he was so petrified that Jean would tell him she was dead, he felt close to having his heart break. He'd never been so scared in his life. And thoughts to a time when Rogue had been lying on this very bed in the hospital wing, lying so very still and so very deathlike, crossed upon his mind again. He remembered the panic the first time, the tears he'd wept and the anger he'd felt with himself.
Jean felt for a pulse, even through the flimsy surgical gloves, she could feel a pulse, "racing pulse," she said. She unbuttoned the first three buttons of Rogue's pyjama top and pressed the stethoscope against her chest, "heartbeat is very strong…"
"What happened?!" Hank asked as he rushed into the hospital wing wearing nothing more than his bedtime boxer shorts, "Logan said Rogue was taking some kind of seizure."
"She's stopped," Jean said, "but she's unconscious…" she took the stethoscope off and placed it down on the nearby cabinet, "I can't get into her mind to check her mental condition…"
Remy took a hold of Rogue's gloved hand within his, "chere…" he whispered, tears piercing his eyes.
"Remy, for now, it is best you are not here…" Hank looked at Remy with a serious expression.
"But—" Remy tried, but was unsure of what his response would have been.
"I'll keep you updated," Hank promised, he patted Remy's back, "for now…go…it would be best to get some sleep. You've just come back from a mission, you must be exhausted – and you're hurt…" he gestured to the bruises on Remy's shoulder.
"I don't CARE about bein' hurt or exhausted," Remy retorted, "I can't leave her!" Remy gripped onto Rogue's hand, refusing to let go. He looked upon her face, she seemed worn, but peaceful. Thoughts kept rushing through his mind, what if he left her and something happened, what if the unthinkable should happen? It terrified him but those thoughts would not leave his mind.
Logan entered into the room, "do what he says, Cajun. You can't help her, they can…" he said warningly in a gruff tone.
"You leave!" Remy cried at the smaller man, "I'm not leaving her!"
"Logan…you're not helping," Jean sighed, realising Logan was only seeming to make Remy more angry than before. She watched Logan shrug and leave the room, but give a concerned glance over his shoulder at Rogue before he disappeared.
With a trembling hand, Remy moved a stray lock of Rogue's hair carefully away from her cheek being so careful and tender as to not let his flesh brush against her flawless skin. The words 'your fault' kept ringing through his mind over and over again in an angry heated chant.
"Remy…" Jean touched his bare shoulder tenderly, "I know you're scared…" she said softly, "You're afraid that something might happen while you're not with her…I promise, she's not going to die…her pulse is strong…"
"You don't KNOW!" Remy spat in her face, "You might be telepathic but you can't predict the future! You know nothing…" His thoughts screamed at him still 'your fault'.
"Remy, you can't BE in here while we examine her," Hank said.
"Why do I have to leave?" He demanded, "why can't he!?" he pointed at Piotr.
"We need him to hold her down if the seizures should begin again. Your relationship with Rogue is not helping, you'll only get in the way, Remy, Please go," Jean pleaded.
"Make me," Remy spat in her face once again. He frowned, his eyes flashing a dangerous red.
Jean wiped his spit off of her face, "fine," she said, she raised her hands and caught him in a telekinetic grasp that lifted him off of feet, she began to guide him through the open door, she dropped him outside the door, and then slammed the door with her telepathic powers, locking it.