Collision
Chapter 1: One Day
The morning came all too soon for Rahne Sinclair. After a night spent keeping the new recruits at the Institute out of order, she finally managed to go to bed around two in the morning. As the alarm went off at seven, she let out a loud moan into her pillow.
This was the typical day for Rahne, she came to find out quickly after she became an instructor at the Institute. Once she had turned eighteen, she found her way back from Scotland to finish up high school at Bayville High and soon was recruited to become an instructor alongside a few of her other team mates. The day consisted of waking up much too early for her liking, making sure the young recruits didn't kill themselves or anyone else and running drills and exercises outside or in the Danger Room. It was the best job that she could have ever imagined.
"Good morning to you, too?" A male voice came from next to her and a moment later, the alarm stopped. Rahne didn't even move her head as she said (while still crushing her face against the pillow), "Don't joke around with me, Rob. I'm so tired."
Rolling onto her back, Rahne scooted closer to the man in bed beside her, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder. "Doesn't this remind you of the morning after we got married?" Roberto asked with a laugh and Rahne shrugged her shoulders, glancing down to look at the two rings on her left ring finger. "How so?"
"The fact that we had to get up and teach a training session the morning after we got married," The Brazilian teased. Rahne took a deep breath and let a smile cross her face. That night was something that meant the entire world to her; what started as a date that night to get dinner and Roberto proposing, they decided to get married that night… which resulted in a night full of laughs trying to pick out wedding bands and finding a judge who would agree to marry them at the last minute. Thankfully, her husband had connections beyond her wildest dreams and before she knew it, she was Rahne Sinclair-da Costa.
They left the Institute that night as a couple of four months and came back several hours later as husband and wife. Everyone had been so surprised by the suddenness of the marriage, but they all accepted it and congratulated the couple. Some took it better than others, but everyone came to accept it after a few days. They were family, after all.
"Are we doing the right thing?" Rahne suddenly asked. Roberto sat up in their bed, leaning against the back of it as he looked down at his wife. "What do you mean?"
"Moving away from here," She replied. "This has been our home since we were teenagers. Doesn't it just feel… I don't know, strange?"
Rahne's head turned to look over at the multiple boxes lined against their wall that they had started packing their belongings in. The move from Scotland to the United States had been hard enough on her as a teenager, and she found that her nerves moving from the United States to an entirely new place was just as frightening. Roberto leaned down and pressed his lips gently against hers. "You are going to love Brazil. I have no doubt in my mind. Besides, getting away from here is exactly what we need. Like you said, we've been here since we were teenagers… isn't it time to leave and explore the world and see what it has in store for us outside of Bayville?"
Rahne mumbled quietly as he climbed out of bed, rolling in the sheets until she was in the middle of the bed, watching him as he slipped an undershirt over his bare chest. "Can't you just stay in bed with me?" She asked quietly.
Roberto gave a laugh. "Now, that would be Heaven, my love," He replied, leaning down to give her a peck on the forehead. "But we both have things to do today… you have a training session with the new recruits in a few hours and I have to be on my way to the airport."
"The airport?" Rahne questioned.
"Sam's coming into town, remember?" Roberto responded, glancing over his shoulder at her while attempting to rummage through the drawer in front of him to find a pair of socks. "I told you last night that his sister couldn't pick him up anymore so I offered. Besides, he is our best friend… I'm not going to leave him stranded or make him take a taxi. Besides, it's just a short drive from here. I'll be back before you know it."
"What time is his flight? I'll come with you," Rahne said, rolling onto her back.
"He lands right as your training session starts… but we'll have plenty of time to all hang out tonight at dinner," Roberto flashed Rahne a smile. "What time do you have to get out of here?" The redhead asked, undoing the covers from around her body and throwing her legs over the side of the bed.
"I don't have to be out of here for another hour or so… I have to run some errands before I pick Sam up, and then I have to stop at the lawyer's office to sign some papers for our new house. But that won't take long." Roberto turned around to face his wife and stopped moving, his eyes never leaving her.
It took her a moment to realize why he wouldn't look away from her and she gave a soft laugh. Her usual outfit for the night was an oversized shirt and a pair of sweatpants, but she had went to bed late the night before and had simply slipped out of her clothes and hopped into bed… leaving the Scot with simply a pair of underwear and a lacy bra.
Rahne gave a sly smile as she lifted her hand, using her pointer finger to curl towards her in a way to tell him to come closer. He did as he was told, his own smirk going across his face. "That gives us just enough time to have some time to ourselves," Rahne whispered, pulling down on his shirt forcefully and capturing his lips in a fiery kiss.
Rahne stood in the front window pane, watching with a smile as Roberto pulled out of the garage in his brand new car ("Why do you need a new car when we are moving in three weeks that you can't even bring with?" Rahne had shouted at him in disbelief. "Because I wanted a convertible?" Roberto's reply had been as he laughed at her anger) and drive through the gates of the Institute.
Rahne pressed her hand gently against the window as she lost sight of the bright red car, taking a deep breath as it disappeared from her sight. She still felt like they were newlyweds and couldn't get enough of each other. She knew that this was what she was meant to do; Roberto was meant to be her husband and she was meant to be exactly where she was… her life was exactly what she had pictured as a little girl.
"Ce que vous pensez?" Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind her. Rahne gave a smile as Remy LeBeau made his way next to her, his arms crossed over his stomach and his eyes also locked on the view through the window.
"You know I don't speak French," Rahne replied quietly, glancing up to look at her fellow coworker. "English, please"
"Deso—oh, sorry," He spoke with a laugh. "Sometimes I forget that no one else speaks French. I miss having someone else whose native language isn't Anglais."
