Disclaimer: Hey, look, for my birthday, Stan Lee and Avi Arad gave me X-Men Evolution! Wait, it was a dream…damn it, gotta lay off the ice cream before bed…anyway, the point is, I don't own X-Men Evolution, nor will I ever do. I don't make money off this story, just reviews. So review…
Author's Notes: I'm sure a LOT of you will be mad that it took so long to update this fic. The truth of the matter is, after I updated this chapter last, I had a round of summer school where I had to do Physics 20, because I couldn't do it in my normal schedule…So long story short. I had to study and what not, so I couldn't update much. Plus, I was focused on getting out the first chapter of Underground Resistance X all punched out. It took three parts to do it. But I'm taking coldquuen's advice and making the whole shebang up to the prologue Part I and making everything after Part II, that should help some, savvy? Oh, yeah, and I won't be working on anything from August 14 to August 20 as I will be away at a camp I go to each summer. I will have a three day window to write some more, before I head to BC for our family vacation. I'll have my laptop to write fics, but I won't be able to update, as I'll have no Internet access. You can however, expect a lot of updates when I get back. I am gonna die without fanfiction, I think. I'm gonna really have to play catch up for the next while…sigh…
Okay, to remind you of what has happened, because I'm sure you all can't remember after SO long. Basically, John remembers back to movie night with the gang of Remy, Kurt, Rogue, Kitty, Piotr and himself where they watched LotR. There, Remy made some Remy like observations about their choice in movies reflecting their personalities. There was a Kiotr and Romy moment. John creeps them out with the fire obsession. Kurt has a bit of a hissy fit about the guy who plays Zidler in Moulin Rouge and the guy that plays Otto on Malcolm in the Middle. Then there was a massive DR session. With DR stuff. All the X-Men were in it, it was a bitch to type. I really won't go into that. Basically they were on different teams with the same objective, with the teachers hindering it. The last ones standing were Wolvie, Remy's team and Rogue's team. Wolvie and Remy have a violent fight in which Wolvie bites it when Remy explodes a whole wall on him…big ouch for Logan. Piotr and John find flag, only they are intercepted by Rogue's team. A battle ensues, but Rogue is the last one standing with flag, but she must battle for victory with Remy. After a long battle with many clever maneuvers, change of tides and a dance feel, Remy pushes Rogue out of the ring and takes a victory for his team with John and Piotr, earning the praise of the entire mansion. A month later, we get a surprise visit from some Guild members. Emil and Lapin fight over the laptop while driving and nearly kill Lucas and Tessa, but the message comes through when Henri intervenes…something bad is going down in the Guild, but what? All your questions shall be answered and then some…Plus, we will see what happened to the B-Hood.
Okay, and also because Remy's been at the X-mansion for about a month, he and Rogue have started a sort of strange friendship where they insult, hate each other, like each other, sort of flirt, are nice to each other, are not nice to each other and banter. Yes, it's complicated, but it's Romy we're talking about. There will be a Romy moment at the end. I promise, so basically, this chapter will be, you guessed it, long. Oh, yes, and of course, their relationship will progress, so there's plenty of room for obnoxious flirting and such. They will basically have a really f'ed up relationship, that is unique, strange and chalk full of sexual tension. Things will heat up and the next two chapters will be gems…muawahahahahahaha…I'm not telling what…
Damn, it's been SO long since I last updated, although I hope you've been satisfied by me posting up other things. And if all goes according to plan, I'll have 'The Road to Forever' up soon too. I'd really like to thank each person who reviewed and for giving me the most reviews that this fic has ever received in a chapter. I hope you continue to send me more. I love them. They're awesome.
Shout Outs: OMG, is not allowing us to post up review responses anymore, pretty soon, a petition has been started, if you want it, give me your email! It's totally unfair, I understand the crack down on songfics, but this is ridiculous! It's the only way we can use to communicate with our readers and it's an easy way to let them know we read their responses and just for them to hear our thoughts on what they read. I beg you to support this. My email is simba underscore 317 at hotmail dot com. You know what to do to make it work, just take out the spaces and add an actual underscore, at sign and period. Again, please give me your email so that I can give you the petition.
I love you guys so much for reviewing and I'm so mad that I can't post a response to you individually, because trust me, I really do, but I don't want all the work that I've done over the past six months to be deleted and made null to oblivion. I've already gone crazy and copied all my stories from my document manager and saved them onto my computer so I have my final copies of my stories, since I've sent complaint emails and petitions…
I'm sure a lot of you got into fanfiction because of the reviews and feedback as well as the Inspiration from other fics, and without that, I just don't know if I want to continue as an author. I love taking the time to write the responses before I continue a chapter of my fic because it gets me inspired. I also love reading the responses to my reviews from all of you authors out there. It not only encourages me to review, read and write, it makes me feel good that someone actually took the time to read my insanely long reviews. I guess I'm writing this because I felt so just sad and disappointed not to see a review response from slickboy444's Sinister Soldiers. So I guess, to make you guys feel better and to make myself feel better, I'll just send you guys the response by email. I feel so horrible, and I guess this is the only way to make you guys feel okay and me feel okay. If you didn't get one, it was because I couldn't find your email anywhere.
Thanks to: Ishandahalf, Dannonspring, Nettlez, Cat2fat900, bored247, enchantedlight, HunzaGul, MagCat, and Alexis Ravenlockes. I love you all and I hope this makes up for the lack of acknowledgement you'll be getting thanks to Thanks for reviewing. If you didn't get an email and want one, send me a review with your email on it. I just feel so devastated by this. Just know that I appreciate each and every one of your reviews even though I can't personally respond to them.
Phew, I'm done with the review responses, or I was, they're deleted out...boohoo...anyway, here's the long awaited chapter of A Mutated Existence.
CHAPTER SEVEN: BOIL
Wanda Maximoff woke up with a start. Her sheets were tangled around her sweaty form. The objects around her room began to float ominously. She had the dream again. That dream where everything she thought was real and true in her life was ripped apart and revealed to be nothing more than lies. Wait, it wasn't a lie. It was her life, her sorry existence called life. She wondered what the hell she ever did to deserve this. Was it because she couldn't control her goddamned powers as a child?
She knew it was the reason her 'father' shoved her into the mental institution and forgot about her. What kind of parent does that to a child? The kind that doesn't have time for them when he's hell bent on creating the world in his glorious image. Wanda ran her fingers through her now longish hair. She had allowed it to grow so that it was about five inches long in places with red streaks running through it. Pain seeped from her heart and she promised herself not to cry again, not to give that bastard the satisfaction, that she was weak without him.
But her body did not listen to her brain and tears began to form and trickle down her face. The trickle became a stream and soon she was downright sobbing. How she hated this, hated to be made so frail. The Scarlet Witch gathered her dark blankets and sheets in her lap and brought her knees close to her body, wrapping her bare arms around them and resting her face on her knees, crying out loud. She felt pathetic. She was so fragile.
