4. How would you remember me?
The idea struck Cecilia later that day, when she was simply sitting around with a glass of water. She had been around John, Bobby and Kitty for the better part of the day. As the kitchen had been empty, it was her sanctuary for the moment, since her room – the one she shared with Kitty and Rogue – was not empty.
She contemplated the idea of suddenly not being around the people she had grown to like. The one's that seemed to bring out all kinds of strange feelings in her. John, who made her laugh so hard her stomach hurt. Bobby, who was about the sweetest person she'd ever met, with his charm and easy way of nature he was a delight to be around; so relaxing. And then Kitty, with her shy, bubbling personality who made her feel alive and accepted. There was something about this house, these people, that made Cecilia grateful for having been a part of it. No matter how briefly it would be.
She could taste what was coming, and it made her heart tumble in her chest.
Rogue looked up as Logan suddenly stood next to her. She made a face of pain, she knew it; she could see her reflection in his eyes.
"What happened, kid?" he asked her nonchalantly. Rogue looked away as he sat down next to her.
"The professor was mad at me," she said, looking away from him and out the train window.
"Who told you that?" he asked.
"A boy at school."
They were quiet for a while and then she looked back at him, which he seemed to notice as he looked intently at her.
"Do you think I should go back?" she asked him, honestly wanting his advise.
"I think you should follow your instincts," he said gently. Rogue could feel the beginning of tears in her eyes, the lump in her throat suddenly grown to beyond full size and almost making her choke.
"The first boy I ever kissed, he ended up in a coma for three weeks. I can still feel him inside my head. And it's the same with you," she continued, remembering the early morning when she'd tried to wake him from the nightmare. He'd pierced her through with his left hand claws, and she had been near death. Just when he held her, she remembered seeing him heal from the injuries when Storm and scot saved them. She'd reached out and touched him with her bare hand, his powers transferring into her for the moment, helping her heal. No, wrong, healing her completely. She'd never have made it through if it wasn't for him. It had barely been a day since then. It felt like weeks...
Tears started streaming down her face, and Logan pulled her against his shoulder. "There are not many people out there that would understand what you're going through, but think this guy Xavier is one of them. He seems to, genuinely, want to help you, and that's rare for people like us."
The lights started flickering, and Logan reacted fast. He stood up and looked around.
On the other side of the cart stood a man with a helmet, Rogue could see him as Logan extended his claws.
"You must be Wolverine," the man said with a slight chuckle.
Rogue watched as Logan went into attack mode – she'd seen it once before. But as the man at the other end of the cart moved his hand, Logan froze, and it almost seemed like he was hanging by some invisible string, his claws moving apart. Rogue could read the pain clear across Logan's face.
"What do you want with me?" Logan spat out with tremendous effort.
The man looked at him and smiled. "You? My dear boy, whoever said I wanted you?" he asked seriously and looked at Rogue.
Oh no, she thought and got up to run.
She didn't get far until she felt something hit the back of her neck. The next ting she knew she was falling aimlessly to the floor, the world becoming a black and grey haze.
"Hey," Bobby said as he entered the kitchen.
"Hi," Cecilia answered, looking at him with a slight feeling of fear in the pit of her stomach. He opened the fridge and stood there, his back to her, looking into the depth of the fridge. "Bobby?"
The tone of her voice would have made her look like that too, if it was directed at her. Her own nerves seemed to shine through pretty well right then.
"Yeah?" he said, pushing the door shut as he turned around.
She felt something go stiff inside of her. "I know this is a strange and sort of silly question, but how would you remember me? I mean, if something happened and we didn't have the chance to get to know each other better...?"
He looked at her, his deep eyes suddenly filled with a deep sorrow and worry. It was emotions her own face would be displaying, if she had the guts to admit she was scared.
"Why do you ask?" He leaned against the other side of the counter.
"Just something I was thinking about."
"I think I would remember you, as a pretty remarkable person. Someone I was sorry not to get to know further," he said, his eyes looking deep into hers. She could feel herself fill with the scent of elderberry blossoms again.
"Hey," John said, coming in through the same door Bobby had just come through. Cecilia smiled at him. "What are you two talking about?"
"I just asked Bobby how he would remember me, if he didn't get the chance to get to know me better."
"That's easy," John said, looking into her eyes. Bobby looked at John and shook his head.
"I'm'nna go see if they heard from Rogue," he said, picking up an apple on his way out.
"How is that easy?" Cecilia smiled at him, suddenly feeling more at ease now that Bobby wasn't around to hear any more.
John stepped around to where she was sitting with her glass of water, a strange kind of smirk on his face. "You might just be one of the-" he eyed her intently. "-sexiest women I have ever met, but that's not what makes it easy," he said, shaking his head as the smirk slowly faded. "What makes it easy is that you are the only person who has ever," his smirk grew back. "And I mean ever, been able to stun me into silence, the only women who's made me-"
John suddenly stopped, his eyes glazing over and he fell backwards. Cecilia looked at him, that sick feeling in her stomach finally reaching a high point. She looked up with a bitter taste in her mouth and a foul taste in her mouth.