Rahne didn't respond to his last comment. She felt that it wasn't in her place… Kurt had left the Institute a little over two years before and the two hadn't talked or seen each other since then. Given their history, it was probably for the best.
Even though she hadn't spoke to Kurt in years, she still found herself growing more fond of Rogue as time passed. While many of her partners had gone on to live their own lives away from the Institute, Rogue and Kitty had both stayed to become instructors… and sometimes, Kitty was just too peppy for Rahne's liking. Rogue had so much more in common than the Scottish native had with Illinois-born Kitty… their personalities seemed to clash too much otherwise.
"Where is yo' man headed?" Remy asked.
"He had to go out and get some more boxes to pack up the bedroom… we're going to ship stuff to the house next week," Rahne spoke, a smile going wide across her face. "He's picking up Cannonball afterwards."
"I don't see you in Brazil," Remy murmured. Rahne raised an eyebrow and he glanced down, continuing what he was thinking. "You just don't seem the type o' woman that would enjoy it."
"I'll enjoy wherever I am with Rob," Rahne replied with a shrug of her shoulders. Remy gave a soft sigh, turning his head to look back out the window.
"It was really brave of you to leave Magneto to come here and be with Rogue," Rahne said suddenly, still looking out of the window.
"Cherie, it's the things you do for love," Remy replied, throwing his arm loosely around her shoulders. "Besides, it's not like he could do much about it. He was never there… it was just Remy and John, who enjoyed lighting things on fire way too much for Remy's liking."
"You make it sound like you just wanted to get away from them," Rahne murmured, leaning into his arm as he gave a laugh. "I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my days with Rogue. I figured I might as well start somewhere."
"Do you ever regret it?" Rahne whispered.
"Best choice of my life, mon amie," Remy responded instantly, a smile going wide across his face.
"Then you have no need worrying about me, my friend," Rahne replied, giving him a pat on the back. "You said it yourself… it's the things you do for love."
"Yeah, yeah… Remy got your point," He responded with a laugh. After a moment of silence he said, "C'mon, our duties don't start for another hour an' a half. Let's grab some café an' you can show Remy pictures of this mansion your husband speaks about so often in Rio."
"With pleasure," Rahne replied with a laugh, linking her arm through his as the two made their way towards the kitchen.
Training sessions usually didn't take as long as this one did, but Rahne found that today's session should simply be the recruits having fun and learning fun uses with their powers… so she constructed a friendly game of dodgeball in the quad in front of the mansion. Rahne stood to the side with a whistle in her hand, watching the children as they laughed and tried desperately to make their team win the game.
Rahne, the familiar telepathic voice of Charles Xavier flooded her mind and Rahne jumped in surprise at the suddenness of his words. I would like you to please come to my office.
Can it wait? I'm in the middle of making sure the new recruits don't kill themselves. Rahne responded, watching carefully as one of the new recruits jumped high into the air to miss the ball thrown his way, stomping back down onto the ground and leaving a giant hole in his wake. Rahne sighed to herself and yelled, "You have detention tonight for that, Lucas! I told you last time that you couldn't put any more holes in the ground."
"Sorry, Mrs. Da Costa!" Lucas responded with a laugh.
I'm sorry, but this can't wait, Xavier replied. Rahne sighed to herself and grabbed the whistle that hung around her neck. "Kitty, you're in charge for a bit. Charles wants to see me," The redhead said. Kitty nodded her head, phasing through a dodge ball that was 'accidently' tossed her way.
Rahne jogged back to the mansion, making sure to stop in front of one of the many mirrors to fix her hair. Thanks to a recruit whose ability was controlling the wind, it looked terrible and Rahne very much disapproved. After taking a moment to primp herself, she walked up the stairs and turned the corner to his office.
Standing outside the office was Remy, leaning against the wall with his head down and his hair covering his face. "Remy," Rahne called, jogging the rest of the way to him. "Did the Professor want to see you, too?"
Remy lifted his head to look at her and without a word, jumped from his spot against the wall so he was right next to her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling the Scottish girl close to his body.
"Aucun mot ne peut exprimer comment je regrette pour votre perte," Remy murmured into her hair, his arms wrapped tight around her small frame. "Vous pouvez toujours venir à moi et je serai ici pour vous n'importe quoi-"
"Calm down, Frenchie; I don't speak Cajun," Rahne said with a giggle as she pulled out of his arms. "What're you going on about?" Remy's look took her by surprise as he simply stared at her, looking completely bewildered. "Mon dieu," He said quietly, biting down on his lip. "Remy shouldn't have said anything…"
"What shouldn't you have told me?" Rahne asked, feeling goosebumps running up her arms. Remy opened his mouth to speak once more, but the door to Xavier's study opened and there stood Rogue. Rahne could instantly tell something had happened that she clearly didn't know about after seeing the tears prominently located in her friend's eyes.
"Rahne?" The red head made her way into the office as she heard Xavier calling her name. The door closed behind her and Rahne took a moment to gather her surroundings. Charles was sitting at his desk with Ororo on one side sitting on the edge of the desk and Logan on the other side, leaning against the wall with his arms across his chest. Looking over her shoulder, she locked eyes with Rogue, who had tears in her eyes and seemed to be fighting them from falling.
"Please, sit down," Xavier told her quietly and Rahne obliged, sitting down on the chair directly in front of his desk. "Sir, did… did I do something?" Rahne asked quietly.
"No… no, Rahne, you did absolutely nothing wrong," Xavier replied, almost too quickly for her liking. "Then what's going on?" She asked.
It took him a moment to respond, but after taking a deep breath, he seemed to gather the courage to speak. "Rahne, there's been an accident."