The objects that had once been swirling in her room fell abruptly back to their original places. Her room was painted a rich blood red and had black wooden frames and thick black carpets as well. She hung fabrics on the wall that were violet, deep blue and red. Posters of her favorite Goth bands were on her walls. Her desk, vanity, couch, shelves of books and CDs, night tables and headboard were all the deepest black. Lamps, vases and other decorations in the room was a brilliant cerulean blue in different shades. Her sheets were black. Her blankets and pillowcase were black too, but with twisty red designs on them. It was a beautifully decorated room; one was to be sure of it.
She heard the door open and close, so fast she barely heard it. On any other day, she would have threatened the intruder, but right now, she was just too anguished to do so. Right now, she felt like she could curl up and die. It wasn't fair that the majority of her life was spent in some hell hole, where she was forced into submission, frightened, weak and malnourished. She never got love, never got affection. All that had once given that to her pushed her to the way side and forgot about her.
Wanda felt a comforting hand rest on the back of her black tank topped torso and a weight added onto her bed.
"It's okay, Wanda," said her twin, Pietro, the same twin which abandoned her. Wanda was too exhausted to brush him off and send him away. Right now, she just wanted to drown in her agony.
"You're not being abandoned again. You're not at the asylum. You're not having your mind altered by dad. You're safe," said Pietro soothingly. The sad thing was, Wanda almost believed him then. She wanted so badly for things to be like they were between her and Pietro when they were children, but it just wasn't the case anymore. He had watched idly as she was taken away and never even saw her over the years of torment she suffered. Wanda didn't want to feel that pain again, to trust him and to have it broken all over again, so she protected her heart by brushing him off and being angry towards him.
"I'm here now. I don't know how many times it'll take, but please Wanda, believe me, I never meant to hurt you and I just want to make things right between us," he said sincerely.
"Y-You let him do this to me," she accused, "he abandoned you, just as he abandoned me, Pietro, and still you trusted him. Still you went to him. H-How many times will it take until you understand that he's just going to use us?"
"I'm so sorry, Wanda. I'm always saying that to you, you know? I understand now. I was confused. He came back, Wanda, after so long. I thought he'd changed. I thought he was different. I wanted to believe that he was going to take care of us again and we could all be happy again," he said sadly, "I went to him because I thought he'd finally have us together again."
Wanda's sobs grew more hysterical. Pietro wrapped his arms around her in comfort. He hadn't done so since they were children and Wanda hadn't let him for the longest time. Maybe they would finally let go of the past and move on. Wanda allowed for her arms to wrap around him too. Maybe for one night, they could forget all the shit that happened in their lives and just be Wanda and Pietro, best friends and twins.
"He stopped being dad a long time ago. He's not Erik Lehnsherr anymore. He's Magneto," whispered Wanda between her tears.
"I know," said Pietro. He was so tired of envisioning his father so great and perfect, like he was when he was a child, when in reality, he wasn't. He was ruthless, cold, calculating and manipulative.
Wanda was tired, tired of not having someone to lean on, to support her. She was tired of being alone. She was tired of having no one to talk to, having no one to understand her. No one to pick her up when she fell down and wipe her tears away when she cried and then, she realized that all along she did have that person, right in front of her, in her long lost twin, Pietro.
Sure, he wasn't perfect, but he was still her brother, one that had missed her terribly over the years. He didn't have his twin, his other half to support him, just as she didn't and they had both suffered from it. She could sense the sincerity in him when he apologized each time. He wanted to make this work between them. He wanted to see their relationship better. He had been persistent. He didn't give up on her. Some days were harder than others, and Wanda couldn't deny that he was starting to crack her shell, that he was slowly, but surely moving into her life and becoming the brother that she had missed dearly all those years.
"I don't want us to fight anymore," said Wanda softly.
Pietro looked back at her and smiled, a smile which was true and sincere, reflecting off his clear blue eyes which were the same shade as his sister's. She smiled back at him, through her tears. Pietro wiped them away. He knew then that they were ready to forge ahead and stop hating each other, that the father that had driven them apart had driven them back together in the end.
"It'll be okay, Wanda," he said.
"I know," replied Wanda.
It had been a long hard two months. In November, awhile after Apocalypse, Magneto had shocked them with his decision. He would continue to fight for his goals at mutant supremacy. He would fight more ruthlessly and cunningly than ever before. All this was because of what he had seen while in Apocalypse's control. He believed it was the only way to see that the world didn't become a hell. It was one of the many futures predicted to them, but the only one that Magneto chose to believe. He had revealed his new goals to them when he had visited that fateful November day, which turned Pietro and Wanda's lives upside down.
The early November air was cold and brutal. The leaves that were left clung rebelliously to the naked trees. Lately, the kids had gone back to school, having been readmitted. It was no picnic though for they were constantly being harassed, teased and abused by the other kids in school, just as the X-Men were. Inside the boarding house, a fairly docile Wanda was watching television with her twin brother and Lance. Todd was jumping around trying to catch some flies and Freddy was paying more attention his sandwich than the television set which was currently showing some Saturday morning cartoons.
The room as usual wasn't much to look at, the paint was peeling in some places, the carpet was stained and the several couches in the room had seen better days. Wanda, Pietro and Lance shared the couch, Fred took up the love seat and Todd jumped around in the background, looking for flies.
Outside the house, an ominous black limo pulled up that would change their fates forever.
Due to the volume of the television, nobody heard it pull up. It wouldn't be noticed until a knock was heard at the door. After much debate, Pietro was given the task of opening it and was met with the face of his father, causing a great scowl to mar his features. After Apocalypse, he and Wanda had assumed that he would come back into their lives and be a better father, not dump them aside completely to focus on his goals for mutant supremacy. He and Mystique were currently in the process of a falling out, having different view points now and Pietro ascertained that this was what the visit was for as his father was not alone.
Clad in a charcoal grey coat and tuxedo black bowler hat, the master of magnetism looked every bit the cold leader, sacrificing all that he had once valued in life. He was flanked by Mystique, Gambit, Pyro and Colossus, the latter there to keep the Brotherhood in check. All wore normal clothes. Mystique wore a pair of long black pants which accentuated her height, a white cotton shirt and a matching black fitted blazer underneath a long navy pea coat looking like a business woman. The rest of the Acolytes wore clothing from their own personal tastes and styles.
Without saying a word, Pietro Maximoff backed away from the door and allowed the group to enter. Attention that had once been on the television had now been sifted to the group entering the room from the entrance to the living room, where the TV was shut off by Magneto as he entered. No one said a word for a moment. The Acolytes blocked off the exit to the main hall, where the stairs to the upper level and main entrance was located, as well as the door to the kitchen was, so that they were trapped in one room with no exits. Colossus blocked the way to the main hall and Pyro and Gambit blocked the way to the kitchen.