"Took you long enough to dare come in here," she told the man with the dart gun. He fired a shot at her. The dart stuck in her shoulder and she glared at him.
"Aow," she said angrily before she started falling forward, the last thing she saw was the top of the counter coming closer at a scare pace.
Bobby entered the room, looking at Scott and Remy. "Excuse me, but did you hear anything from Rogue?" he asked.
They furrowed their brows and then he heard why.
"You said he wanted me!" he heard Logan more or less growl.
"I made a terrible mistake," said the muffled voice of the professor. "His helmet was some how designed to block my telepathy. I couldn't see what he was after until it was too late," the professor continued.
"Where are you going?" Storm called out.
Bobby looked at the doors, waiting for them to any minute burst open.
"I'm going to find her!" Logan spat.
"How?" the professor asked coolly.
"The traditional way; look!"
Bobby stood completely still beside Remy, the only other remaining person in the room. "When did you get back?" he hissed under his breath.
"A few hours ago," he hissed back.
"-can't do this alone!" they heard Storm call.
"Who's' gonna help me? You? S far you've done a bang up job!" Logan roared.
Bobby looked up as John staggered into the room. Bobby was at his side and helped hold him steady. "What happened?" he asked.
John held out his arm. "They need to know."
Bobby, John and Remy burst through the doors. Everyone looked at them, surprised.
"Cecilia's been kidnapped," John managed to stutter before he passed out. Bobby, holding onto him pretty hard, toppled over along side John as he went limp.
"Fight with us," Storm said. Bobby looked up at them and for the first time he saw Logan really look at him.
"There's a whole world out there," Logan said, looking back at Storm. "People who hate and fear you, and you're wasting your time trying to protect them... If it wasn't for Rogue, I'd say no."
"I just saw Cecilia, they can't have gone far," Bobby said, his voice a little higher than he would have liked.
Cecilia woke up to see Rogue passed out against the other wall. She looked around in a hurry, looking from Rogue to – uh-oh!
On top of a crate sat a man, his skin tone a sick shade of green and his crouch looking a lot like that of a toad, or a frog.
"Wakey, wakey," he said, his voice cracked and filled with contempt. She was weak, tired, confused. She'd been given something, a drug of some kind. The room was suddenly very shaky under her.
She noted the statue of liberty outside the window and realized why she felt so wobbly. They were on a boat!
"Magnificent, isn't she?" the man said, the other man that she hadn't seen. Rogue was coming to opposite her, glaring up at him.
"I've seen it," Cecilia and Rogue said at once, sharing a smile as they did.
"I saw it first in 1949. America was going to be the land of tolerance, of peace," he droned on. Even though Cecilia didn't like him much, in fact she thought he was about the dumbest thing she'd ever met, kidnapping two girls, he had a point that hit home.
The world was in uproar as the mutants were coming out all over the place, the debate raged on everywhere. The idea of having mutants register was a dumb one, and Cecilia didn't understand the need to control evolution all of a sudden. People were strange, and no doubt was it like the second coming of World War Two. She'd read the headlines on the internet. 'World war 2 – part 2!' Some stated the issue with pride, other with concern. But no matter what, what the man in front of her was telling them had her mind in a whirl. She didn't fully understand what he was saying, but she sure as hell didn't like it.
"So, you're saying- I'm going to die?" Rogue asked, her voice trembling.
"Hey!" Kitty hit his cheek harder. "Come on John, open your eyes," she said stubbornly as she patted his cheek again.
Remy sat on a chair by the side of John's bed and Bobby was pacing the floor.
"Would you stop that?" Remy asked, his Cajun accent suddenly palpable.
"Sorry," Bobby said, stopping himself mid stride.
"It's okay," Remy said, waving away the apology. Kitty looked at him, and her face scrunched.
"I don't know what to do any more. Did all of them leave?"
"Not all of them," Bobby said. "But all the one's with the medical experience."
"That sucks," Kitty said, taking a step back and sitting down on the bed next to John's. She looked at Remy. "You think you could zap him back to life?" she smiled, half joking, half serious.
"I have my doubts that would make anything better, chere," Remy replied. She noticed how wide his Cajun accent had suddenly gotten, the French making her spine shiver.
"I don't think it could get any worse," Bobby said. He'd tried to cool John off, making him wake up from a startling chill. But it hadn't helped. Kitty had tried everything she knew to make people wake up. She's even shouted at him that he was a girl scout. He hadn't as much as flinched.
"If he never wakes up, I blame the two of you."
Remy removed the glove from his right hand and reached out to John's hand. Their skin barely touched before John's skin seemed to crackle a little from the current. His eyes flew open and he gasped for air.
"What the hell was that?" he shouted. He then looked to his side, the side Remy was on and a wave of understanding washed over him.
He relaxed back against the pillows. "Welcome back, man," he said, suddenly looking exhausted.