Toad moved from jumping around for flies to sitting on the back of Fred's love seat, while Magneto and Mystique removed their jackets and pulled up a pair of chairs from the dining room and set them in front of the television so that they had the full attention of the group. Pietro meanwhile whizzed back from the kitchen with coffee and set it on the coffee table for anyone who wanted it, returning to his seat on the couch with Wanda and Lance.
Wanda's keen eyes took everything in, narrowed slightly, noticing how the Acolytes blocked of all of the exits and trapped them in the one room. She noticed how they all wore casual attire, which was strange as she had only ever seen them wearing their uniforms. She decided that they looked better that way. Right away she checked the boys out before her father began his all important speck. For some reason she could just ascertain their personalities from their stature and clothing style. She could tell that the Russian at the door would rather not be there, but still did his job accordingly. Hell, she could tell that all boys would rather not be working with her father. Still the Russian appeared stoic by nature, one who could easily crush you, but she could tell that he wouldn't do that. His bark appeared worse than his bite. She was sure he was a gentle giant. Colossus was adorable looking with his close cut black hair and piercing blue eyes. When she looked at him, he simply stared back. The boys to the kitchen were a whole other story. She could tell that the boy to the right, Gambit was an absolute flirt, ladies' man and just damned cocky and confident when he strutted in. She could tell he loved to piss people off and get into fights just by the way he carried himself, always on high alert. Wanda had to admit he was absolutely gorgeous, and in a different circumstance, knew he would be flirting with her, and knew that she'd flirt back. He just had that kind of aura about him, an aura of mystery, seduction and allure. When she had looked at him, he had winked at her and smirked, causing her to blush, curse his presence and turn around. The other guy, beside Gambit, was Pyro. He was fidgety and couldn't really stay still. He had a boyish charm and was really cute. When she looked at her, he had sent her a silly grin, one she couldn't help but return. He seemed to be a complete goofball. She could tell right away he was the joker of the group, the one who got into the most trouble in the strangest of circumstances. Even though he appeared happy and oblivious to everything, Wanda knew he was just as dangerous as the other boys, except he appeared friendly, if not slightly off his rocker. Wanda had to admit of all three, John was most her type. Her father's voice interrupted her from her musings of the boys.
"I suppose that you are all curious as to why we are here today, so I'll get right to the point," said Magneto.
"When I was captured by Apocalypse, I along with the others held captive were able to get a glimpse into the possible futures in which Apocalypse saw. The state of the world to which was shown made me realize that I must use all the time I have right now to shape the world so that Apocalypse's vision may never come to pass. The only way this is possible is for me to redouble my efforts," said Magneto, his voice booming with power.
"Furthermore, to do so, I realize that I cannot use you all to help me in anyway. The Brotherhood is young, inexperienced, unorganized, impulsive, incompetent and obnoxious. Not only would you hinder my goals, I cannot ask you to sacrifice the lives you live now to fully realize my goals. I cannot endanger my children in this quest. I need fully skilled, full time recruits, and you are not it," said Magneto.
Mystique gave a sarcastic snort at his comments but Magneto chose to ignore her.
"Yeah, and they are," commented Lance snidely, gesturing to the Acolytes in the room. The Acolytes didn't even move or look angry, just snide that they knew something that he didn't. They didn't need to prove their worth to him.
Magneto chuckled, "You'd be surprised at their abilities. You don't know how good they are until you truly know them, and that, you don't."
"Mystique and I now have conflicting goals and interests, which is why it is in our best interests to part ways. However, as she is still in charge of the Brotherhood, she will look after you. I trust you will enjoy new freedoms under her leadership. That is all. Goodbye," with that, he got up from his chair and prepared to leave. However, the voice of his son stopped him momentarily. (This is like the Evo equivalent of the show, 'The Weakest Link' and the line, 'You are the weakest link, goodbye.')
"So that's it. You just came here to dump us to the way side and forget about us, while you go traipsing around getting your goal of mutant domination. I can't believe you!" started Pietro, his voice thick with venom and rising dangerously, "You use us, don't even apologize and then just push us aside. I can't believe you're even my father! I don't know why I ever fooled myself with the notion that you'd change or even care about us! I don't know why I ever even followed you! All you see is your stupid goal, and we're not even on your agenda anymore! I'm your SON, DAMNIT! All I ever wanted was for you to care, to give me two seconds of your precious time, but all you've ever done was disappoint me time after time by pushing me aside and just going after your foolish goals."
"I do it for you, Pietro," said Magneto softly, unmoved by his son's venomous words. The only way you could tell he was hurt was by the stab of ice in his heart.
"For me, you say," said Pietro, hysterically, he gave a humorless laugh, hollow in sound, "That's rich. I never wanted of this shit. I just wanted you to love me. You used me way too many times. You know, I used to think you were who I wanted to be, my hero. Now, I see you're just a piece of SHIT unworthy of my time. I don't have a father anymore, just a megalomaniac."
"Pietro, take it back, he's your father. He's just looking out for your future," shouted Wanda blindly.
"No, he's not, Wanda, no, he's not," said Pietro viciously.
"You're just jealous because he spent more time with me!" she accused.
Pietro laughed then truly laughed.
"If you knew the truth, Wanda, you'd be even angrier than me," he said cryptically.
"What do you mean?" asked Wanda slowly, confusion on her features; she turned to Magneto, "What does he mean?"
"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this," he said, "I honestly didn't think you were such a spiteful person, Pietro."
"Well, it takes one to know one," said Pietro coldly, "You just don't want her to know the truth, so that you can make yourself feel better about yourself. Tell me how you sleep at night. What kind of parent abandons his own children and locks one away? What kind of parent just separates his children and makes them live alone for so long, makes them suffer because of it, uses them and shoves them away?"
"What the hell are you talking about, Pietro?" asked Wanda, suspiciously.
"You don't remember do you?" said Pietro.
"W-What are you saying?" asked Wanda, she turned to her father again, "What is he saying?"
"He had your memories changed, Wanda, so that you wouldn't go after him anymore for locking you away for years, deprived of human contact. He made it so that you wouldn't remember what a terrible parent he was, what a terrible person he was. He abandoned you and had you locked in an asylum because you couldn't control your powers. He split us apart Wanda," said Pietro, finally revealing the half truths that had been Wanda's life.
"He had Mastermind enter your mind and alter your memories to make it so that he was wonderful, when in reality he was terrible," said Pietro.
And suddenly, for Wanda Maximoff, the dreams made sense, those horrific dreams she would wake up in cold sweat from, where she was bound by a straight jacket, in a cold, dark and dank cell, pleading for her father, Pietro, anybody. She had been so lonely and frightened, and she would scream her voice hoarse, but no one would come, and she'd be stuck, alone and confined. There was nothing but silence, silence, darkness and pain.
"Tell me it isn't true, tell me it isn't true," begged Wanda, her eyes boring into Magneto's.
"I'm sorry," he said.
The illusion broke then and she awoke to the horror, torment and suffering of her years imprisoned in an asylum. She remembered being ripped away, taken from her twin, locked away and forgotten. She remembered crying herself to sleep, the drugs that sedated her, so that she was living in a blurred state of mind, never sure where she was. She remembered being so alone and isolated with no one who cared about her, no one who loved her. She remembered the cackling of the guards as they beat her into submission and took her innocence. She remembered the way the doctors would purposely inflict pain on her battered body. She remembered the feeling of being driven to insanity. She remembers finally realizing that she had been abandoned by her very own father, the one that had the nerve to stand in front of her now and apologize with empty words.
She clutched her head and let out a scream, the painful memories overloading her head, shattering the false truths implanted in her head. Tears fell from her eyes, streaming in steady streaks down her pale face. The Brotherhood tried to come close to her to give her comfort, but she pushed them away acknowledging her father in heart shattering words, with her voice, choked and hoarse, overcome with tears and emotion, "Oh. My. God," she said, looking at him for the first time, seeing him in actuality, "You are not who I thought you were! You are not even human!"
With those words she fled the room into the kitchen, stumbling in so quick, she tripped and fell into Pyro. He helped her up, taking her hand and hoisting her up. In his green eyes, Wanda could see his own pain and hardship and sincerity too, as he said, "I'm sorry," to her. She nodded and fled into the kitchen, running out the back door, bringing in the cold air into the house and leaving the sound of her footsteps as she ran.
"Wanda, Wanda!" cried Magneto, about to go after her. Mystique stopped him.
"You've done enough; she's in my care now. I'm going after her," she said and ran after Wanda.
Mystique fled into the kitchen and out the back door which Wanda had exited a few seconds ago. Magneto moved as if to follow, but the rest of the Brotherhood blocked his way.
Pietro put the final stake through his cold heart, "GET OUT!" he bellowed, red faced, tears in his eyes.
"Pietro," he started.
"GET OUT! I don't want to hear your excuses. This is MY house. Take your precious Acolytes and leave, you hear me? GET OUT! GET OUT!" shouted Pietro.
"Alright then," said Magneto, "You've made it perfectly clear that you don't want me here." Pietro simply scoffed.
"JUST LEAVE!" he said.
Magneto nodded, "So this is how it is." He signaled his Acolytes to leave. They followed him out.
"Mystique will be taking care of you now, so she'll be staying here," he said as he went out the door. Pietro slammed it shut behind him and then darted into his room with his super speed and slammed the door shut.
(I have to say that I'm really proud of this scene. I really just loved the way it turned out. It was really fun and easy to write once I got into it.)
Pietro held onto her sister as she finally let out all her pain and torment built up from so long without true release, just lending her comfort, not saying a word. The silence was somehow better than anything he could phrase into words. Being twins, they just got each other, it was a connection instilled in them from the womb that was destroyed, then mended and strengthened to become whole again.
The two months had changed a lot for them. People were hired and the Brotherhood house was renovated and repaired, feeling more like a real home instead of just a dump, all out of the pocket book of one Raven Darkholme. It was apparent to all those in the Brotherhood that the woman known as Mystique had changed, genuinely changed. She was kinder, gentler and more caring. Her goals in life had changed having truly seen the error of her ways. She became a sort of mother figure, if you will, she had gained more patience with the boys and it paid off in the end. They learned to trust her. World be damned, if they told her though. Perhaps the one thing that hadn't changed was her tormented soul. You knew that she was hanging by a thread and was deeply resentful of herself for all she had done to her children in the past. She wanted nothing more than to repent for her actions now. With her children, she wanted a real relationship. Most of all, she just wanted their forgiveness. Egypt was the most low she had been in her entire life having been rejected so by her children, but she couldn't blame them. She had caused that.
Living at the Brotherhood had become a different lifestyle than before, but Mystique still went on her missions for reasons only known to her. Never once did she tell them what she did on them. However, they knew, knew that it was deep stuff and that most of all she was doing was in some way to repent for her actions towards Kurt and Rogue. Maybe if she did enough good, she'd be able to fully seek their forgiveness when the time came and her children realized that their mother was a changed woman, a compassionate woman. In fact, in the eased tension between the Brotherhood and X-Men, never once had Kurt and Rogue ventured into the boarding house and everyone knew it was because of Mystique. Kurt, Rogue, Kitty and Tabby all had strong links to those in the Brotherhood and had befriended many of them. They weren't ready and it hurt their mother, but she understood and accepted it.
Rogue had reached a new relationship with the boys who thought had been abandoned by her when she defected to the X-Men. Kitty and Lance remained good friends after their breakup. Tabby had chosen to keep her ties to the Brotherhood from her time spent finding herself when she lived there. Kurt, Rogue and Kitty had formed an unlikely friendship with Wanda as well. Tabby had already bonded with her from their first meetings living together in the boarding house.
Currently, Raven Darkholme was away from the boarding house on one of her missions. The Brotherhood had become accustomed to her leaving for long stretches of time and it was on this night, in the cold of January, that Stryker made his move.
In her room, Pietro and Wanda still held each other, forgiving each other of the past and finally moving onto the future. They broke apart suddenly when they heard a crash, from the window broken in her room and a voice, "What the hell, yo?"
Suddenly, silver balls were thrown through the windows to the curiosity of Wanda and Pietro who neared them to investigate. A thin vaporous gas escaped and before they knew it, it was flooding their bodies, making them feel immensely sleepy. The last thing they saw before falling into darkness were many armed soldiers in black fatigues and gas masks which shrouded their faces from view.
The bar was loaded and full of people and their chatter, drinking beer after beer, laughing at what was being shown on the televisions, their mindless drunken drabble, and the clicks of the balls on the pool tables. That was where Victor Creed was. He was currently in a corner of the bar, playing a round of pool with himself, deftly hitting all the balls and sipping a bottle of his beer every now and then.
He was so engrossed with his game that he didn't notice a stunning woman strutting his way. She was tall and leggy as was accentuated by a pair of tight worn ultra low rise blue jeans that were flared at the leg and ripped at the knees with a black leather belt with a silver belt buckle. Her hair was long and honey blonde curled to perfection, setting off a pair of pale blue eyes. She wore a tank top with a Harley Davidson symbol on it that was cropped at her midriff, exposing her toned stomach and belly ring, which also had a slit cut in the middle of the top at her bosom, exposing her cleavage just that much more. On her feet was a pair of worn charcoal cowboy boots, on her neck a simple beaded chocker, on her ears a pair of dangly silver earrings and on her wrists a set of silver bangles. The woman held a pair of bottled drinks in her hand.
"Hey, there, I'm Grace, what's your name?" she purred seductively, setting down the drinks at the pool table and resting her body on it so that she exposed more of her cleavage to him.
Victor smiled, it was going to be his lucky day, "Hello, Grace, I'm Victor."
"Well, Victor would you like a drink?" she asked holding up a bottle of the same type of beer that he had just run out of.