"How you doing?" Kitty asked him.
"They fucking shot me, so I'm peachy," John said in a voice close to acid.
"No need for that," the professor said, suddenly in the doorway.
"Sorry," John mumbled.
"Have you heard anything?" Bobby asked quickly.
"I have. They're almost there now, and it seems Cecilia is sending out her signature all over the place in hope of help."
Kitty looked from Bobby to John, both of them wearing a 'that's my girl' kind of smile. She shook her head and even if she wasn't a seer, she predicted trouble.
"HELL NO!" Cecilia shouted as the green man held her, forcing her forward. "There is no way in hell I am going to let you do this to her!"
"Let us?" the green man chuckled. "Like you have a choice."
"What do you need me for anyway, huh? What am I going to be doing?" she spat.
"You, dearest," the older man said. "You are the key to make sure we are not discovered."
Cecilia felt like laughing out loud, falling over on the floor and laughing her heart out. "Well, too bad," she smirked. "I already sent out my signature for miles around. I had a few hours to do it, remember? You should really have made sure that drug worked a little better!" she said triumphantly.
The man, she'd learned his name was Magneto, looked at her with cold contempt. "Chain her to the railing," he smiled wickedly. "So she can watch her friend die."
"NO! NOOO!" she cried out, looking helplessly as they dragged Rogue up the stairs to the machine. The man in the shade of green, Magneto called him Toad, chained her to the railing. He seemed almost apologetic as he did.
Cecilia cried, loosing focus for the minutes she heard Rogue cry out for them to stop – she was handcuffed to the machine and unable to move. Cecilia knew what was coming next, Magneto would touch her, give her a bit of his power and then they would power up the machine. All because of the summit on Ellis Island and the discussion of the mutant question. It seemed so stupid, so ignorant to do this to helpless people, people who had never harmed anyone, or that was what she assumed anyway.
That's when she saw the mist rolling in, and heard the sound of engines.
She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
They had come for them!
Rogue screamed for all she was worth while Magneto touched her, the pain of his life force forcing it's way into her shooting through her. The long toothed man smiled at her, holding onto Magneto.
Suddenly Magneto growled at the other man to go, and Rogue felt hope. That was, until she passed out.
Cecilia could hear the fight, but couldn't quite see it. If she had been able to, she might have been able to blank the sabre toothed guys senses, making him loose footing. Instead, she looked up at Rogue, who had passed out several minutes earlier. The shining, shimmering white light was growing around the machine and Cecilia felt worried like never before. She thought of Bobby and John, of Kitty and Jubilation, of all the people she knew, of all the mutants that would be targeted thanks to Magneto. Thanks to this evil little plan.
As rage flowed through her, she looked at the weak figured she assumed was Magneto. He had that damn helmet on – maybe it could block her?
And then it came to her.
She'd never done it before, but she saw Logan was getting close, he was so close he could get to Rogue and save her, if the machine just halted for a little while, throwing them all of for a moment. She heard Scott's voice, he was calling out for her.
"HERE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Scott looked to handsome in the uniform, his dark hair tussled and his glasses seeming to glow. He hurried up to her and aimed at the chains. The ray of red cut them off and she smiled at him.
"Are you okay?" he yelled over the noise.
"I'm still weak, but I need you to do something for me!" she yelled back.
"What?" He looked doubtful.
"I need you to catch me when I faint!"
John looked at Bobby where he sat on his own bed, apparently able to read despite everything. "Do you think they're okay?"
"I dunno. I hope so."
John looked out the window, remembering the smell of cherries. "Me too."
Cecilia zoned in on Rogue, tried to find her essence across the distance moved past all the sticky scents, the cold and hard minds, pushing through until she found the soft smell of chocolate and maple syrup. Sure enough, that was Rogue.
At first, she tried to numb her smell – which seemed to work.
Cecilia was already shaking in Scott's arms. He didn't say anything, but she could feel him steady her.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
She pushed a little further, making Rogue blind, mute. By then she was gasping with the strain of it all. It was too great a distance...!
She pulled herself up, feeling the understanding in Rogue's mind as Cecilia made herself known, trying to imprint on her what she was trying to do.
Slowly, Cecilia shut off every one of Rogue's senses. The logic didn't falter – Magneto had said that it was Rogue's powers that would make her the fuel for the machine. It was only logical that if her powers suddenly stopped working, as well as the rest of Rogue's senses, the machine would stop working.
With her forehead clammy with sweat, her muscles shaking at the strain, her head pounding like a jack hammer and her heart beating way too fast, she pushed hard, closing her eyes and turning everything in Rogue off.
She found her powers, and put a wall around them, putting them in a box that would act like a concrete bunker for a while. She made sure the locks were on tight on the bunker before she dared to open her eyes. Magneto was raging mad, almost jumping up and down, as the machine puled back, slowly stopping.
Cecilia saw Logan make his move, before she felt Scott gather her to him, holding her tight. She smiled, and let herself let go.