"Of course," he said and Grace handed the drink to the waiting man, getting hers as well.
"To your health," she said and clinked bottles with him. Then both of them downed their beer.
He had not taken more than three sips before he felt dog tired. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the sadistic smile of 'Grace.'
(I'm having my share of X2 moments…but I just couldn't resist with Sabey…)
Two random men from the bar made their way to her and helped her carry Sabertooth out the bar to a waiting nondescript van.
"He had a little too much to drink," she said, smiling to the barkeep, who only smiled in understanding in return. The man had at least 20 bottles this night, so it was about time.
(The Acolytes and Morlocks will be shown taken in the next chapter. This was originally only supposed to have the Brotherhood, but I couldn't resist with sticking in Sabertooth and the 'Grace' thing just clicked for me, for some reason.)
"What de hell are y' talkin' 'bout, frere?" asked Remy of his brother as he fidgeted in his chair slightly, knowing that it had to be truly terrible for his brother to take the family and leave New Orleans.
Henri sighed, a resigned look on his face, "I'll tell y', personally, when I reach de maison in about five minutes. Make sure y' get all de people in de house, I got somet'in' important t' say, and I ain't gonna repeat it."
Remy swallowed hard, praying it wasn't what he thought this was about and said, "Fine, see y' in five." And with that, the screen blacked out.
"Alright, Gumbo, what the hell is going on?" asked Logan, the only one brave enough or not to care enough to ask it.
"I tell y' when I know," said Remy simply as he got up from the computer and promptly left the room, heading to the main foyer (foi-yay) where the grand doors where located. Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, Piotr, John, Logan and Ororo followed him immediately. The rest of the people in the room were about to do the same, but the professor told them to wait as he didn't want the entire Institute to swarm in on the LeBeaus and their friends.
Just as Remy and the rest of them reached the lawn, and into the cold weather sans jacket, a loud rumbling could be heard in the distance. Soon, two motorcycles came into view, the stealth car still invisible and a little bit behind the two, since Tessa and Lucas had sped up to avoid being hit by Emil's driving. Stopping at the intercom at the gate, one of them conversed with the person on the other side, presumably the professor, before the large black gates parted automatically, and allowed them entrance.
The two motorcyclists peeled to a stop on the cobbled road in front of the mansion's doorstep, leaving room for the stealth car. Taking off their motorcycle helmets, the man and woman were revealed. Both were Remy's age. The woman had long tousled raven hair, cerulean eyes outlined by black eyeliner and alabaster skin. She wore a short fitted black leather motorcycle jacket with form fitting leather pants with a studded leather belt and thick leather boots. A large duffle bag was strapped to her back. The man was very tall and muscular with closely cropped hair that was close to bald with a slight goatee forming. His skin was mocha colored, his eyes chocolate brown and his hair black. He too wore a leather cycling outfit with his things strapped to his back in a duffle bag.
The woman approached Remy first with a smile and a hug, earning a suspicious glare from Rogue and s knowing smile to be shared between Kurt and Kitty.
"Hey, Rem, it's been so long," she said, as she gathered him into a warm friendly hug, "It's good to see you, we missed you."
"It's good to see you too, Tess," said Remy, "I missed you too. You look good."
"Thanks," said Tessa with a smile, "So do you." She talked to him in a completely friendly matter and Rogue couldn't help but notice that Remy didn't act like a Casanova around her and she wasn't swooned by him.
"Well, everyone, dis be Tessa. Tessa, dis be everyone," said Remy simply. They talked for a few moments, sharing jokes and laughter, until the man broke them up.
"Oh and I suppose I'm chopped liver, then huh?" replied Lucas.
"Yup," said Remy and he and Tessa continued to talk, while the large man rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Good to see you, too," he said sarcastically, with a grin, knowing their little routine.
"Yeah, really is, been awhile, Luke," said Remy.
"Oh my God," started Tessa, "the manly emotions shown is astounding!"
They both gave her a highly practiced deadpan look to which they all burst out laughing.
"Well, dis is Lucas, Lucas, dese be some o' de people at de Institute," said Remy.
"That's Kitty, Rogue, Kurt, Logan, Ororo, Piotr and John," he said, introducing his friends to the newcomers. They exchanged greetings and pleasantries waiting for the rest to arrive.
Momentarily, they heard an almost noiseless sound of an engine. The only indication it was there at all was the prick of Logan's ears and him telling everyone to move off the road for the car to come safely. Suddenly, they heard a car come nearer and nearer. Before they knew it, a car had seemingly popped out of no where materializing on the front of the mansion. The twins could be seen arguing animatedly, causing Henri to shake his head and exit the car immediately with a sigh. This elicited a laugh from all those waiting on the steps of the mansion.
Seeing that the car had arrived, the small crowd from the steps moved to greet the ones exiting the car.
"500 bucks, Lapin, cough it up," boomed Henri as he exited the car, "Dere he is, Remy in de flesh."
"Oh fine," replied Lapin, rolling his eyes. Stepping out from the car, he reached into his jean pocket and fished out a wallet laden with money. Flipping a few crisp hundreds, he handed them over resignedly to Henri, who looked very proud of himself. Mercy rolled her eyes.
Remy laughed and walked over to greet his older brother.
"'Ey dere, Henri," he said.
"Bonjour, petite frere," replied Henri as the two met in a manly hug. They exchanged pleasantries.
"New haircut?" asked Remy of Henri's cropped hair.
"Yeah, well, Jacques stuck bubblegum in it and it wouldn't come out, so Mercy laid de damage," he explained.
"He's turning int' quite the little terror," said Remy, laughing.
"It's been a long time since y' were home, Remy," said Mercy as she approached with two year old Jacques in her arms, "it's good t' see y'."
"Good t' see y' too, Mercy," said Remy genuinely.
"How de hell d' y' stand it in de cold?" she asked, being the Southerner that she was, she despised the cold weather of New York.
"I don't," said Remy simply, causing Mercy to laugh.
Remy gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek, taking Jacques from her arms and making funny faces at him, causing the two year old to laugh. This caused Rogue to smile. He was good with kids.
"Y're funny, Oncle Remy," said Jacques.
"So I've been told," said Remy, tapping his nose, "I hear y've been livin' up t' de reputation o' all LeBeau children." Jacques nodded.
"Well o' course, Rem, he's got us dere!" exclaimed Lapin.
"Yes, no one is better than us than causing mayhem," started Emil.
"Disorder," said Lapin.
"And chaos," finished Remy, "its nice t' see y' haven't changed."
"Change, us?" asked Lapin shocked.
"Never, Remy, never," said Emil.
"Are all de femmes here dis belle?" asked Lapin, eyeing the females on the steps with appreciation, causing them to roll their eyes.
"Yeah, dey are," said Remy, "y'd better be careful, mos' o' dem are taken."
"Damn, dey always are," said Emil.
Just then, with some help from Henri, the elderly, but always lively Tante Mattie stepped out from the car and went over to greet Remy.
"Bonjour, Tante," called out Remy.
"Oh, Remy!" she exclaimed, kissing his cheeks and enveloping him in a tight hug, "I've missed y' chile, y' look thin." Remy laughed at that.
"I always look thin t' y'," he said. Tante Mattie just shook her head and then remembered something.
"Y' don't call, y' don't write. What de hell is wrong wit' y', chile!" asked a plump Black woman going up to Remy and smacking him upside the head.
"Ouch, Tante," said Remy rubbing the back of his head. Everyone laughed at his expense.
"Ya so deserved that, Swamp Rat, it's been a long tahme coming," drawled Rogue.
"A Southerner," mused Tante Mattie, "Introduce me, chile."
"Oui. Tante, dis be Rogue, Rogue, dis be m' Tante Mattie," said Remy with a laugh as he lead her over to Rogue.
"Pleashah ta meet ya," said Rogue politely.
"Same t' y'," said Tante Mattie, "Remy, I like dis fille."
"I like her too," said Remy with a smirk and a wink, causing Rogue to roll her eyes in annoyance.
"I really like dis fille," said Tante Mattie.
"Wow, Remy, I can't believe it. She's unaffected," said Emil amazement and shock on his features.
"She's a goddess that must be worshipped," said Lapin, going up to her and reaching her hand to bring up to his lips for a kiss. Rogue retracted her hand immediately and looked at him like he was a disgusting bug.
"Are they all lahke this?" asked Rogue.
"Unfortunately," said Mercy, "I'm Mercy." She shook hands with Rouge.
"Remy, y're bein' rude," said Tante Mattie, "Introduce us, please."
"A'right, Tante," said Remy.
"Dese be my friends, Piotr, John, Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, Logan and Ororo, dis be mon famille, Henri, Mercy, Jacques, Emil, Lapin and Tante Mattie and my friends, Tessa and Lucas," he made the appropriate gestures to each person as he spoke. Soon, they all exchanged greetings with each other.
"So you're the woman who trained Gumbo," said Logan to Tante Mattie.
"House broke, mo' like," said Tante Mattie, "It's so good t' see y' Ororo. It's been much too long."
"It really has, Tante," said Ororo as she and Tante Mattie met in an embrace.
"Well, I'm freezing m' ass off, can we go in, now?" asked Emil in a whiney voice.
"Don't be so rude, Emil," admonished Tessa.
"But I'm SO cold," said Emil, causing Tessa to roll her eyes.
"You're such a big baby, LeBeau," said Lucas.
"Am not, that's Lapin," said Emil. That earned him a smack upside the head from Lapin and an argument to start between them.
"Well, Remy, Emil does have a point," said Mercy, "and I'm sure that y're all freezing wit' out y' jackets."
"O' course, follow us, we're meeting every one else in de professor's study," said Remy and they all followed the group from the Institute into the mansion in small clusters of people.
"Vell, Remy's family really does seem razher…" started Kurt as he, Kitty, Piotr and John talked quietly about them as they made their way out of the cold.
"Eccentric," suggested Piotr.
"Actually, Oy'd go mo' with insane," rebutted John.
"That's only because you are insane," said Kitty.
"Oy'll take that as a compliment, Sheila," said John, causing his three other companions to shake their heads.
All of a sudden, Remy's arm was circled around Rogue's arm, bringing her close to his warm hard body. She turned to shoot him a glare and move out of his grasp, but his grip was too strong and he simply said, "Y' looked cold, chere."
"Whatevah, Swamp Rat," said Rogue, moving out of his hold, her arms still folded against her chest, due to the cold of the February snow. She was wearing a thick strapped black tank top underneath an emerald green off the shoulder T-shirt with black designs on it. She wore a pair of sheer black gloves that went past her elbows and left an inch of her milky skin bare from the sleeve of her T-shirt. A short purple velvet gloves that stopped just past her wrists went over the long ones with a set of studded leather wrist cuffs. She had an olive green zip up hoodie over top. On her pale neck was a black satin ribbon chocker with a twisted silver charm attached to it as well as a silver Celtic cross pendant that dangled from a dark purple ribbon on her collar bone. She wore a pair of wide legged baggy cargo pants, with many zippers, pockets, chains, ribbons, and other nick nacks with a studded purple belt. A pair of clunky thick purple and black suede boots completed the look.
She walked off, leaving Remy with a smile, shaking his head, lagging behind the rest going into the Institute in his black T-shirt, navy hoodie, worn jeans, belt, fingerless gloves and leather boots.
Seeing them interact brought a smile and a knowing look to his family and friends that were gathered behind him, following him and the others into the professor's office. While the others hurried ahead to get out from the frosty cold, Henri lagged behind with his brother.
"Y' like her," said Henri, in a slightly taunting tone, "Y' really like her, dat Rogue."
"Well, yeah, considerin' she's m' friend," said Remy, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Since when have y' been 'just friends' wit' a femme?" asked Henri.
Remy scoffed, "Tessa's m' friend and a girl as well as de entire female population at de Institute."
"Keep tellin' y'self dat, frere," said Henri, patting his brother's head like a dog, as he hurried inside from the cold ahead of Remy, leaving him lagging again to ponder his words.
After introductions had been exchanged in the Professor's study and the seating had been rearranged, Henri took the stage and began to explain the events that led up to their fleeing from New Orleans.
"For y't' understand everythin' y' have t' understand de workings o' de Guilds," started Henri, "De t'ings we do are pretty self explanatory by our names, de Theives and de Assassins. For centuries now, we've been rivals. De Guilds originated in France, but de ones in N'Awlins have been especially notorious fo' de war and especially de ill will between dem. True, de Guilds have a natural dislike fo' each ot'er, but not'in' as bad as want we have in N'Awlins. De blood o' thousands has been spilt, and dere is no end in sight."
"So when Remy was 12, mon pere, de Guild leader o' de Thieves, and Marius Boudreaux, Guild leader of the Assassins formed a marriage pact dat was t' unite de Guilds and end de war. De pact decreed dat Remy would marry de Assassins leaders' daughter, Belladonna when he turned 18. By uniting de families, de Guilds would be united and de war would end. Except dat dere was wide opposition t' it on bot' sides and instead o' ending de war and bringing about peace, it only increased it and bought about mo' bloodshed on bot' sides," explained Henri.
"Wit' de marriage looming and such opposition t' it, a year befo' de event, de Guilds hired an outside party, named Candra t' help settle de tensions on bot' sides. She is a powerful businesswoman and mutant. Her power suppresses her age, making her live a near immortal life. Wit' her blood, she is able t' make a potion t' control de mind o' de drinker t' her liking. De woman is ages old an' because o' her power and support o' bot' Guilds fo' as long as de records stretch, she was enlisted t' help wit' de tensions and put dem t' rest," retold Henri.
"T' make us swear our allegiance t' her, she initiated de tithe, where we have t' give her much of our gains and made many o' de important members o' bot' Guilds drink de potion she made from her blood, de Elixir of Life. Many on de Assassins Guild t'ought dat de Elixir would give dem strength and superiority and eagerly drank it, becoming twisted and completely in Candra's control. De most tainted ones being de Boudreaux family. However, de Thieves t'ought differently, but realizing dat refusing Candra would be fatal t' bot' sides and not ending de war would be murderous, mon pere, de Guild master o' de Thieves had no choice but t' drink it as well," conveyed Henri.
"Like wit' de Assassins Guild members, it tainted his t'oughts, making him greedy and vengeful. He became an entirely different man and began t' use all o' us Thieves t' further his material gain, especially Remy. In dis way, she took control o' both Guilds wit' both leaders under de influence o' her powers. She had de Thieves t' make her rich and de Assassins t' kill all who opposed her. By de time we realized dat she had no intention t' save de Guilds by ending de war and was controlling all de leaders o' de Guilds, it was too late. Add t' dat, Remy's powers going haywire and de attempted assassination o' us, and y' got a major catastrophe," sighed Henri. (More details in Chapter Three, for those who've forgotten, it's in Remy's talk about his past)
"De Assassins had attempted t' murder us so dat de wedding would be called off, and it was in de end. Dere was uproar on bot' sides and soon enough, de war intensified ten fold and de need for weapons and defenses means dat we must work more diligently and because o' dat, Candra gets richer. Plus, she often offers bonuses and gifts t' de side dat pleases her more. Remy was blamed for everything and it was getting' harder and harder fo' him t' get out wit'out being attacked. De mutant bigotry in N'Awlins intensified tenfold, due to Candra's egging," informed Henri.
"At dis time, Remy's powers also got worse an' worse and Magneto had come a' knockin' but we didn't trust him. So when Stormy and de professor were visitin' once, he made a stop t' help Remy. He got better, but not fo' long and so he supposedly turned t' Magneto and signed his contract. We're still tryin' t' figure out how he pulled dat one over us. Anyway, after Remy left, it got even worse," revealed Henri.
"And dat brings us t' why we're here. Y' see, de war between de Thieves an' Assassins got worse, much worse. We had no choice but t' leave. De Assassins who are in complete control by Candra are constantly trying t' kill de famille and de bloodshed is getting worse, all because Candra has got a new trump card. We knew because dey all t'ought dat Remy was out o' de way or dead, dat dey wouldn't look fo' us here. We left last night after dere last Assassination attempt, dey're was a mutiny of sorts an' de Assassins were able t' penetrate de mansion o' de Thieves. Dere was an attack, but luckily none o' us were hurt. Jean-Luc, mon pere, an' de leader o' de Thieves ordered us t' flee, not t' tell anyone, jus' t' flee. We left him in the care of his personal assistant and our cousin Theoren and took Tessa and Lucas wit' us because dis concerns dem too, and mutants," enlightened Henri.
"Tessa, why don' y' tell dem what exactly Candra did, y're know dis better out o' all o' us?" requested Henri.
"Sure," started Tessa, "Well as you know, Candra is a powerful mutant who's powers allow her to live almost agelessly like an immortal. We're unclear on exactly how old she is, but there are records of her involvement as an outside partner in both Guilds as early as 1582 in Paris. Recently, Lucas, Henri, Emil, Lapin, Mercy and I have been secretly assigned to discover all we can about Candra in an attempt to rid her of the power she has over both Guilds," explained Tessa.
"What we found was astonishing. She has links to hundreds of Black market dealings, crime lords and big businesses and was using the Guilds to further her status in theses fields. However, it was one deal that caught our interest due to the sheer amount of money that she invested. She is one of the largest investors for William Stryker's Legacy Virus Project and William Stryker in general. She is a silent partner and the two have never met. She gets the majority of the reports and updates on Stryker's progress and the virus from Stryker personally. She's so secret that only she has records of ever doing business with him, and Stryker does not, except for a few random company names that are faked. I'm sure you're all questioning her motives in his projects, but the fact is, she benefits greatly from them as she cannot be harmed by the virus due to her powers. Candra is interested in personal gain and the virus is being used as one of the key factors to control the Guilds and stretch out the war to no end," explained Sage.
"You see, the Guilds reluctantly accept mutants in them, since they long have realized their usefulness, despite the opposition to them on both sides. Candra has been using the Legacy Virus to blackmail and recruit an elite group of mutants to do her bidding. With them, she is able to either help or hinder the status of one of the Guilds. She uses them to keep the Guilds in line, lend out to fight the opposing Guild and do specific deeds for the Guilds by leasing them out. If either side has use of her corps of mutants, they come out on top in the rivalry and war. But that's not all, for each Guild has many mutant members of its own and Candra can use the virus to cripple a Guild by taking out some of its mutant members, since they seem to be immune to her Elixir. In this way, she's keeping everyone in line to do her bidding, mutant or otherwise," enlightened Tessa.
"So far, the majority of the Assassins Guild has been either under the influence of the Elixir of Life or the Legacy Virus, either way, they have become mindlessly in Candra's control as all of their leaders have been taking the Elixir regularly as they believe it makes them stronger while the Thieves only take it at times that she has regulated that they must," summarized Tessa.
"Last night we left in part due to the attacks, but mostly to preserve our information and lives against Candra. We hold the majority of the evidence that can sink her. We don't know if she's onto us yet, but what we do know is that she had one of the members in the Thieves Guild who is under her control let in several Assassins and a mutant team into the mansion and attack us. Many lesser members of our Guild were killed, but we were only slightly weakened and persevered. Jean-Luc immediately knew that the Assassins were planning to weaken the Thieves and help Candra gain control permanently or destroy the Guild completely. So knowing what he did, Jean-Luc immediately sent us all away to protect his family and those with the scathing evidence against Candra," divulged Tessa.
"We came here knowing it was the most unlikely place to look for us as well as the fact that we have come across much information that you must want to know having to do with the abductions of the Brotherhood, Acolytes and Morlocks, who are for the time being just held captive, as Candra had information on this directly from Stryker himself to know the progress of the situation. Furthermore, Candra was most interested in one mutant who she felt if Stryker was done using for testing would be beneficial for her use, that is of interest to you all, Mutant #0783261-C84, Raven Darkholme, or I'm sure you know her better as Mystique," revealed Sage.
The raven haired mutant then took out a disc in her possession and inserted it into the computer. After a few moments, an image was shown on the screen: security footage of Mystique being held at an unknown location in bad conditions. It appeared that the room was purposely made to be cold, as there was ice forming on the walls. Mystique's lithe form was wrapped in a blanket and she was huddled in a corner. She looked ragged and thin. Her hair was dirty, her skin dry and cracked, caked with dirt and her eyes were weak, the fight still burning within, but diminished.
The air was taken from the room and the tension hung high for two mutants in the room, Kurt and Rogue. They didn't say anything and their faces were unreadable, but all who knew the story behind them knew that they were conflicted. Thankfully, before anyone could speak of them on the issue, Sage continued.
"She infiltrated one of the companies that Stryker owns that is posing as a front to develop the virus on December 4th , in Geneva, Switzerland, to find intel and was captured when too many unknowns in the mission she had planned came back to haunt her. She was close, but due to the newly installed security which had been implemented that day, she was caught and sent to Stryker permanently. He immediately took an interest to her and she's been one of his premier test subjects. Although whether or not, she'll be given to Candra is another matter. During her capture, she was able to hide some of Stryker's most dangerous plans which have since been deleted from all databases. Mystique has not revealed the locale of the data to any of her captors as of yet. So if we find her, she'll be able to tell us where she concealed the information, because right now, it appears that she's on our side," finished Tessa.
"The data she hid is of the most importance. It holds much of the details regarding Candra and the final stages of the Legacy Virus as well as Stryker's plans for it. When Mystique got a hold of it, he had all the evidence of it ever existing erased from existence. It is imperative that we find it, if we are to beat Stryker," informed Tessa. Remy was slightly surprised at the actions that Candra had committed and how far reaching they were, but after so long of her tyranny; he was somewhat expectant of it.
Kurt and Rogue bore identical stoic expressions on their faces, not revealing how they felt to the matters of their mother. On one hand, she was subjected to cruelty and torture that no person deserved. On the other, she was getting what was coming to her, what she deserved, maybe even as a form of punishment for all that she'd done to them. However, they couldn't deny that even she didn't deserve that, and she had been trying, trying to atone for her actions to them. Whether or not she was to be forgiven was to be seen.
(I really hope that you understand this, because it was really hard to write out, if it were up to me, it'd be, Candra is using Legacy Virus…yeah…it's bad…I hope the explanation is good, because I knew I would end up linking Candra and the virus, just didn't know how exactly.)
The meeting was then wrapped up and now that everyone now knew what was going on, the adults and senior members would be planning a strike once all the data they had was profiled and combined to reach the best conclusion.
Kurt and Rogue were the first out of the stifling room. Kurt immediately ported to his shared room with Evan and Rogue dashed out without a second glance. Both worried Kitty immensely and a look of concern was pasted on her features. However, the one thing she knew was that both needed space right now and it would not be beneficial to go after them just yet. Gambit had starred after the girl as she fled the room, but made no move to follow her. His gaze did not go unnoticed by his family members and those who knew him best.
It was later that night that Remy eventually found Rogue on the roof of the mansion. Making it appear as if they thought the same for it was one of the only places in the mansion to find sweet silence and peace of mind. He needed to take a break from the insanity of his family. The night of Westchester was significantly colder than the days.
After the day's events, Remy's family and friends had settled into some of the many rooms in the Guest Wing of the mansion. They had settled in nicely and Remy had taken the day to reacquaint him with the family he'd left for so long and know the events that transpired in New Orleans in the time that he'd been away.
Dinner was a grand event with Tante Mattie insisting that she cook for them after imposing themselves into the mansion with help from Ororo, which made the feast absolutely delectable. It had been full of some of Remy's favorite southern and Cajun dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya, blackened chicken, corn bread, catfish and tons of spices. Everyone had enjoyed it. Well, everyone except Kurt and Rogue who seemed understandably distant and removed from the others, while they chatted amicably. Kurt still stuffed his face, but without his usual jubilance and jovial attitude, not speaking throughout the meal. Rogue picked at her food, but got through her entire dish. She loved southern food, but her mood for it was all gone in her internal conflict.
He watched, leaning against a chimney as she sat on the very edge of the roof, clad in her long deep green down jacket with a fur rimmed hood. She still wore her clothes from that morning. Her hair was flapping in the cool wind, dancing and swirling behind her, mixing auburn with white, like a ghost possessed. With her jacket open, wanting to feel the cold, just to feel something and her knees clutched close to her body, she observed the snowy landscape before her with pained doe like emerald eyes, her breath visible in the frosty air, sitting on a woolen blanket to keep dry. It was late out, her cheeks were red and she was frozen to the bone, but she didn't care, even though she would have school the following day. Her cheeks had long become red from the cold and the metal of her piercings had frost on them.
Remy approached her noiselessly from behind, his chocolate brown trench coat billowing behind him, open as well to reveal the clothes he wore earlier that day. His breath came up in smoky white breaths as he stalked towards her and his ruby onyx eyes glowed crimson. Upon reaching her, he took his hand out from his pocket, reached out with his fingers, which were bare due to his fingerless gloves and ran it through the icy yet silky strands of her white bangs, tugging slightly, announcing his presence to her. He seemed obsessed with her snowy bangs, a fact which both frightened and excited the girl before him. Remy always seemed to take the chance and the risk to brush them from her face, tug at them gently or just touch them in general.
The grounds behind the mansion stretched before her covered in a thick coat of sparkling white snow. The mountains, lake, rivers and trees were all coated. The stars dotted the black orchid sky smeared navy. The moon hung, smiling mockingly. Dark clouds obscured the sky. Waves churned and crashed even in the cold beside the cliff where the jet hangar was, covering the thin beach with its violence, black and flaky. Wet snow that remained on the beach bunched together into clumps.
"Y' okay, chere?" he asked gently, taking a seat beside her on the edge of the roof on the blanket dangling his legs off it. He could feel her, the waves of pain, shock, betrayal, sadness, anger, spite and most of all confusion. He could always feel her. He didn't even try anymore.
"I'm fine," she said forcefully, as if trying to convince her of it, her voice hoarse and filled with torment.
Remy reached out with an arm and wrapped her, clutching her tightly, pulling her close to him, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder without touching his skin, comforting the Gothic girl more than he'd ever know. She didn't resist this time; just let him hold her, leaning her weight into him, letting him support her. She just stayed wrapped in his arms for a long period of time, unknown by measures. He didn't say anything after that except for one small statement, just letting her take relief from him.
"Y' look cold," he said simply.
Somehow, he always knew what she needed.
(I was gonna make this longer, but somehow it felt right to end it here. I was gonna include more Romyness, but now I'm just gonna save it for a big Romy chapter that I'm having next and the one after too. They'll be totally focused on them. I'm sure you'll be sick of it when I'm done. I did hint to a lot of it in this chapter though…so I hope you're happy with it and the way this chapter ends.)
And well, I'll be gone for awhile on vacation, not coming back until September, but I'll have my laptop with me, so I'm sure plenty of stories will be updated when I get back. This chapter was supposed to be longer with some more Romy moments, but as soon as I wrote that last scene, it just ended itself there, where I felt it was right, just because it'd ruin the moment with more dialogue. I hope to return from my vacation with plenty of updates, but asides from that, please review for me. I know a lot of you will be disappointed that you won't get a personalized review response, but I promise to email them out to you as long as I have your address. I am sort of devasted by the restriction.
PLEASE REVIEW!
Simba317